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Katsuko Teruya Arakawa
Gardena-based master kutuu player Katsuko Teruya Arakawa served as a master artist in ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2008 with apprentice Pamela Joy Afuso of Los Angeles. The Okinawan kutuu, more commonly known elsewhere in Japan as the koto, is a thirteen-stringed Paulownia wood zither played by…
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Djivan Gasparyan
Djivan Gasparyan (1928-2021) was an Armenian musician and composer based in Sherman Oaks, CA. He played the duduk, a double reed woodwind instrument related to the orchestral oboe. Born in Solak, Armenia to parents from Mush, Gasparyan started to play duduk when he was six. In 1948 he became a…
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Grupo Folklorico Huaxyacac
Grupo Folklorico Huaxyacac is folkloric dance group performing the regional dances of Oaxaca, Mexico. The performing group was founded in 1989 by the Regional Organization of Oaxaca which, two years earlier, introduced to California the first Guelagetza celebration which is a well-established and beloved event in their home state. Today…
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Pasadena Community Job Center
Pasadena Community Job Center connects skilled day laborers, both men and women, for a variety of services. They have been a part of the community for 14 years providing over 12,000 jobs to skilled workers. Affiliated with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, they are committed…
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Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras
Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras is a Los Angeles-based ensemble theater group made up of day laborers. Since 2008, the ten-member troupe has developed fifteen short plays examining social justice issues such as worker and immigrant rights, building healthy families and workplaces, and exploring the creation of…
INCA, the Peruvian Music & Dance Ensemble, was founded in 1981 in Los Angeles, for the purpose of researching, preserving, and presenting Peru’s rich multi-cultural heritage of ethnic and folkloric music, songs, dance, and traditions. INCA performs music and dances from the Andean region of Peru…
For over 40 years, the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center/Lucha, Inc. has provided youth and adults with a free, afterschool cultural education program. Centered in the heart of Oxnard, California, many of Inlakech’s students come from low-income agricultural families, who are greatly underserved. Children from the age of two to the…
The Network of Myanmar American Association (NetMAA) is a grassroots, community-based organization that aims to support and promote the Myanmar( Burmese) community in Los Angeles through civic and cultural education. NetMAA holds various programs throughout the year to benefit the Myanmar-American community in Los Angeles, including…
Ballet Folklórico Pilares de México was formed in 2008, offering instruction in regional Mexican folk dances to an initial seven children. Currently, over 55 children and adolescents (ages 5-18) are an active part of the troupe, which performs at community events and venues in Orange County, including hospitals, churches, family…
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Mohammad Navid Bazargan
Nastaliq is the most popular calligraphy style in the Persian-speaking world. Nastaliq is mainly used to write Persian poetry, which alongside calligraphy occupies a significant place in the everyday life of Iranians. Since the ancient foundation of Islam, calligraphy has been the dominant and emblematic feature of Islamic art. The…
