Middle East/Mediterranean Calendar for September 2004

[To learn about getting events listed, email the Calendar Editor. Send all photos as small jpegs or gifs. All programs free unless otherwise noted.]


Sept. 2 (Thurs.), 8:00 p.m.—Andalusian/Middle Eastern Concert with the Anda-El, East-West Orchestra and the Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble

Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble, led by Hicham Chami, and the Anda-El, East-West Orchestra will merge for a U.S. tour under the artistic direction of Dr. Avi Eilam-Amzallag from Israel. Joined by Moroccan Munshid Abdelfattah Bennis and Moroccan-Israeli vocalist Lior Elmalich and professional musicians from eight different countries (U.S. Morocco, Egypt, India, Israel, Palestine, Syria and France), the ensemble performs North African, Middle Eastern, Turkish and Armenian music, and focuses on instrumental pieces. The Anda-El, East-West Orchestra is an unequaled phenomenon in the field of classical music in the world. The concert also includes Yoel Bensimhon's Sultana Ensemble.

Eretz-Siamak Cultural Center, 6170 Wilbur Ave., Tarzana, CA. Tickets $25-15. Order online at Ticketweb.



Sept. 3 (Fri.) 12 noon—Master oud player John Bilezikjian at California Plaza

Master oudist John Bilezikjian plays Armenian, Turkish, Arab, Greek, Israeli & Russian/Eastern European music. In the Grand Performances series, California Plaza, 350 S Grand Ave, Downtown LA. 213.687.2159.


Sept. 4 (Sat.), 7:30 p.m.—Free Persian Classical Music Concert and Fusion of Persian and World Music

Award-winning and internationally recognized Santur master Manoochehr Sadeghi, accompanied by Mehrdad Arabifard on the Tombak, Omid Tarbatian performing Ney and special guests, flamenco guitarist Adam del Monte and master Oud player John Bilezikjian and Andrew Werderitsch performing the Australian Didgeridoo and Afshin Max Sadeghi performing on the electric Santur.

This evening’s performance will consist of two different programs: Persian Classical Music: Free measured non-rhythmic (avaz) sections and rhythmic pieces, both composed and improvised, in a Persian mode (maqam). Fusion of Persian and World Music: Rhythmical and free measured selections, both composed and improvised, in familiar modes.

Grand Performances Watercourt, 350 Grand Ave. in DownTown Los Angeles (near Mocha & Disney Hall- bet. Grand Ave. and Olive St., North of 4th St.)


Sept. 5 (Sun.), 12 noon—Annual Summer Community Picnic in William Mason Regional Park, Irvine

Organized by the ADC (American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee) and PAWA (Palestinian American Women's Association) this picnic is free and open to the public. Barbeque foods and refreshments will be available for sale as this is a fundraising event for both PAWA and ADC. Just bring your appetite and a blanket!

Activities include volleyball, tarneeb and backgammon tournaments, games/sports for both adults and kids, a raffle and more. Come and visit the Levantine tent for free mint tea!

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO RSVP TO 323.650.7010 no later than Friday, 12 noon, so we can let our friends in Orange County know approximately how many people will be coming from the Levantine list.

Directions to William Mason Regional Park, Shelter #4, 18712 University Dr., Irvine, CA. 92612:
Take the 405 Fwy South, exit at Culver Drive in Irvine, head south to University Drive; the park is at the corner of Culver and University. For more info, call 949.365.6910.


Sept. 8 (Wed.) 9 p.m.—Sarah Aroeste Live in Concert at Temple Bar

Sarah Aroeste is best known for her funky fusion of Spanish, Mediterranean and American musical styles. Inspired by her family's cultural heritage--orginally from Spain and later settling in Salonika, Greece-- the Aroeste sound combines and updates aspects from her unique family background. Most influenced by the music and language of her Spanish roots, Aroeste grounds her music in Ladino, or castillian Spanish, the language originated by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. This medieval form of Spanish was carried by Spanish Jews to the various points where they later settled, primarily along the Mediterranean coast and North Africa. In time, ladino came to absorb bits and pieces of languages all along the Mediterranean coast, including Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Hebrew.

