Celebrating the Cultural Treasures of Los Angeles
NEA National Heritage Fellow and California Master Artist
Inside the WasabiKai Studio
Ventura County arts and culture
Orisha practitioners throughout the Yoruba diaspora have prepared special foods for ceremony and offerings to the Orishas. This tradition, cooking for the Orisha and ancestors, is based on utilizing specific ingredients and ways of preparing foods and meals, which has been passed on from generation to generation. The Alashe is…
The music and drumming of the Mandinka dates back to the 13th century in the Mali Empire. These century old traditions, songs and rhythms are related to various life cycles such as infant naming, agriculture and marriage ceremonies, as well as pertaining to specific social and religious societies. Central to…
Korean Pojagi and Chogak-Po
Sahab Motallebi began playing the tar (a six-stringed plucked instrument) as a child and attended the National Iranian Music Conservatory in Tehran, the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, and RGS University in Turkey.   Mehrdad Jahangiri studied the Persian tar with master artist Sahab Motallebi in 2007 as part of …
The Gabrielino/Tongva Springs Foundation preserves and protects the ancestral village of Kuruvungna Springs, located within the University High School campus in West Los Angeles. Dedicated to educating the general public about California’s indigenous history, particularly the inhabitants of the LA basin, the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples, they provide…
Dance Group XoroTroptzi is a performing ensemble founded in 2012 under the auspices of the Bulgarian-American Cultural Educational Forum in Los Angeles. Evolving from simple social gatherings between friends to learn traditional dances, they are the only Bulgarian folk ensemble in Los Angeles. With a mission…