Site Coordinators Speak About Soul Rhythms: Part 3

This is one of a series of blog entries by the Site Coordinators at our Neighborhood School Centers, who lead the location-based activities for the Culture Builds Community Projects. In this series, they are writing about Soul Rhythms, this year’s project, and the goals therein. 

Teresa 

Kiser PreK-8 School 

Kiser PreK-8 school sits as an anchor in old north Dayton . Lately Kiser has developed as a melting pot of diverse and newly developed cultures which represent the community. CBC is a vehicle which helps to bridge the gaps and educate the students and community on those cultures. Kiser would like to be an asset to support the immigrant-friendly city which the city of Dayton has established. We are very excited that CBC can be a key player in this direction.

FYI:

 

Neighborhood School Center Objectives:

 
Each school develops its own site objectives that reflect the opportunities, assets and needs of the school members and the neighborhood.  All of Dayton's Neighborhood School Centers are evaluated on the ability to progress the following goals:
- Improve student performance
- Improve quality of life in the neighborhood
- Attract families with school-aged children to the neighborhood
- Realign community resources to support youth achievement
- Sustain leadership and support for Neighborhood School Centers
- Develop in Dayton a replicable national model

Volunteer Spotlight: Wendell Banks

From time to time, we'd like to introduce you to some of the volunteers who are so vital to helping Cityfolk do all it does. First up is Wendell Banks, who is a new member of Cityfolk's Board. Banks was born and raised in the area, attending Wilbur Wright High School and the University of Dayton. He retired at the end of 2011 after 34 years as a civilian employee with the USAF, where he was a Director in the AF Research Laboratory.


RECORDING(S) I'M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW: Blue in Red by Gregor Hilden, Sometime Tuesday Morning by Johnny A and Black Rock by Joe Bonamassa

LAST THREE BOOKS I'VE READ: Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens, Life by Keith Richards and James Fox, and The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

FIRST CITYFOLK MEMORY: I'm pretty new to Cityfolk, so I'm looking forward the memories I've yet to make.

WHAT I ENJOY MOST ABOUT CITYFOLK: Live music! Dayton is incredibly lucky to have Cityfolk as part of its cultural mix.

FAVORITE LIVE MUSIC EXPERIENCE: The best live music experience is being on-stage and playing for a great crowd.  Over the years, I've played guitar on the same bills with people like with Don Felder, Eddie Money, and Lonestar.

FAVORITE COMFORT FOOD: Homemade split pea soup
 
FAVORITE PASSTIMES: I've been playing guitar since I was a teenager, and I play gigs around town once in a while.  I've amassed a collection of three dozen or so cool guitars.

DREAM VACATION: New Zealand

Site Coordinators Speak About Soul Rhythms: Part 2

This is one of a series of blog entries by the Site Coordinators at our Neighborhood School Centers, who lead the location-based activities for the Culture Builds Community Projects. In this series, they are writing about Soul Rhythms, this year’s project, and the goals therein. 

Danielle

Edison PreK-8 School 

Edison PreK-8 School is a Neighborhood School Center with a full-time Site Coordinator, employed by the YMCA, with the goal of connecting the community to the school for the enhancement of student education. This enhancement is provided through after-school programs, school-day programs, community and family nights, volunteers, and connection to community resources. 

Through the Culture Builds Community program, our students' learning will be enhanced through school-day and after-school programs, community connections, volunteers and the involvement of families and community member, culminating in the final performance. 

For the desired outcome, I would like to see the students at our school connecting with members of the community and to African American History though the dance form of stepping. I am very excited about the partnership with Central State University as many of our students may think about attending there, and this will give them a chance to be mentored by college students and make that connection to what college is like and how they can be involved in stepping at a college level.

Genticorum Cures the February Blues

Photo by Catherine Aboumrad

In just a week, we'll host one of the concerts I've been looking forward to the most all year: Genticorum. I love Celtic music, especially the lively beats of music from Quebec. Somehow the music almost always seems happy and buoyant, always ready to push the furniture against the wall and have a party. It's a great antidote for the February blues, and I'm ready for a dose on Saturday, February 25.

Genticorum has a sense of humor, which shows in their on-stage banter, their lyrics and even in their tunes. They collect and love to play "crooked" tunes: ones which add a beat or measure here and there, and don't quite come out evenly. That's dreadful if you're playing a contra dance, which are written to fit a standard piece of music. But it's delightful on the concert stage or in a session, because the crooked bits are almost like a little joke thrown in: they make you grin when you catch them.

RootsWorld did a great interview with Genticorum a couple years back, wherein they talk about their style and inspiration within traditional Quebecois music (and beyond). In a 2007 interview on the blog Bengal's Corner, Yann Falquet talks about the inspiration for some of their original tunes.

Join us on February 25 at Centennial Hall at Stivers School for the Arts to get your Genticorum shot of antidote against the February Blues. No prescription needed.

And the Grammy Goes To...

The 2011 Grammy Awards were handed out on Sunday night. Congratulations to the following Cityfolk 'alumni' who took home one of the coveted statues.


Best New Age Album
What's It All About
Pat Metheny
[Nonesuch]



Best Bluegrass Album

Paper Airplane
Alison Krauss & Union Station
[Rounder]


Best Regional Roots Music Album


Rebirth Of New Orleans
Rebirth Brass Band
[Basin Street Records]


Best Instrumental Composition

Life In Eleven
Béla Fleck & Howard Levy, composers (Béla Fleck & The Flecktones)
Track from: Rocket Science
[eOne Music]

Site Coordinators Speak About Soul Rhythms: Part 1

This is the beginning of a series of blog entries by the Site Coordinators at our Neighborhood School Centers, who lead the location-based activities for the Culture Builds Community Projects. In this series, they are writing about Soul Rhythms, this year’s project, and the goals therein. 

