Bay Area Archives - Page 20 of 43 - Alliance for California Traditional Arts

Japanese court music

Son Jarocho is a folkloric music developed from the southern Mexican states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas. This Afro-Mestizo hybrid blends Spanish, indigenous (primarily Huastecan), and African elements into a joyous celebration of Mexican identity. Son Jarocho is often played only on jaranas (small stringed instruments) and sung in a call…

Teatro Visión de San José is a Chicano theater company with nearly three decades of service to the community. Their mission is to celebrate culture, nurture community, and inspire vision through art that moves people to feel, think, and act to create a better world. Teatro…

Tabla, North Indian percussion

Pangalay dancer and culture bearer

The descendants of the Yoruba people of Nigeria continue to preserve their connection to their ancestral traditions and art forms through ritual song, dance, and drumming. The nuances of these traditional elements are available only to those initiated, allowing for a robust spiritual knowledge and deeper understanding of the religious…

Odissi is the oldest of the eight classical dance forms of India, dating back to the 1st century BCE. A devotional dance typically performed by temple dancers in the east Indian state of Odisha, Odissi was suppressed under British rule (the colonial rulers considered it immoral). It was revived in…

While there are many styles of Balkan Romani (“Gypsy”) women’s dance, perhaps the most popular, uniquely Romani dance is the kyuchek. Of Turkish origin, kyuchek can be danced either as a communal line dance with synchronized steps or as a solo improvisation. Line dances tend to have more contained repetitive…

Carnatic music is an ancient tradition of South Indian classical music that dates back for centuries. It is a complex system of music that requires both artistic and technical improvisation. The use of the violin for Carnatic music, both as an accompanying and solo instrument, was introduced in the 1700’s. …

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…