Liberated Muse Member Diallo Sumbry Brings Kwanzaa to U Street

Liberated Muse member Diallo Sumbry is never at a loss for something to do. As manager of the nationally-acclaimed dance group The Beat Ya Feet Kings, manager of GRAMMY-nominated singer Maimouna Youssef and the afrocentric music group Farafina Kan, he is always on the move. This Sunday, through his company The Adinkra Group, Diallo will be co-presenting "Umoja on U" a Kwanzaa Celebration honoring the holiday of Kwanzaa as well as well-known DC community workers. Click HERE to read more.

JOB CREATION AND THE DISTRICT’S CREATIVE ECONOMY

Visual, Literary & Performance Artists, This is About Your Money!

“JOB CREATION AND THE DISTRICT’S CREATIVE ECONOMY”

Friday, December 17, 2010 - 10:00 a.m.
John A. Wilson Building – Council Chamber Room 500
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
...
Councilmember Michael A, Brown, Chairperson of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development, announces a public oversight roundtable on the creation of job in the District creative economic community. This roundtable continues the discussion on this important growth industry and its potential for substantial job creation and workforce development. The public oversight roundtable will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 17, 2010 in Council Chamber, Room 500, of the John A. Wilson Building.

Those who wish to testify should contact Drew Hubbard, Committee Director, at (202) 727-8230, or via e-mail at dhubbard@dccouncil.us and provide their name, address, telephone number, organizational affiliation and title (if any) by close of business Thursday, December 16, 2010. Persons wishing to testify are encouraged, but not required, to submit 15 copies of written testimony. Witnesses should limit their testimony to three minutes.

(Thanks to DC Advocates for the Arts for the intel)

Liberated Muse Member Events This Month:

Black Nativity @ H Street Playhouse, featuring Liberated Muse Member Pam Ward

December 8, 2010 at 8pm to January 2, 2011 at 10pm – H Street Playhouse

AlphaBitch, featuring Liberated Muse Member Princess of Controversy

December 16, 2010 at 8pm to December 19, 2010 at 8pm – Studio W

 

Hillyer Open Mic Event (HOME) Hosted by Fred Joiner-featuring Liberated Muse founder Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman

December 17, 2010 from 6pm to 9pm – Hillyer Art Space

 

Atlas Performing Arts Holiday Weekend Fest featuring Liberated Muse member Serena Wills

December 18, 2010 at 2pm to December 19, 2010 at 8pm – Atlas Performing Arts Center

Niko in "Soul Food Tuesdays", featuring artists represented by Liberated Muse Member Sonja

December 21, 2010 at 8pm to December 22, 2010 at 1am – B & L LOUNGE

 

Umoja on U: A Kwanzaa Celebration, featuring artists represented by Liberated Muse Member Diallo Sumbry

December 26, 2010 from 5pm to 9pm – The Lincoln Theatre

Do you have an event coming up?? Be sure to upload it in our Events calendar for FREE! Uploading your event makes it searchable via Google and garners a wide audience range that may extend outside of your regular fan base. Oh yeah, and it's free! Visit www.LiberatedMuse.com to upload your events, blogs, photos and videos. Invite your friends.

Liberated Muse Member Events Coming Up

December's here and Liberated Muse members (those who have profiles on the website www.LiberatedMuse.com and upload their events and other info to the system) have a bunch of things happening this month. Check some of it out:

DEC. 3 - 12: Liberated Muse member Pam Ward stars in Atlas Theater's production of "Swingtime". 

Written & Directed by Tom Mallan
Conceived in collaboration with Burnett Thompson
Music Director and Pianist Jean Baptiste

Fab songs from the Fabulous Forties tell Swingtime’s story of showbiz, war, discrimination and cultural identity. Cast: Vince Borrelli, W. Ellington Felton, Marshall Keys, Laura Lewis, Tammy Roberts, Alvaro Rodríguez, Pam Ward Click here for more details

DEC. 8: This show features the story of Liberated Muse member Melani N. Douglas and other DC residents in this community voice project. 

Click the flyer for more details.

DEC 17-20: What do a playground, a therapist’s office and a nightclub have in common?????? Join rapper, actress and every-woman Melissa "Princess" Best-Nichols aka Princess of Controversy to find out! Princess presents this one-woman show on womens’ thoughts, stories and and her own personal memoirs.

Click here for more details

DEC. 17: Liberated Muse founder Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman will be featured at this month's HOME @ Hillyer Art Space. Hillyer Open Mic Events occur on the third friday of every month, and feature a stunning array of the district's poetic talent. Feature poets perform work in a variety of styles and take the audience for a personal journey into their work. Host Fred Joiner delves even deeper in his post-performance interviews with feature performers, encouraging them to illuminate their personal histories, influences, and perspectives. The interviews allow for a heightened discourse which helps to unveil the mystery behind the words.
Click here for information.

