San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival turns 30
Rachel Howard

Sunday, June 1, 2008


Chicos, listos?" Zenon Barrón's voice calls out through a sweaty studio in the San Francisco Dance Center. "Última vez, última vez!"

Rattling drums. Plaintive flute. Echelons of men march solemnly, their leader leaping fiercely about them. A circle of women hold up their hands as if to blow conch shells and flap their arms like bats. Finally, the king chooses a queen.

Ethnic Dance Festival brings global rhythms to S.F. stage
By Jennifer Modenessi
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 06/08/2008 12:00:45 AM PDT


FOR 30 YEARS, the Bay Area has been home to what is regarded as one of the best ethnic dance festivals in the country, and maybe the world.

"I've been in the United States for 23 years," says Ahmet Luleci, founder and artistic director of Pleasanton's CollageWest Dance Theatre, which will perform a modern medley of traditional Turkish regional dances in its first appearance in the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. "I've seen most festivals and workshops and I say this from the bottom of my heart — it's the best in the country."

ABADÁ-Capoeira at Ethnic Dance Festival
Cory Lopez, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

In a Mission District studio, a barefooted Brazilian woman in white pants steps to the front of a group of about 30 students.

Speaking almost entirely in Portuguese, the instructor dives into 90 heart-racing minutes of capoeira, a centuries-old Afro-Brazilian martial art.

"You gotta feel the rhythm," she says in English, pacing her students' moves with the beat of a tambourine. The students attempt to mimic every move of their teacher, master capoeira artist Márcia Treidler.

Hawaiian troupe's costumes are home grown
Ron Sullivan,Joe Eaton

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Halau o Keikiali'i gets part of its performance regalia from Hawaii. Raw materials for the rest grow right here in the garden of the APOP (Aloha Pumehana 'O Polynesia) Hawaiian Cultural Center, where members meet to learn, practice and make traditional food and hula clothing.

Traditionally, Hawaiian hula is sacred and hula plants - kinolau - are among the embodiments of the gods. The ti plant - "ki" in Hawaiian - is the kinolau of Ku, who protects against evil. The percussive ipu gourd is the kinolau of Lono, the spirit of fertility.