Temple Bar, 1026 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. 9:45 p.m. Tickets $5. More info 310.393.6611.


Sept. 10 (Fri.) 7:30 p.m.-midnight—Rhythms of L.A.'s "First Fridays" World Music/Dance Celebration

Rhythms of L.A. is an evening of live performances reflecting the astonishing variety of music and dance in Los Angeles. Move to the beats of samba, salsa, Moroccan, funk, jazz, hip-hop, New Orleans R&B, techno and tango. Kick off the night with free salsa and tango dance lessons and enjoy a very special tribute to L.A. jazz legend Buddy Collette. Cash bar provided by Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events.

Featuring performances by: Mr. B and the Men of Big Bamboo, Guitar virtuoso Omar Torrez, Frit and Frat Fuller of Kin Dance Company, Brazilian songstress Flávia de Mellow, Maestro Boneco's Capoeira Brasil, Melida & Company of the Jubilant Voices Gospel Choir, The sultry tango of Moti Buchboot and Mariana Galassi, Tap-master Chance Taylor, Eleni Calevas & Da Bling Bling Thangs, Belly-Dancer Anahata, Naked Rhythm DJs Alex Spurkel and Avi Sills, Brazilian DJ Geisan Varne. And surprise guests.

Natural History Museum. Located at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Click for a map. General admission $15, Museum members $12, Students (w/ ID) $10. Tickets at www.ticketweb.com or by phone at 866.468.3399. For more information call 213.763.DINO.


Sept. 10 (Fri. ) 6 pm—Reception for the Peter Rodger Photo Exhibit at Farmani Gallery

Peter Rodger grew up looking through a camera lens. As a teenager, the award-winning British director and photographer honed his skills by assisting his father, George Rodger, the renowned photo-journalist and co-founder of Magnum Photos.

After completing his education at England's Maidstone College of Art, Rodger has shot art, documentary and commercial photography in over forty different countries. Get a closer look at the beauty of some of his fine art photography online at PeterRodger.com.

Reception for the artist at Farmani Gallery. 844 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles 90035. Ph. 310.659.0122. Gallery hours Mon-Fri, 11 a.m-7 p.m.



Sept. 11 (Sat. ) 6 pm—Roya Kakakian Reads from Journey From the Land of N0: A Girl Caught in Revolutionary Iran

Roya Hakakian recalls her childhood and adolescence in prerevolutionary Iran with candor and verve. The result is a beautifully written coming-of-age story about one deeply intelligent and perceptive girl’s attempt to Änd an authentic voice of her own at a time of cultural closing and repression. Remarkably, she manages to re-create a time and place dominated by religious fanaticism, violence, and fear with an open heart and often with great humor.

Hakakian was twelve years old in 1979 when the revolution swept through Tehran. The daughter of an esteemed poet, she grew up in a household that hummed with intellectual life. Family gatherings were punctuated by witty, satirical exchanges and spontaneous recitations of poetry. But the Hakakians were also part of the very small Jewish population in Iran who witnessed the iron fist of the Islamic fundamentalists increasingly tightening its grip. It is with the innocent confusion of youth that Roya describes her discovery of a swastika—“a plus sign gone awry, a dark reptile with four hungry claws”—painted on the wall near her home. As a schoolgirl she watched as friends accused of reading blasphemous books were escorted from class by Islamic Society guards, never to return. Only much later did Roya learn that she was spared a similar fate because her teacher admired her writing.

Barnes & Noble, 10850 W Pico, West LA. 310.475.4144.


