Help: Minority folk artists required

Subject: Minority folk artists required
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 04:18 AM

We (Swinton Folk Festival) have a bit of money to spend on minority folk arts. Looking for Bhangra, Chinese, Afro-Caribean, East Europen, Story-telling, Ceremonial dance, Music, Street theatre - anything you care to sugest. We do not have a lot of money to spend so we need to spend wisely but if anyone wants to do their bit or suggest anything please feel to get in touch. The event is on Saturday October the 28th, 2000 in Swinton, Manchester, UK. It is our 16th year so we are well established. Contact me here or at [e-mail] or ring on 0161 737 5069 (Evenings/Weekends).

Cheers All.

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 12:06 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: GeorgeH
Date: 13 Jul 00 - 07:07 AM

Would strongly recommend "Garam Masala" - they were excellent at Sidmouth a couple of years back. Asian with a bit of UK cross-over (in membership and music) with a "social" side to their material - but above all GREAT music.

G.

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Bert
Date: 13 Jul 00 - 10:50 AM

D the G, You could try the Society for International Folk Dancing.

Bert.

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Jan 06 - 05:20 PM

why does it feel so strange inside like you control my feelings too now

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 23 Jan 06 - 06:45 PM

I told you not to take the green ones...

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Peace
Date: 23 Jan 06 - 06:49 PM

El Greko is correct. Don't take the green ones. If you have already--well, the last guy that did lived, but . . . .

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: holmfirther
Date: 23 Jan 06 - 07:13 PM

Last year we went to Greece..We played scrabble and got drunk a lot..My brother was so hooked on the scrabble thing he went and bought a set..At the airport on our way back there was delay..My brother decided to open up the new travel scrabble set..To find it was all in Greek.....Now that was laugh El Greko style..[sorry to interupt your thread].

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: holmfirther
Date: 23 Jan 06 - 07:16 PM

Sorry I made a mistake..Any one know of the Chinese brothers 'wou' brothers..

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Pete_Standing
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 08:28 AM

Your local authority may have an International Links officer or someone responsible for "twinning". The Oxford Folk Festival have made use of this getting Yarmarka, a troupe of dancers and musicians from Perm in Russia and last year Norbert Pignol, a melodeon player of remarkable ability.

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Paul Burke
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 08:46 AM

If you fancy a Klezmer band, contact Steve Landin or Sue Cooper through the Manchester Klezmer
website.

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 08:48 AM

Thr the Y theatre in Leicester - all kinds of ethnic stuff going on there. Can't remember the name of the folk club but its on a sunday and run by a lad called Sheila, the name starts with and F......

anyway they will have lots of advice and practical help.

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: breezy
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 09:08 AM

Theres only one of me

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: GUEST,smiler
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 09:24 AM

Shouldn't the decision be based on quality rather than what particular colour/nationality the artist is?

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: sian, west wales
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 09:57 AM

I remember the Brothers Wu. They played in one of the early Cnapan events in the mid '80s here in west Wales. Don't know anything more about them but they were very good and, I think, were London-based at the time.

Keep an eye on various Embassy websites; they'll know who's touring usually and most countries (apart from the UK!) have grants to help with costs.

You should also check out the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen. I'm always amused to discover how many of the acts are actually UK-based, with quite a few from Birmingham, Manchester, etc. One gripe I have about the IE is that, when people come from overseas, I think they have to sign an agreement not to perform elsewhere within X miles of the Eisteddfod - and they've set quite a radius. But that shouldn't effect the local people.

siân

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: IanC
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 10:51 AM

I won't feed the trolls but, GUEST Smiler, the answer is clearly no.

If all the best performers in the world were Joan Baez soundalikes, we wouldn't want a folk festival full of them.

The name of the game is variety and if someone feels that adding (e.g.) Bhangra to the bill helps improve the variety and generates a wider interest in the event then that's great.

In the end, it's about bums on seats, not somebody's abstract idea of "quality".

