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Diaspora Dances in Santa Monica to be Webcasted Live

photo by Keith Weng
I think we all learned that the United States is a melting pot of people and cultures and that it began that way and continues in that direction, in spite of recent immigration hassles. Award winning choreographer/director Keith Glassman has taken off from that fact and created Far From Home, a multimedia, interdisciplinary evening length piece he will premiere this weekend at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica (June 26-27). In foreign and familiar languages and with movement ranging from enigmatic gesture to shout-and-holler Krump dancing, Glassman says that the intergenerational multi-ethnic cast of eleven reveals some of the secrets of cultural endurance. Hmmm . . . . Collaborating artists include videographers Jerome Thomas and Ian Zinn, Klezmatics composer Frank London, costume designer Marcus Kuiland-Nazario and installation artist Pat Payne. Musical accompaniment ranges from Klezmer to Mexican corridos to calypso, with a shot of taiko also in the mix.
Glassman has shown work across the country (NY and points between) and is now settled in LA. His art has been supported by a variety of public and private resources. Promotional materials claim that Far from Home is way more than ethnic dancing and that it draws on Glassman’s probing thoughts about how humanity survives within the ever-widening bounds of globalization, imperialism, geographical impermanence and our search for the American Dream. Most of the Saturday performance will also be streamed live on the net and there's an interactive blog inviting as many folks as possible to post images and stories about their backgrounds on it.
Check out these youtube bytes and migrate over to Highways this weekend!
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