Sept. 15 (Wed.), 8:00 p.m.—Progressive Islam Speakers Series Features Playwright Jamil Khoury

Jamil Khoury discussesthe inspiration for "Precious Stones," and gives his thoughts on the subject of "Progressive Islam" at Occidental College.  Khoury is co-founder and artistic director of Silk Road Theatre Project, a capacity to which he brings experience as a playwright and an advocate for the performing arts. Khoury holds a M.A. degree in Religious Studies from The University of Chicago Divinity School and a B.S. degree in International Relations from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He has studied playwriting with playwright, Claudia Allen, at The Theatre School of Victory Garden’s Theatre. As an artist, his work focuses on Middle Eastern themes and questions of Diaspora. He is particularly interested in the intersections of culture, national identity, sexuality, and class.

His play, “Precious Stones”, was the inaugural production of Silk Road Theatre Project. “Precious Stones” received staged readings at The University of Chicago and De Paul University prior to being selected by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs to kick off the 2003 theatre season in the Studio Theatre of the Chicago Cultural Center. “Precious Stones” also earned Khoury Gay Chicago Magazine’s 2003 After Dark Awards John W. Schmid Award for Outstanding New Work. His first play, “Fitna: Chaos As Woman in the Arab World,” was produced at the University Theatre of the University of Chicago and received a staged reading at Chicago’s Bailiwick Repertory Theatre.

As a global business consultant, Khoury has worked as an international relocations/cross-cultural trainer for Fortune 500 clients and has facilitated programs for over 45 countries around the world. He has also lectured extensively on Arab and Muslim-Americans in the aftermath of 9/11, and conducts both diversity and anti-violence workshops. He is a part-time instructor for The University of Chicago Graham School for Liberal Studies, where he develops courses in Middle East Studies. Khoury has worked and traveled throughout the Middle East. Most notably, he served as a Refugee Affairs Officer for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Time and place at Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road (Eagle Rock), Los Angeles, CA. 90041, TBA.   Check with the Occidental College web site. More info, call 323.259.2621


Sept. 16 (Thurs.), 8:00 p.m.—"Precious Stones," a play by Jamil Khoury

This exclusive performance, one night only at Occidental College, features Jenn Sava Ryan and Sheri Winkelmann in a story of unexpected passion. "Two women, one Jewish, the other Palestinian, join forces to form a dialogue group, only to find themselves falling in love." Directed by Gregory Gerhard, as written by Jamil Khoury, artistic director of Chicago's Silk Road Theater Project, "Precious Stones" is sponsored by Occidental College's Progressive Islam Series and the Values and Vocations Project, and is funded by the Lilly Foundation.

Jamil Khoury’s "Precious Stones" boldly examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the "safe" yet turbulent terrain of American Diaspora. Set in Chicago in 1989, the story unfolds against a backdrop of disturbing images, as the first Palestinian intifadah rages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Two women, one Jewish, the other Palestinian, join forces to organize an Arab-Jewish dialogue group, only to find themselves falling in love. As they each cross "enemy lines," they stumble upon the disputed territories of sexuality and class. The political finally confronts the personal, as Andrea, the barely middle class Jewish lesbian, and Leila, the married, upper class Palestinian, discover new lines in the sand, once again raising the specter of difficult negotiations, painful compromises and distant resolution.

"Precious Stones" illuminates for audiences the acute sense of pain, sadness and loss that characterizes Jewish and Palestinian lives. It reveals the narratives of persecution and suffering that prevent both peoples from moving beyond their troubled memories and toward a new narrative of peace and reconciliation. While consciously challenging American perceptions and stereotypes, "Precious Stone"is ultimately about exploring the symbiotic relationship that binds Arabs and Jews together. In dramatizing the fear, insecurity, anger, and hurt that permeate this complex relationship, the play uncovers the layers of familiarity, hope, kinship and eroticism that inevitably strengthen it.

Sycamore Glen at Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road (Eagle Rock), Los Angeles CA. 90041. Free and open to the public. For more about the play click here. More info, call 323.259.2621. To read a review of this play, click here.