;-)

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: GUEST,smiler
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 12:50 PM

Mine was not a troll comment but a reasonable point.

What constitutes a suitable minority act? Is it a white Londoner playing reggae or bhangra. Or a native Chinese person performing Elvis material?

This is public money being doled out here, and as such should cater to all communities, without consideration of exclusion.

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Dan Schatz
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 01:35 PM

Political issues aside, I think it's a wonderful idea to have a folk festival that truly reflects the wider folk traditions of thec ommunity. Here in the States, the Washington Folk Festival has long been this kind of event. People like Jonathan Eberhart would seek out performers in the different ethnic communitiesd and invite them to play in the festival. (I think one reason Jonathan never drove was because he liked to collect songs off of cab drivers!)

Of course, that festival is all volunteer, so grant money was never an issue - but if you're looking for performers from various ethnic communities, then go into those communities and find out who the musicians are. If you go, for example into an Indo-Pak grocery store, you will likely find posters for musical and cultural events. Strike up conversations and find out who these people are.

That may be a longer process than you have time for with this grant, but that doesn't matter - if they're good performers they will enhance your festival whether or not you have special money to pay for them.

Having written all of this, I just noticed that the original message in this thread is six years old, and the festival is long over. Nevertheless, the point holds true, so I hope you had a great festival back in October of '00, and that it has only continued to grow in quality, cultural diversity, and of course attendance since.

Dan Schatz

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Ferrara
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 01:40 PM

smiler,

My husband Bill D and I have orgnized the crafts for the Washington (DC) Folk Festival for the past few years, and have been volunteers/performers/crafters there for over two decades.

One of the outstanding joys of being able to program such a festival in the Washington area is the ability to find and present wonderful examples of traditional folk arts from a huge variety of countries and ethnic groups. We also feature mainstream folk artists from the area, including many members of our own Folklore Society.

I guarantee the program committee gives a lot of attention to the mix of ethnic groups. It creates awareness of the richness of other folk traditions, gives exposure to these wonderful performers, and adds variety, color and verve to the Festival.

When you're putting together a folk festival, "finding the best performers" actually should not be your only criterion unless you are awarding prizes or some such thing, like the National Heritage Awards Ceremony. It can also be valid, for example, to want to give people a sense of living folk traditions, to find young performers and give them exposure, to find "home-grown" musicians who never perform and give the public a chance to hear them, squeaks and mistakes and all, or, as here, to encourage and support the rich variety of national and ethnic folk traditions.

I'll get down off the soapbox now, ... Sorry I can't suggest any performers, ours are on the wrong side of the Pond.

Rita F

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: GUEST,smiler
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 02:01 PM

I agree with you absolutely Rita.

That is my idea of a festival as well. What I disagree with is the exclusion of communities when grant money is being dished out.

Not only is it inherently unfair, but plays into the hands of those like the far right.

If I was to be booked for a festival, I would rather it was based on my ability rather than which ethnic background I am from.

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 04:40 PM

When we book for the Washington Folk Festival, we require that all of the acts we present are going to have high levels of ability. A clunker of an act doesn't do justice to the ethnicity or genre it represents. That said, we also try to balance genres and ethnicities, making sure to represent different parts of the world and different cultures. There's so much talent in our area that inevitably perfectly competent performers are left out, simply because we only have about 112 hours of stage-space available during the weekend. We'll try to get some of them the next year.

--Charlie Baum, FSGW and WFF

Subject: RE: Help: Minority folk artists required
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 25 Jan 06 - 11:51 AM

Why are trolls aguing over who should get booked for an event which happened more than 5 years ago?
It's a bit late to influence the outcome.

How about we discuss who might be a good team for the 1966 World Cup and go for belated bets on the 1997 Grand National.
Hey - let's be generous to the U.S. contingent - who do you fancy to win the 1988 World Series and the 2000 Superbowl!

Quack
GtD.