2006 Archives - Alliance for California Traditional Arts

As part of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2006 Marcelo taught Isis Raele, his step-daughter, the art of capoeira. Capoeira is the only indigenous martial art of the Americas and was developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil. Mestre Pereira started playing capoeira on the streets of São Paulo, Brazil, as a child and…

The Croatian bagpipe or gajde is a common instrument in Croatian traditional music in Hungary. It is an ancient instrument with a large repertoire and several distinctive styles of playing, determined largely by the geographical/regional location of the musician. The instrument is constructed by various parts, the bag, which is…

Houman Pourmehdi is a master percussionist, well known for his diverse abilities as a musician, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, performing and recording in numerous ensembles and at a variety of venues. He was introduced to Persian music by his father, and received his first Tonbak at the age of three from…

Mohammad Nejad, a Persian-born master multi-instrumentalist, was born to a musical family in Tehran, Iran. As a young child, Persian classical music was passed down to him from his father. In Tehran he attended a special high school for musicians, later graduating from Fine Arts Academy in 1976, and in…

ACTA is deeply saddened to learn of Luwana Quitiquit’s passing in December of 2011. *** “It’s really important to be able to focus on your basket. If you aren’t in that positive space and you are working on a basket every little mistake that you make is pretty much an…

Master artist Glenn Moore, Sr. taught his grandson, Glenn Moore, Jr. to make a Yurok hand-carved redwood dugout canoe as part of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2006. Used in Yurok and Hoopa ceremonies, master and apprentice carved the canoe from an old-growth redwood tree. Glenn Moore Sr. learned to carve canoes…

David Chen is a former choreographer and dance instructor of the Shanghai Opera and Dance Theatre. In his forty-year dance career, he performed numerous dances, as well as choreographed over thirty dances including such notable pieces as “Pantheon of Chinese Gods”, “Heroine Hua Mulan”, “Armor of the King” and “Peach-Flower…

In 2006, master artist Holly Hensher taught apprentice Paula Allen to make a Karuk women’s maple bark skirt. Used in tribal ceremonies, Karuk women’s maple bark skirts are made from the innermost layer of bark of the big leaf maple trees found within the Karuk ancestral territories. Hensher began weaving…

Crispulo Atillo is a Grandmaster of eskrima, a non-aggressive, weapons-based martial art rooted in Filipino history and culture. Great Grandmaster Atillo began studying eskrima as a teenager with his father and with Great Grandmaster Teodoro Saavedra. He was a master artist in ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2006 with apprentice, Red Dagum. *** From…

Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian dance form originating in the South Indian temple dance tradition, which combines the arts of the stage, music, poetry, costuming, and rhythm. Bharatanatyam is characterized by graceful movements, intricate footwork, sculpturesque poses, and deep dramatic elements which require years of rigorous training to perfect. An…