Sept. 18-Oct. 10 (Sat.), 8 pm—Armenians in Los Angeles, An Evening of Five One-Act Plays

An evening of five original one act plays (in English and Armenian), including "Close the Light" by Anais Thomassian; "The Emptiness" by Alfred Eisaian; "Vort" (Worm) by Shahe Mankerian; "10 Past 7" by Lory Bedikian; "khenamakhos" (The Dinner) by Lilly Thomassian

September 18, 19, 25, 26 and October 2, 3, 9, 10. Saturdays 8 p.m., Sundays 6 p.m. AGBU Alex Manoogian Center Theater, 2495 E. Mountain St., Pasadena, (corner of Mountain & Altadena). Donation $10. For reservations call 626.794.7942.


Sept. 25 (Sat.), 8 pm—Kan Zaman Classical & Folkloric Concert

Kan Zaman Community Ensemble is one of L.A.'s great Middle East treasures for classical & folkloric Arabic music.

Lake Avenue Church, 393 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101. (The church is located on Lake Ave. and the 210 Freeway.)

General Admission: $15 ($12 for seniors and students). Free childcare for children under 10.

For Tickets and Information, please call Dina @: 626 .817.4574
or e-mail Kan Zaman.

You can also call Abu Bakr Eltawansy @: 323.259.8824 or George Haddad @: 323.957.9069.


Sept. 26 (Sun.), 2:00-5:00 p.m.—Reception for "Tracing Identity: An Insider's View of the L.A. Armenian Community," a photo essay by Ara Oshagan

Ara Oshagan's "Traces of Identity: An Insider's View of the L.A. Armenian Community, 2000-2004" is a photo essay curated by Charlie Hachadourian. From family retreats at Big Bear Lake, inmates in Ironwood state prison, and church services in Pasadena, to demonstrations on East Hollywood streets, a youth party in Studio City, a drug-rehab center in Palmdale and a convalescent home in Eagle Rock, among others, the exhibit brings together the strands of a diverse and vibrant Armenian presence across the breadth of the greater Los Angeles area. It addresses issues of identity and displacement common to many immigrant communities.

“Armenians are an extremely diverse community in Los Angeles, although they are united in the common tragedy of the 1915 genocide,” says project director, Dr. Donald E. Miller of USC. “Currently, there are about 250,000 Armenians living in Los Angeles, the largest concentration of Armenians living outside the Republic of Armenia. 'Traces of Identity' captures both the vitality and complexity of this community and powerfully raises the question, 'What does it mean to be Armenian in the 21st century?'"

Oshagan’s photos are intimate images of everyday life. “I know almost everyone I photograph — if not personally, then through a family or community connection,” says the Beirut-born photographer who is also a longtime resident of Los Angeles’ Armenian community. “This allows me a unique portal into their lives and a shared intimacy.” Visit the web site.

Opening Reception, Sunday, September 26, 2 - 5 pm. September 24 - December 31, 2004. Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 4800 Hollywood Blvd. (near Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90027, Gallery phone: 323.644-6269. Gallery hours: Friday - Sunday, 12 - 5 pm.


Oct. 2 (Sat.), 2-6 p.m.—"Sharq" (East), A Reception and Exhibit for Kurdish Artist Tahir Fatah

A space devoted to the work of bicultural artists featuring a survey of the works of Kurdish Tahir Fatah.
Tahir Fatah was born in Kurdistan and is a graduate of the Baghdad Institute of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. He has had exhibitions in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Read an interview with Tahir Fatah.

Studio of Nahid Massoud. Opening 2-6 p.m., Sat, October 2. Exhibition by appointment, Oct. 2-17.
Studio location: 537 Arbramar Avenue, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. Phone 310. 454. 6826/459. 6041.
Email RSVP to Nahid Massoud or email Robert Rosenstone for more info.

Directions: Sunset Blvd one block west of Temescal Canyon. Turn left on El Medio, go four blocks. Turn right on Miami Way. Turn left at first corner, Arbramar. 537 is fourth house on the right. SHARQ is located down the driveway at the back of the property.