 

These five women are amazing advocates for all entities they represent: Dayton Public Schools, Fitz Center at University of Dayton, community service agencies (YMCA, UHS, East End Community Services) and, of course, Cityfolk!

Mario

Ruskin PreK-8 School

One of my roles at Ruskin is to make sure that the community gets to know the school as a resource for the neighborhood. Collaborations like this one with Culture Builds Community really allow us to shine. We recruit participants from our student body and their families and open the school up for rehearsals. We become a destination after school!

As we began planning for this year’s event, we looked at this as an opportunity to highlight the Ahiska Turkish families who are moving into the neighborhood and sending their children to Ruskin. We are fortunate to have East End Community Services as our partner, and their Community Organizer, Amanda Arrington, is a member of our team. Through Amanda’s contacts in the community, we are facilitating a strong grassroots effort, inviting the Turkish parents and neighbors to help us choreograph a piece that reflects their dancing heritage.

Our goal at the end of this project is that our Ruskin families and neighbors will have a greater appreciation of the heritage and customs our new residents bring to the table. Twin Towers in on its way to being one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city. We are thrilled to be able to play a part in joining all groups together in one big extravaganza!

Material Culture to focus on Latin cultures

Juan Dies

The Material Culture area of the 2012 Cityfolk Festival will feature Latino Ohio on Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1. Curated by Juan Dies, leader of the Chicago based band Sones de Mexico (which will be featured at the Festival), the area will feature a range of art forms including music, dance, foodways, visual arts, instrument making and more. The area will be located in a tent on St. Clair Street between Monument and First Streets. In addition to demonstrations and displays, there will be a small stage for workshops, lecture demonstrations and intimate performances.

Dies, who has worked extensively with Cityfolk's Culture Builds Community program, researched Latino arts in Ohio for the Ohio Arts Council in 2009, spotlighting gifted artists from around the state. The resulting Ohio Latino Arts Directory is housed on the Ohio Traditions website. There you can read Dies' final report as well as read artist profiles.

Traveling Land & Heart Through Music & Dance

by Rodney Veal, Artistic Director of Soul Rhythms

A local Turkish dancer is ready to take the stage
during Family Night at Ruskin School.

In planning the process and culminating performance of Soul Rhythms, I struggled with finding a common theme that would both unite the players on the stage as well as infuse the experience for audience members, bringing clarity to our vision phrase: traveling land and heart through music and dance.

I already knew that we would be embarking on a expanded journey with even more artistic partners and community partners than ever before. Artists from too many diverse backgrounds to name. I wondered: how did all of these people—truly from every corner of the globe—become part of this grand adventure? How did this happen in little old Dayton, Ohio? Then a “light bulb” moment it hit me: in the same way that they migrated from these distant lands to live and thrive, they migrated to this place and moment in time for a reason.

Fourth graders at Edison School learn
African-American stepping.

The common bond that they—and subsequently we—all share as beings on this planet is our push to seek out happiness and joy, and the physical, spiritual, and creative migrations we take to make it happen. The history of civilization on grand and minor scales is all about this pursuit on some level.

We embark upon this migration with little more than faith that the final destination will provide the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams. Reaching that destination is a cause for celebration, and this of course is what this performance is all about. The theme of migration is poignant in these uncertain times, burgeoning with possibility and a dynamic starting point for the Soul Rhythms collaboration!

Introduction from Elizabeth Wright

The word 'thrilled' doesn't do justice to how I feel about my new position as Development Manager at Cityfolk. I'm diving in head first so I can begin to contribute to the long-term sustainability of this amazing organization! 

My husband Jason and I live in Kettering with our three 'furry children'. I grew up in the Five Oaks and Quail Hollow neighborhoods in Dayton, and I'm very proud to be a 'native'. My parents have always been active in the community and I'm proud to continue in their footsteps at a homegrown non-profit organization. I graduated from Chaminade-Julienne High School in 1997 and earned my B.A. in history from Bowling Green State University in 2001. For the past eleven years I've been in the membership and marketing fields, where I have been fortunate enough to meet many of the community leaders who are passionate about making Dayton a great place to live. It is through these connections I hope to spread the word about Cityfolk and help it continue to grow and prosper. Stay tuned for some exciting new membership opportunities to celebrate our 30th anniversary!

Some fun facts about me:

RECORDINGS I'M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW: Revolver (Remastered) by the Beatles, Florence and the Machine, The Black Keys, Simon and Garfunkel, Iggy Pop

LAST THREE BOOKS I'VE READ: Emma by Jane Austen, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, and blogs on Dayton History Books Online.

FIRST CITYFOLK MEMORY: Seeing Natalie McMaster at one of the festivals...I was mesmerized.

WHAT I ENJOY MOST ABOUT CITYFOLK: It is uniquely Dayton, and there are so many things we do that people don't know about...I want to change that!

FAVORITE LIVE MUSIC EXPERIENCE: Radiohead concert, 2003

FAVORITE COMFORT FOOD: Authentic Mexican food, fettucine Alfredo, deep dish pizza, brownie sundaes

FAVORITE PASSTIMES: Live music, hiking, cooking, museums, American history

DREAM VACATION: I would love to have a month to tour Europe properly...meaning private jet, chauffeur, and plenty of fine dining experiences. But more realistically, an Alaskan cruise may be in our near future.