Visit http://www.LiberatedMuse.com for more member events

 

Call for Acts: Alternate ROOTS Fest 2011

What:

Alternate ROOTS is pleased to announce artist opportunities to perform at ROOTS Fest 2011: Many Communities, One Voice, a national arts festival celebrating the very best of our nation’s local art in honor of ROOTS’ 35^th Anniversary (to learn more about ROOTS, please visit www.alternateroots.org). ROOTS Fest 2011 will be held June 22-26, 2011 in Baltimore, MD. As part of this national event, five days and evenings of local, regional and national performances, workshops, case studies, community dialogues and more will be presented. The performance/artwork content of ROOTS Fest 2011 will highlight the broad variety of performance and visual arts in multiple disciplines in various venues across the city. There will be a two day outdoor festival performance with multiple stages and at least one main stage that are all open to the general public.

The producers also seek to identify the number of artists who may be interested in site-specific performances. If you are interested in this option, please note it on your application form.

It is preferred that interested artists have been engaged in local art/community-based art-making or have been involved in a professionally-run entity/organization for a minimum of three years and have a history of their work being presented within the professional arts industry.

When:

Outdoor Festival - Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26, 2011 (Festival performances will be scheduled beginning late morning through the evening.) There is a probability that there will be outdoor performances beginning Friday, June 24^th.

*Technical/dress rehearsals will take place on Thursday, June 24 and Friday/Saturday earlier in the day before an artist’s scheduled performance, as needed.

Where:

Please see attached fact sheet to learn more about the outdoor performance venue in West Baltimore, MD, also known as the Highway to Nowhere. The location of the festival will be on 52 acres of green space atop the highway.

Why participate:

ROOTS Fest 2011 is designed to attract a national audience of 25,000 to 35,000 people, the majority of whom will come from the Baltimore/Washington, DC metro area and the eastern seaboard. The outdoor festival performances offer an enormous opportunity for local artists to be seen by the local Baltimore and Washington, DC metropolitan community, a range of presenters, and a broad audience of people who appreciate local arts.

How to apply:

Alternate ROOTS is currently accepting submissions. Please fill out the attached form and submit a video of the actual selection/work you wish to perform. The selection/work can be up to a maximum of 10-12 minutes.  Please do not send video montages as your work sample.

The deadline to submit is: December 31^st, 2010.

Please note: Alternate ROOTS will make all selections of performers and artists for ROOTS Fest 2011 events.

Is there an artist fee?

Artists will receive a stipend, and other potential support such as per diem and housing, to participate in the Festival. Once programming decisions have been made all artists must submit a detailed list of their production requirements. Adequate production crew will be on hand: ROOTS Fest technical directors, lighting directors, sound & light board ops, stage management, etc. Any additional costs associated with the performance are the artists’ responsibility and will not be underwritten by Alternate ROOTS or ROOTS Fest 2011 organizers.

How do I get more information?

Send questions to:

Cheles Rhynes/MRP Inc.

Attn: Festival Producer

ROOTS Fest 2011

P.O. Box 5163

Capitol Heights, MD 20791

301-350-0092 wk/fax

301-980-0966 cell

staff@mason-rhynes.org

Check Out SoulBounce.com's Series on 30 Albums Celebrating 20 Years

Who were some of the artists you were listening to 20 years ago? Can you even remember that far back? When you think of soul music, think of some of the artists who were thriving on the charts and making the 90's one of the last decades of megastars who not only looked good but were talented as well?

SoulBounce.com is helping you take that trip down memory lane with their recent series (that ends soon) that showcases thirty of the top albums of 1990 that celebrated 20 years this year. Here are some of the albums already covered:

For the full list of albums reviewed and to read the posts on SoulBounce.com, click here. 

Who makes your own list of best remembered albums of 1990?

The Anthology of Rap is a New Book Highlighting the Past 30 Years of Rap

Writers Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois'  presented their book The Anthology of Rap to a packed house in Washington, DC at the historic Lincoln Theater this past Tuesday, and appearances by Common and Kurtis Blow brought the house down as the audience was treated to impromptu performances at the free event. Bradley and DuBois have edited an anthology that brings together more than three hundred lyrics written over 30 years, from the "old school" to the "golden age" to the present day and rappers Kurtis Blow, Kurtis Blow, Jr. and Common were on hand to talk about their own rap careers and how hip hop has transformed their lives.

Unfortunately, I had to leave this wonderful event, presented by the Smithsonian's African-American History Museum and Words, Beats & Life early, so I missed the later impromptu performance by the legendary Kurtis Blow and his son who performs internationally now. But from what I caught on Twitter, the performance of "The Breaks" was like that. If you are in the DC area and in the mood for more events centered around hip-hop, be sure to check out Words, Beats & Life's Remixing the Art of Social Change International Teach-In that is happening the rest of this week with workshops and events featuring the father of hip hop, DJ Kool Herc, and other notables.