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Moroccan

Guedra Moroccan Dance Workshop

Date/Time: 
Mar 14 2010 1:30pm - 3:30pm
Price: 
$30 pre-register, $35 at the door
Where: 
Dance Garden L.A.
3401 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90039
near Atwater Village, Los Feliz, Silver Lake
street and metered parking

Rosa Rojas: guedra dancer and teacherRosa Rojas: guedra dancer and teacherGuedra is a ritual blessing dance from the Tuareg Berbers, or "Blue People". Guedra is performed to envelop all present with positive energy, peace and spiritual love.The rhythmical clapping, and chanting, and dancers finger's and hand movements all have their origin in ancient symbolism. The Blue People consider Guedra to be their direct contact the elements, spirit, and universe. It is their deepest expression of their souls and provides protection against a hostile environment and evil spirits. The Guedra is an Arabic word for cooking pot. The cooking pot was covered in animal skin to make a drum to be played in the heartbeat rhythm. Workshop is open to all!

The Guedra workshop will begin with counter clapping and chanting warm up. Students will learn two blessing and counter clapping rhythms. There will also be a T'bal (standing dance) warm up. we will than proceed with Guedra on the knees and sitting position, and explore the intricacies of the hand, and arm movements. The Symbolic gestures are designed to send out blessings to the future, past, and present; to the Sun, Earth, Water and Wind. Towards the end of the workshop we will combine all elements of the Guedra.

The History, Politics & Future of Arab Jews with Rachel Shabi

Date/Time: 
Mar 10 2010 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Price: 
Free to the public, donations or book purchase suggested. Doors open at 7 pm.
Where: 
Levantine Cultural Center
5998 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90035
street parking and in the underground lot
at the CVS across the street (until 10 pm only)


Arabs Jews, a Critical PresentationArabs Jews, a Critical PresentationVisiting Author Rachel Shabi Presents Her Book We Look Like the Enemy: the Hidden Story of Israel's Jews of Arab Lands

Jordan Elgrably introduces the evening with personal stories and a visual presentation.

Moroccan-Armenian Produces Short Film on Immigration

Subtitle: 
"Help Wanted" addresses universal issues

By Jen Reinhardt

"A Prophet": Birth of A Franco-Arab Gangster

Subtitle: 
French crime drama features North African actors, competes for Oscar

Omid ArabianOmid ArabianReviewed by Omid Arabian

Yuval Ron Ensemble Performs Mystical Mideast Fusion

Date/Time: 
Jan 31 2010 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Price: 
Suggested donation $20 (includes reception with the artists)
Where: 
All Saints Episcopal Church
132 North Euclid Avenue
Pasadena 91101

Yuval Ron Ensemble: with guests Najwa Gibran, Norik Manoukian, Miriam Peretz, Maya KarassoYuval Ron Ensemble: with guests Najwa Gibran, Norik Manoukian, Miriam Peretz, Maya Karasso


The Yuval Ron Ensemble will perform mystical music and dance of the Middle East. Celebrating the ancient cultures of the three Abrahamic faiths, this concert features musical director Yuval Ron on oud and Norik Manoukian on duduk and woodwinds, with Palestinian vocalist Najwa Gibran, and folkloric dancers Maya Karasso and Miriam Peretz.

Tickets available at the Middle East Ministry Table on Sundays or call 626.583.2734 and speak to Norma Sigmund.

Listen to music sample.

Levantine Center Launches "New Voices" Film Series with Franco-Tunisian Hit

Levantine Cultural Center Presents

New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema Series

THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN
A film by Abdellatif Kachiche


What: The Secret of the Grain (2008)
French, Arabic, and Russian with English subtitles. 151 minutes

When: January 21, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Film to be followed by a Q & A discussion and refreshments.

Where: Levantine Cultural Center @
The Goethe-Institut Cinema
5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100
Los Angeles CA 90036
(free parking after 6 pm)

Details: Tickets $12 general public/$10 LCC members

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: In this complex and moving portrait of a North African immigrant family in the south of France, aging protagonist Slimane Beiji is a divorced father down on his luck who seeks to change his fortunes by opening his own restaurant, serving his ex-wife's famous fish couscous. The family rallies around him, despite the financial hurdles they must overcome and the racial and class discrimination from local officials.

