REVIEW: Shift Talent Showcase

Pendleton was completely packed with people on Thursday, November 16th at 7 PM. And more kept pouring in, so much so that chairs ran out and some people had to stand near the walls; not that they particularly minded, given the spectacular pieces of visual art that encircled the room. Shift, a showcase of immigrant and refugee narratives as well as a celebration of various cultures, expressed through various art mediums, was a resounding success.

Redefine, a student organization that aims to connect social justice work and creative expression, worked for weeks on planning this event in collaboration with Zeta Omega Eta, Refugees to College, Students Organize for Syria, Iraqi Student Association, and Call for Humanity. As a member of the club, I have watched the e-board members tirelessly work towards creating this first-ever event. Their hard work evidently payed off; the atmosphere was both lively and somber at respective points in the night, though the overall vibe was one of warm receptivity.

Mariam Reda and Komel Khan, co-president and artists chair of the club, respectively, were the MC’s of the night. Mariam outlined how the event originated out of the current tumultuous campus climate, and how it is more important than ever to listen to the narratives of others. They emphasized how this event aimed to provide an alternate means of accessing those narratives, namely through works of creative expression, including visual art, dance, spoken word, and film. A showcase of visual art, including photography and pencil drawings, was set up in the back of the room.

All of the performances and pieces were touching and powerful, two- and three-dimensional alike. A spoken word poem, performed by Maryam Younes, caused a hush to settle over the room, as her powerful performance on the immigrant experience of estrangement and assimilation captivated the audience; the exuberant Afro-Brazilian performance group ,UM Capoeira, brought smiles and laughter back into the room. Personally, there was one quote from Asrar, an immigrant from Sudan, that particularly affected me: “Christmas is special because even though they know that Santa is not real and people know it, they still pretend Santa is real. We don’t have a Christmas back home, nor snow. People know Santa is not real, but they still have hope. I think that this is really beautiful. I want people to see this photo and to keep up the pretending of Santa Claus and Christmas. This is not bad, this is beautiful.” For me, these simple words of pure joy and enthusiasm for the future brought actual tears to my eyes, ones that I quickly blinked away. This quote was excerpted from one of the pieces from the JPS Refugee Photo-voice Project, “Resettlement Through the Eyes of Refugees”, and the accompanying photos-and-quotes were just as moving. There were messages of hope, of jaded dreams, of hardships.

This night was very special, and it was awesome to be able to inhabit a shared space focused on broadening one’s perspective in a respectable way. Hopefully Redefine will bring similarly necessary and powerful events to campus in the future.

PREVIEW: Shift Talent Showcase

Art is a powerful tool for community awareness and social change, which is why Redefine, a student organization that connects social justice and the arts, has coordinated Shift, an event intended to highlight the immigrant experiences of students on campus, as well as to champion diversity within the Michigan community.

Shift will feature artists from the Middle East, India, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Brazil, as well as from many more areas. There will be narratives that center around the experiences of immigrants, refugees, and international students. The event will feature multicultural performances, a two-hour art exhibition, and FREE FOOD.

I am a member of Redefine, and I know that the e-board has been working tirelessly for the past few weeks in preparation for this upcoming event, partnered with the student organizations Zeta Omega Eta, Refugees to College, Iraqi Student Association, Students Organize for Syria, and The Call for Humanity. Please check it out! This event promises to be a spectacular night.

Event details:
When: Thursday November 16, 7-9PM
Where: The Pendleton Room at the Michigan Union
Cost: FREE!!!

REVIEW: Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers

It was a hole-in-the-wall with several …. well, holes in the wall. The Blind Pig, a music venue established in 1971, is a widely known destination of downtown Ann Arbor. Expecting nothing less than sticky floors, unidentifiable smells, and a room with wall-to-wall people, The Blind Pig did not stray far from my preconceptions. The only indicator that it wasn’t indeed the 70’s was the number of iPhones in the locus recording Snapchat videos and capturing photos of inebriated friends.

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The band Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers blended right into this timeless, nonconformist setting. Before their performance began, they handed out 3 ft long fake flowers to audience members. The stage was an amalgamation of rose-tinted glasses, floral patterns, and psychedelic lighting.

When Joe Hertler sang, I was immediately drawn to his voice. It possessed a familiar-sounding quality while being entirely new to my ears. The music itself crossed the lines of a number of genres, including: funk, rock, Americana, and folk. The group was eclectic and spread their euphoric energy among the crowd. Much of the audience was dancing along to their grooves and singing the words to their songs. Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers had a faithful following.

Normally when I check out a band I have never seen, I’m not overly bothered by not knowing every lyric or not knowing at least some of the words. However, regarding Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, if you plan to attend one of their performances, I would recommend listening to their music ahead of time. From my observation and conversation with another attendee, those that were there knew Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers; they knew their lyrics, the members, their history, and upcoming performances. As a newcomer, it took a few songs to process their presence and style. Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers are an authentic and lively bunch.

REVIEW: The Florida Project

I don’t remember my childhood. I have overwritten it, systematically burying the memories underneath grammar rules, history lessons, and math formulas. Over the years, they must have been packed away and eventually, lost altogether. The last remnants of my childhood are stashed away in old photo albums, recorded on a few VHS tapes, and retold in my parent’s stories.  All of this makes what The Florida Project accomplishes even more remarkable. The Florida Project is the latest offering from writer and director Sean Baker, whose filmography includes Tangerine, the movie best known for being shot only on iPhone 5s. It was a radical new approach that seemed to prove that modern technology could enable filmmakers to succeed outside of the Hollywood system. Although his new movie may have been created with more traditional tools, Baker has remained very much an outsider by continuing his focus on the lives that are sidelined by other films.

