On arrival from South Africa by road on the 23^rd, the participants that same evening met with the UCD Partner – Morija Arts and Cultural Festival, led by Thabo Leanya for an introductory meeting which also included Steve Gill who runs the Morija Museum of which the Festival is a part of. Also present was Patrick Rourke – a well known visual artist based in Morija who is in the process of beginning an artist studio in close collaboration with the community, which is how projects in Morija are mostly designed and work.

The first day of the meeting (24^th ) begun with a presentation which was a comprehensive overview of 2011 which included reports on partner to partner exchanges; Secretariat to partner visits; combined projects such as Harvest Time; identity and new publicity channels. The same day also involved detailed discussion about management and administration systems followed by a great visit with the partner organisationfor a tour of the Morija Museum and festival locations.

The second day focused even more on the planning for this year and next (2013) including already ongoing activities such as Harvest Time, new ones in the pipeline and those to be initiated. The year is going to see an increase in partner to partner exchanges with additional focus on those that can generate income for participating artists and the Network; a focus on developing saleable creative arts productions and activities that will continue to develop the UCD Network into a greater and stronger creative entrepreneur including building the artistic and organisational capacity of partner organisations.

On the second day, an Entertainment and Arts journalist, Lerato Matheka, visited the meeting and interviewed the Network Coordinator for an article in the local Lesotho paper. As soon as that article is available online, it will be shared here too. Lesotho is a beautiful country, very correctly referred to as the ‘Kingdom in the Sky’ because of the hills and mountains everywhere and it was a great location for an intense and productive meeting. Here’s to a great, creative, result-oriented 2012!

Special thanks to the Morija Arts and Culture Festival for the great welcome and hosting and to the Morija Guest House for a wonderful meeting location.

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Finally I am in Cape Verde, where I arrived three days after I was supposed to have, thanks to the airline i took, and went immediately to the island of São Vicente, where the Mindelact theatre festival, for which Jeff Hessney, the producer and public relations manager of UCD Network member association Raiz di Polon, volunteers every year, was in its last day, on which I had the opportunity to see the play “Bag Lady,” by Polish artist Malgosia Szkandera, who brought plastic bags into life with her hands, feet and head over the course of her hour-long performance.

Indeed, the metaphor of breathing life into plastic bags were evoked by Enano, the Spanish clown who was honoured in this year’s edition of the festival and whose spontaneous and unrehearsed performances on the streets of the city of Mindelo drew laughs and, indeed, wonder from all of those watching, myself included. Enano, whose closing speech at the festival brought him – and almost everyone present – to tears, incarnated the role of amnesia-stricken foreign hobo, policeman and chef, among other characters, during the festival, the fifth he has attended.

Bright and early the morning after the closing of the festival, I was dragged out of bed – fortunately, I must say – to the neighbouring island of Santo Antão, which, despite Jeff’s improbable description, really did prove to be something out of a fairy tale or the Lord of the Rings. While there, we interviewed a blind singer of cola boi, a dying musical style endemic to the island, about which Raiz di Polon is making a documentary, and tasted local foods accompanied by grogue, Cape Verde’s version of sugarcane rum. The otherworldly impression I had from being on Santo Antão was accentuated, in a way I could definitely have done without, by the harrowing boat ride back to São Vicente, when I bobbed along with the ship like a toy in a bathtub for more than hour while I tried to ignore how long we actually still had to go before we would arrive.

This trip to Cape Verde was made possible in part by Art Moves Africa.

Okay.. tell us about the award? What award was it and what is it awarded for? To?

Every year the Portuguese Language Theater Festival, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is currently in its fourth edition, distinguishes an artist who has stood out in the area of theater and the promotion of Portuguese-language culture throughout the world – literally we received the “FESTLIP Personality of the Year” honor for our “expressive contribution to Portuguese-language theater through dance, for [our] social work training young artists and for projecting Cape Verdean art on an international scale,” which was given in the opening ceremony of the festival. Last year the award went to Mozambican writer Mia Couto.

Congratulations on that. Is this the first time that you are receiving an award away from home? Away from Cape Verde that is? And how did the festival know about your work?

No, actually it’s the third time, if I recall correctly. In 2003, the dance piece “Duas Sem Três” won the Special Jury Prize at the 5^th edition of Dance en Création, the African and Indian Ocean Choreographic Encounters, held that year in Antananarivo, Madagascar and promoted by what was at the time called the Association Française por l’Action Artistique (AFAA). In 2005, the piece “Ruínas” won the silver medal in the category “danse de chorégraphie et d’inspiration traditionelle” in the 5^th edition of the Francophone Games, held in Niger. FESTLIP knew about our work because we participated in the first edition of the festival in 2008, on recommendation, as chance would have it, from the director of a Cape Verdean theater festival, which in 2008 also honored Raiz di Polon with the Copacabana Award for outstanding contributions to the stage arts in Cape Verde.

That’s pretty inspiring stuff. So, back to Brazil, who from Raiz was present for the award ceremony? Did it involve a performance or performances as part of the trip?