The Secret of the Grain

Subtitle: 
French feature film draws compelling portrait of North African life in France

 "La Graine et le Mulet" by Abdellatif Kachiche: your purchase in part benefits Levantine Cultural Center"La Graine et le Mulet" by Abdellatif Kachiche: your purchase in part benefits Levantine Cultural CenterReviewed by David Shasha

The precarious status of North African immigrants in France grounds the complex family drama that is "The Secret of the Grain." Taking its title from the savory fish couscous that is a signature dish of North African Arabs and Jews, the movie enters into the difficult world of one family led by a broken patriarch named Slimane.

Slimane works on the docks of an unnamed French city where his time as a laborer is about done. After working for over 30 years at the same place, he is now being moved out as labor costs are being slashed and he is now over 60 years old. We quickly learn that Slimane is divorced from his wife Souad and has a whole bunch of children and grandchildren. The film shows us a paterfamilias who is worn out, his family bursting at the seams and tensions everywhere. Souad complains that he is late with the alimony checks and his daughter Karima is fighting mightily with her two-year-old daughter to get her potty trained.

Creative Writing Classes, Saturdays at Levantine Cultural Center

Date/Time: 
Jan 9 2010 2:15pm - Mar 20 2010 5:15pm
Price: 
$120 for four workshops
Where: 
Levantine Cultural Center
5998 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90035
one block east of Crescent Heights, between Fairfax & La Cienega
ample street parking

Levantine Cultural Center in association with The Writing StudioTM offers ongoing classes in creative writing,

Bab'Aziz

Subtitle: 
Or, The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul
Reviewed by Jen Reinhardt


He who has faith will never get lost. He who is at peace won't lose his way.
—Bab'Aziz.

"Bab'Aziz" poster: your purchase in part benefits Levantine Cultural Center"Bab'Aziz" poster: your purchase in part benefits Levantine Cultural CenterWatching "Bab'Aziz" reminded me of how much I had become accustomed to Western cinematic conventions such as linear temporality and narrative structure. Akin to the dance of a whirling dervish (i.e. a Sufi Muslim ascetic), this film blends together a kaleidoscope of tales with breathtaking dreamscapes shot by celebrated Iranian photographer and cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari and an original musical score by Israeli composer Armand Amar. (The film costars Golshifteh Farahani.)

Co-written by Tunisian director Nacer Khemir, "Bab'Aziz" (2006) is the third and final installment of his "Desert Trilogy," and loosely follows the story of blind dervish, Bab'Aziz, and his granddaughter, Ishtar, as they embark on an eventful journey through the desert. Much like "A Thousand and One Nights," in which Scheherazade entertains the Prince with her tales and postpones her death by prolonging the ending until the following day, in order to keep Ishtar entertained on their search for the gathering of the Dervish that occurs once every thirty years, Bab'Aziz spins the story of a prince who one fateful day leaves his kingdom and becomes transfixed by his reflection.

Destiny Disrupted

Subtitle: 
A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes

By Tamim Ansary

Review by Tara Marie Good

A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes: your purchase benefits in part Levantine Cultural CenterA History of the World Through Islamic Eyes: your purchase benefits in part Levantine Cultural CenterIn 1940 Walter Benjamin wrote, "To articulate what is past does not mean to recognize ‘how it really was.' It means to take control of a memory, as it flashes in a moment of danger." For the German-Jewish Marxist philosopher that moment of danger was the Nazi march on Europe. The moment of danger that inspired Afghani born Tamim Ansary to articulate Islamic history in Destiny Disrupted was September 11th.

Destiny Disrupted is a historical narrative of the Islamic world addressing the chasm seen to separate Western and Middle Eastern histories. The main thesis presented by Ansary is that the history of Islam and the West are two parallel histories, which overlap at points, but are fundamentally separate. Claiming to represent a general Muslim perception, Ansary charts Middle Eastern history from the ancient world to the western colonial and economic expansion in the modern era.