The Florida Project is unique in that it revolves entirely around the perspective of 6-year-old Moonee as she romps around the confines of the budget hotel that is her home and the surrounding community a little bit outside of Disney World. Through her eyes, the world becomes wondrous. The shabbiness and the rampant commercialization of the area falls away to reveal something magical that has nothing to do with Mickey Mouse or fried turkey legs.  Everything around Moonee is huge and exaggerated in bright colors that one could almost believe that it is truly a land created entirely from imagination. There is a fantastic sequence that follows Moonee as she introduces her new friend Jancee to all of her favorite haunts. The children are dwarfed in every frame by larger than life buildings. One is a giant orange, another has a wizard’s head staring down from the roof, and then there is the ice cream shop, shaped, of course, like an ice cream cone. In an age of helicopter parenting, these kids are gloriously free from supervision and rules. They fill their mouths full of sweets and wander with an air of invulnerability. This is the essence of childhood, to be free of all the tiny little worries that nag at the mind of adults.

Yet, Baker never forgets the circumstances from which this freedom is borne. Moonee plays without restraint because her mother, Halley refuses to reign her in. Halley has not entirely grown up herself. She reacts to the world with the anger of a child that still expects to get whatever she wants. Halley’s immature impulsiveness often gets both her and Moonee into trouble.  Yet, we understand her too. This world of orange and purple sunsets seems full of endless possibility and no consequences. We are lured into the same mindset as Moonee and Halley. Providing the voice of reason is Bobby, the manager of the hotel. Willem Dafoe portrays a man that is equally torn between the realities of the world and the dream that is all around him. He manages his little kingdom with efficiency and empathy that indicates a man that is capable of much more. Yet, he chooses to stay, even as he is belittled by his lodgers and the privileged tourists that look down upon him. He becomes a parent, creating a true haven for child-like dreams to survive a little bit longer. There is something noble in trying to preserve something that is already lost. No one can remain a child forever, but perhaps in the syrupy Floridian air, time can be slowed down. The Florida Project proves that the mindset of a child is always accessible even long after we have forgotten the specific memories.

REVIEW: China NCPA Orchestra

What a performance!

I must admit, when I came to the auditorium, the one face I was most excited to see was Wu Man’s. Back home, my dad was a fan of Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Ensemble, so it was just such a pleasant surprise seeing her name in the UMS performances booklet. The main bulk of the pieces, however, was handled by the orchestra itself- she showed up in only one of the three performances.

But I’m not complaining!

While Wu Man’s solos were great, I couldn’t help but be ultimately infected by the overwhelming spirit and energy maintained by the orchestra throughout the entire show.

Anyway, back to the actual review. The theme was, I believe, exploration.  They started off with a virtuosic opera-style piece called “Luan Tan,” a stylistic experiment by composer Qigang Chen. Wu Man showed up for the second performance, Lou Harrison’s “Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra,” a package of 7 short pieces incorporating and exploring musical styles from all over the world. In addition to this performance, Wu Man played and improvised her very own “Leaves Falling Autumn,” with UM professor Joe Gramley. After intermission, the orchestra performed Brahm’s Symphony No. 4 in e minor, Op. 98, Brahm’s last composition for symphony.

The Good Stuff:

Luan Tan: In Qigang Chen’s own words: “Elements that usually appear in my works […] are almost completely absent, replaced by ceaseless rhythmic pattern, leaps of tiny motifs, and gradually accumulated force through repetitions.”

In my own words: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in a Chinese drama. Below I added the only sound recording file small enough to fit here. This melody was a motif repeated throughout the piece and it reminded me of chirping birds signalling the entrance of Snow White. A similar melody that was deeper, slower, and combined with clashing cymbals often followed this one, seemingly indicating the presence of dwarves.

Luan Tan excerpt

Lou Harrison’s “Bits & Pieces”: Each movement was a visual and auditory treat.

“Three Sharing” was the most interesting piece I saw. The only instruments in this piece, the pipa and the cello, weren’t actually played, but simply used. Wu Man rapped out a high pitched beat by drumming the base of her pipa while other cello musicians accompanied the rhythm with their own drumming.

Excerpt of Three Sharing

I liked the rest of the performances under “Bits and Pieces.” I could no longer tell whether I was hearing Middle Eastern, Chinese, or Western-style music because they were so expertly melded together. I simply allowed the music to wash over me.

Bits & Pieces excerpt

Overall, a highly recommended performance!

Standing ovation at the Hill Auditorium.

PREVIEW: The Florida Project

Sometimes, we go to the movie theater for escape, to fill our minds with images of far-off worlds and fantastic realities. We sit down and allow the screen to transport us away for two or three hours. In an industry full of reboots and sequels, The Florida Project, currently showing at the Michigan Theater, offers the tantalizing prospect of going somewhere altogether new. Moonee, a six-year-old girl, lives with her mother on the outskirts of the American dream in a hotel near Disney World. The movie follows Moonee over the course of one summer as she experiences the universal turbulence of growing up, but in a strikingly, unconventional living situation. Director Sean Baker’s previous work, Tangerine (2015), similarly chooses to see those in society that other films would sideline. He is also a filmmaker that is unafraid to take risks. Tangerine was gorgeously shot entirely on the iPhone 5. I am excited to see the latest work in what promises to be a very successful career.

The Florida Project will end its run at the Michigan Theater on Thursday, October 9th. Purchase tickets ($8 for students with ID) on the Michigan Theater website or at the box office.