The entire company, minus dancer Bety Fernandes, who recently became a mother, was present. The international premier of our newest dance piece, “Cidade Velha,” took place as part of the festival as well.

Could you describe for us the actual award ceremony? (Paint us a picture!) Who was there? How was it structured?

The award ceremony was attended almost exclusively by other participants in the festival and representatives of the sponsoring entities, as well as a number of Brazilian television, film and theater actors, and the Cape Verdean Ambassador to Brazil and the Cape Verdean consul in Rio de Janeiro, plus a surprising number of Cape Verdean university students who made a point of being there.

Besides the award and performances, how was the rest of the trip? Any favorite parts of it?

Actually, the trip was very long, given the existence of only one flight between Cape Verde and Brazil per week – since the flight on the day we should have gone was full, we had to go a week early. A particular and pleasant surprise was finding out that Mayra Avellar, who works with UCD Network partner organization IBISS, also happens to be a member of the dance company Etnia, whose director, Carmen Luz, has worked with Bety Fernandes here in Cape Verde in the past. Mayra attended our final performance at the Nelson Rodrigues Theater in downtown Rio and was surprised as I was that we ran into each other like that. And Mano Preto, the Raiz di Polon dance company’s artistic director and choreographer, will be heading to Rio most likely in November of this year, for an exchange with Etnia, in which he will choreograph that company’s dancers, and next year Carmen will come to Cape Verde to work on a choreography for Raiz di Polon’s dancers.

So now you’re back… what’s the company busy with?

The usual – our dance school, which, in addition to its “home base” and the satellite schools, operated in partnership with the city of Praia, has now expanded to the city of Assomada, in the center of the island of Santiago, in partnership with the Santa Catarina de Santiago municipal chamber.

Good luck with all the projects you’re running, congratulations again and thanks for sharing this experience with us.

Check out the short video of their performance at the festival on our facebook page

performing arts group with UCAD, Rwanda UCD Partner

A post by Mutheu Mbondo, Coordinator, UCD Network

I met a business man yesterday who makes part of his money from investing in the arts. He identifies artists in the performing arts – theatre and music are his area of focus – and agrees to provide the artists with the initial money they need to sell their product with the agreement that he will make back a percentage of the profits. I was impressed by his clear business approach to the arts.

Although I am of the conviction some art projects will always need to be subsidised through grants, I am also certain that as the arts world, we could benefit from taking a more business, entrepreneurial approach, which is what we at the UCD Network are doing. The challenge for us as creative entrepreneurs is to raise part of our money from clearly commercial transactions (sale of high quality productions) and to even go further and begin to make profits out of our various arts products, which necessarily means that we must have products that are well packaged and ready to sell.

The challenge with this approach is how to keep the integrity of the art – ensuring a high quality is maintained – while at the same time making the work accessible to the general public who would be the greatest consumer. Michael Kaiser, the Director of the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts simplifies the formula for successful arts as “good art + well marketed”.  The marketing aspect of course points back to the need for a strong business approach. The conviction for me as the week begins is that we could use more and more of this approach if we want to become sustainable, something that must happen if the arts are to survive.

Your thoughts?

By John Owoo, Noyam

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Noyam African Dance Institute, (UCD partner) and Ghana Dance Ensemble will this Friday, August 5^th, be performing the piece “The Pyramid of Hope”, choreographed by the US Virgin Island Choreographer Monty Thompson.

The piece captures the spirit of African artistic and cultural values that are effectively expressed in images and other forms, spread across the old and new African worlds. It is a fresh and engaging look at the issue of connections between Africans on the continent and the activities of other Africans who are outside Africa owing to mass migrations, displacements and personal movements. “Pyramid of Hope” bridges the gap between the people on the continent and their brothers and sisters in the diaspora.

The young, exuberant dancers taken from the two dance companies, celebrate joy, pain, aspirations and experiences of the many years of separation of a family which then re-unites in the shape of a pyramid – a representation of hope and achievement.

Thompson, the choreographer is the artistic director of Caribbean Dance Company in the US Virgin Islands, and is no stranger to collaborations with Ghanaian companies and dancers. He is an outstanding choreographer in West Indian folk and modern dance and received part of his training at the famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. He is the author of exceptional choreographies that have received rave reviews from arts critics in the Caribbean. These include “Great MacDaddy”, “Dream of Monky Mountain” and “Tejeans”, which have been performed throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe.

The Ghanaian Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture in collaboration with the National Theater of Ghana are presenting the performance.

If you’re in Ghana on this date, make a date with this performance which promises to be interesting, engaging and insightful, exploring this issue that needs more and more engagement. This is the power of the arts – to enable us to reexamine and explore our world in new and interesting ways.

MARK THE DATE FOR THIS CONTEMPORARY DANCE PERFORMANCE:

Date: 5^th August

Location: The National Theater of Ghana

Piece: The Pyramid of Hope

Choreographer: Monty Thompson

Dance Companies: Noyam African Dance Institute and Ghana Dance Ensemble

Amy was an amazing singer – her voice was raw and her lyrics hard-hitting and honest. She had a different and unique look with her heavily tattooed body and her dramatic make-up. Her achievements included 5 Grammy Award wins making her the first British female to win that many Grammys according to Wikipedia. She won a BRIT award for Best Female Artist, 2007 and numerous other awards. Her death is a huge loss for the arts and entertainment world.