Oct. 3 (Sun.), 7 p.m.—The Angam Al-Rafidain Iraqi Maqam & Chalgi Baghdadi Quartet Live in Los Angeles, One Night Only!

Now, one of the top groups in Iraq is coming to Los Angeles for one night only! Angam Al-Rafidain performs beautiful and vibrant music in the authentic Iraqi maqam and Chalgi Baghdadi tradition. Don't miss your chance to hear some of the best music from the Middle East in this exclusive concert, just a few blocks south of the Hollywood Bowl...

The quartet includes Taha Gareeb Al-Alak, maqam vocalist and jozza player; Sabah H. Ghali: maqam vocalist and santoor player; Mohammad Khalil Salih, percussion (one of the most famous drummers in Iraq, he also plays the very special Iraqi musical instrument, khisba); and Kais A. R. Mahdi: maqam vocalist and rikk player.

Special guest artists to be announced!

Complete information about the group in English. Complete information in Arabic.

At the Hollywood United Methodist Church, 6817 Franklin Avenue, at the corner of Highland, L.A. 90028. Ample parking on premises. Church phone: 323.874.2104. Advanced info phone: 310.559.5544.

Directions: From the 101 Freeway, exit at Highland, go south to Franklin, turn right into the first driveway.

Tickets: $20 Preferred/VIP, $15 General Admission, $10 Students/seniors. Advanced purchase recommended. You may also purchase tickets at the door [cash only]. Click here to purchase your tickets in advance.

This concert cosponsored by CodePink: Women for Peace with support from the World Festival of Sacred Music - Los Angeles.


Special Announcements

Volunteer with Levantine Cultural Center's Programming Committee

Bring your ideas, enthusiasm and support to the Center by participating in a new Programming Committee, that will cooperate with our Board of Directors in creating new arts programs in the weeks and months ahead. To get on the reservation list for the next meeting, email us now!


Board of Directors Seeks Community Leaders

Levantine Center's Board of Directors is continually in formation, and welcomes inquiries—we are actively searching for more people with our passion and conviction! The board consists of diverse members of the community who are of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean heritage or who have a strong professional or artistic interest in furthering our mission. As directors, board members represent the organization officially, are responsible for its financial health, and make the priority strategic decisions, with counsel from Advisory Board members where possible. Board members work with activists heading specific committes, including the Film/Video, Literary, Education Performing Arts and Membership Committees.

Our Advisory Board is also in formation. Advisory board members are known professionally in their own communities and offer valuable counsel and services to the organization; they are eligible to attend the organization's annual retreat and receive other benefits.

Please contact us at 310.559.5544.

Submit your calendar listings to our calendar editor now.


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To join/support Levantine Cultural Center, simply go to our membership page and fill in the blanks, use your credit card, or print and mail in your check for $120 annual membership dues (that's just $10 per month! and you'll receive many discounts and a pair of free tickets to an upcoming event, a minimum $40 value) to: Levantine Center, 8424A Santa Monica Blvd., N. 789, West Hollywood, CA 90069.

LEVANTINE CULTURAL CENTER
Cultures of the Middle East & Mediterranean
8424A Santa Monica Blvd., N.789, West Hollywood CA 90069
310.559.5544, info@levantinecenter.org

Levantine Center advocates for, educates about, and in general promotes and supports Middle Eastern and Mediterranean contemporary arts and traditional cultures. We present or cosponsor programs of music, literature, art, film/video, publications, new media and more, often from educational and historical perspectives. While acknowledging the value of entertainment, we emphasize scholarship and substance. We are strongly multidisciplinary and non-sectarian, do not embrace any political or religious doctrine, and are committed to the principle of cross-cultural cooperation. We support the strengthening of ties between all cultural, ethnic and religious communities of the Middle East/West Asia/Levant, as well as between all peoples of Middle Eastern descent in diaspora.

 
See what Levantine Center has been up to and take note of other recent cultural events.

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