Public Talks and Conferences
Public Talks:
COMMONWEALTH SPEAKERS: 2010-11 Season of Presentations
The humanities are about sharing powerful stories and exploring big ideas. The Commonwealth Speakers program offers humanities-based presentations to nonprofit organizations across the Commonwealth. From sessions on African American storytelling, to Pennsylvania German hoe-downing, to Pennsylvania environmental history, thousands of Pennsylvanians enjoy these presentations each year.
Types of Presentations
The 2010-11 Commonwealth Speakers line-up features more than 80 Speakers—selected for their demonstrated expertise and their ability to engage an audience. While Speaker presentations are incredibly diverse in terms of topic and format, they all share a common feature—the opportunity for audiences to come together and learn from each other.
Due to globalization and immigration, physical distance is no longer a barrier between different societies throughout the world. It is important that we understand the different individuals we now are more likely to encounter. From discussions of Mexican identity, to demonstrations of African folklore, these talks shed light on the cultures that make up the human community.
"Mexican Identity in the XXI Century"
This presentation explores the rich spirituality of Aztec dance. After the Spanish unsuccessfully attempted to eradicate the native cultures of Mexico (including their spiritually-powerful dance and music), they decided to mix aspects of Mexican indigenous traditions with their Catholic traditions. Some native Mexican people used this as a way to preserve mystical and spiritual aspects of Mexican indigenous wisdom. This talk explores Mexican identity and culture and also features a short documentary on the contemporary Aztec dance troupe of which Brujo de la Mancha is the founder. De la Mancha also explains the significance of clay flutes in traditional dance, and plays traditional melodies on flutes that he has made.
Equipment: Chalk board, DVD player, laptop computer, LCD projector, microphone (multidirectional, if possible), overhead projector and screen.
Speaker
Brujo de la Mancha, Philadelphia
Teaching Artist
Key to Presentations
F Family/Younger Audiences
H Hands-on/Active Participation
L Lectures
P Performances
http://www.pahumanities.org/resources/speakers.php
http://www.pahumanities.org/resources/presentations.php?cat=14
Our Stories, Our Traditions, Our Health: Making it Better Part 1 of 3
The 2nd Annual Philadelphia Immigration Cultural Conference (PICC): 4/25/2009 at Temple University.
The objective of the conference is to bring students from around the city to address issues that immigration brings to youth. This year PICC feature seminars on topics centered on the themes of immigration culture, education, and policy. We find these topics to be important areas to address because they all deal with the impact of immigration on America and more specifically to students. Ollin Yoliztli Calmeca perform and I give a talk about "Identity in the XXI century
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Scribe Video Center & The Society for Cinema and Media Studies Latinos/a
and African-American Caucus: 03/07/2006 Philadelphia
Talk and Discussion about the creation of the Video Documental “Aztec Dance in Philadelphia” as a part of a monthly screening series, called “Storyville” and national conference in Philadelphia.
This video is available for purchase as part of a Community Visions compilation DVD.
Meaning “School of Blood Moving in the Heart” in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, Ollin Yoliztli Calmecac is a dance and cultural troupe based in the heart of South Philadelphia. A visually captivating portrait of the group told through their own voices, Aztec Dance in Philadelphia raises questions about indigenous history and the retention of cultural heritage in the context of modern immigration. “We consider it a school because we are learning about the culture we have lost,” says one of the group’s members. The dancers of Ollin Yoliztli Calmecac bring their audiences a pre-Columbian heritage with roots in central Mexico. Kept alive by modern keepers of the culture like those in this trilingual Spanish/English/Nahuatl documentary, Aztec dance has followed the paths of contemporary Mexican immigrants into the United States. That migration has brought Aztec culture here, to Philadelphia. Aztec Dance in Philadelphia is an engaging resource for educators teaching modern immigration and a colorful testament to the resilience of indigenous cultures.
http://www.scribe.org/catalogue/aztecdancephiladelphia
Institution for Cultural Partnership (ICP). Does it Run in the Family?
Community Oriented Family Health History: 4/5/2006 Harrisburg
Arts, Storytelling and Healing: Aztec Healing Dances Talk and video presentation “Aztec dance in Philadelphia”
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Conferences:
Philadelphia MALI-PCA Leadership Development Workshop 2008
Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) fueling the diversity of arts, connecting and building community across cultures in Silicon Valley and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) program Preserving Diverse Cultures created the Leadership Development Workshop to collaborate with multicultural arts leaders to developments and strengthening and further our multicultural arts leadership.
5th Annual PA Migrant Students General Assembly: Student Leadership Institute: 7-31-2008 Harrisburg
Invited as observer by the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs and the Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program, in Association with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, as part of the 19th PA Migrant Student Leadership Institute.
Americans for the Arts, Preserving Diverse Cultures Track in Philadelphia: 2008 June 19 - 22, 2008
http://www.americansforthearts.org/
Open Dialogue X, The Association of American Cultures, Preserving Diverse Cultures Track in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2006 August 18 - 21, 2005