With her passing, we can draw several lessons from her life and death.

1. Be Uniquely Yourself. Amy was a unique personality. Several people in describing her, state that she was quite a “character”. Amy was not an easy package in the way that she presented herself or the lyrics that she sang; she was who she was. No apologies made. And she had a huge following by being exactly who she was.

2. Money is not everything. Amy obviously had both fame and the fortune that at times comes with that fame. She was wealthy. Yet, even having enough money was not enough; she clearly was deeply unhappy with life. Money is not and cannot be the only motivation for working.

3. Drugs will kill you. In the arts world, there is often the assumption that drugs are a part of the artists’ lifestyle. It’s almost glamorised at times. Thing is, honestly, drugs will kill you.

Rest In Peace Amy Winehouse.

This is an informal report of the second day of Festival Mundial from the Coordinator of the UCD Network who was in attendance. (go here for a report of the first day) Festival Mundial is organised by Mundial Productions based in Tilburg, NL, one of the partners of the UCD Network and the 24th edition was held on the 18th and 19th june this year. (Congratulations to Mundial Productions!) This is the UCD Network Coordinator’s own experience and not of the entire Network.  We hope that it offers our readers a glimpse of the festivals that partners of the UCD Network organise annually. Festivals are a key aspect of the strategy of most of the UCD partner organisations, bringing together high quality arts, audience development, income generation and ultimately, impacting positively on development.

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moby

Multi-Cultural in the Shopping Space

Walking around in the bazaar area of Festival Mundial, I happened to stop at a table that to my absolute shock had stuff from shine shine, a south African designer! Here I was, face to face with Jackie-So and M.O-Baby and Julie-Juu… all characters in Shine Shine fabrics. I was so pleased. “The South is Blooming” the vender who had the fabrics, also had other arts and crafts pieces from South Africa. This is very much what festival mundial is about – it brings together all these people from different places and cultures to celebrate arts and crafts and music and culture and experience together.

This same diversity continues throughout the bazaar area that attracts interesting vendors, and also to the food venders who bring all tastes and styles from all over the world. You can find Vietnamese noodles beside American-style hamburgers to Thai food to sweet cupcakes from the cupcake bus with cappuccino made from fair trade coffee. Very cool beans! Literally. Well, back to the music… here, i’ll go quick; in summary form.

Summary of Some of the Acts

Shantel & bucovina club orkestar was great and had the floor pumping with the audience jumping up and down on the fontys stage. M. Of south africa who i was with for the show, was quite surprised that some of the most popular pieces they did were really very traditional balkan folk songs that had been given a new funky beat. People sang and danced along.

Magic system, which played at the same time as shantel, also had a large crowd. Their instruments section was great and they have four men singing up front. At first, I thought there would be a main singer but it really is that the four seem to sing together most of the time and it works mavellously.

At some point, as i was randomly walking around, i went into the “Here Be Dragons” stage and stumbling into a performance by Marvin Manyaka who is this young kid out of South Africa who plays the piano, especially jazz, like a maestro. The reason i know him is through M. Of south africa who’s organisation, the Cultural Development Trust (part of our network!) Works with artists to help them professionalise.

Later as i continued my stroll around, I heard a sound coming out of the Fontys stage that reminded me so much of Bjork, that singer from Iceland that I used to like quite alot. I didn’t quite find out which group was performing but it was great to be thrown back to my Bjork loving days!

Finally – Disco Under The Open Sky – Moby

Moby (yes. Its the moby) says, “for this next song, i’d like each one of you to jump up and down like a crazy person”. And you know what? We all obeyed instructions! All 30,000 of us jumped up and down like mad! It was fantastic. Moby was the closing act and main headliner for festival mundial this year and he was great. The beats; the disco; the lights; the energy; us jumping up and down like mad and his very humble continuous and repeated, “thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you” like a beat.

Moby really made the night. He is surprisingly accessible when he performs. You get the feeling that he is really close to the audience – no airs; just out to have a pumping great time with the music and the audience. It felt like he’d invited us 30,000 people to listen to him and to dance with him and his band. The lights were dancing, flashing bright, hard and soft, changing colours, powerful stuff… And there i was in that mass of people, grateful to be here. At some point moby asked us to reach for the sky and told us something about taking or catching a star and that was beautiful – yes, we all reached for heaven!

Big-up to Our Partner, Mundial Productions

I love Festival Mundial; the quality of it was absolutely stellar (M. Of South Africa agrees). My sense at every stage was “wow! fantastic. Those musicians are really very good”. Then I’d go to the next stage and I’d be thinking it again: “gosh, this band is completely world class!” Then I’d go to the next stage and the next and each time, I would be amazed by the quality and calibre of performance.  And this is what our network is about – bringing arts into people’s lives in meaningful and powerful ways. This festival brings many cultures into one space and celebrates that. I am really very proud to be part of this excellent initiative – the United Cultures for Development Network and I am very proud of our partners.