“It’s not like we had not seen it before,” said Kevin. Faithful fans of Day of the Dead celebrations, they had come across a lot of wonderful simple, beautiful objects over the years. But something entirely new about the depth of craftsmanship, clever improvisation, social commentary, and unadulterated love of color caught their eyes anew. The rest, as the cliché says, is history. James and Kevin began collecting in the fashion that all collectors do: a sweet obsession that is rewarded with each new marvelous find. Over the last decade, each developed their own niche of expertise, looking at books, reading up on the history of Mexican “artesanias” and “arte popular,” and of course buying.

“Kevin is partial to glass and clay; he absolutely loves the Virgin of Guadalupe blown glass bottles,” said James as he pointed to a handful of these original glass icons sitting on a high shelf in their new Tucson store. “My interests are tin and wood.”

A year ago, they decided to pack their belongings and move to Tucson. A few months later, on September 1, 2012, they opened their shop, Arte de La Vida, at 37 N. Tucson Blvd, almost corner with Broadway. When BorderLore asked James whether their move to Tucson had resulted from a careful business plan analysis, he says determinedly: “We came to Tucson because we wanted to get out of Phoenix; we want to live in a place that has soul.”

Since arriving in Tucson and opening their store, they have been overwhelmed by the warmth with which the community here has received their vintage offerings. In only a few months, some people are already crediting Arte de La Vida for reviving the long-established, but somewhat dormant as of late, community of Mexican folk arts collectors in the Old Pueblo. The vintage nature of the objects in the shop is what distinguishes Arte de La Vida from the many other wonderful folk art shops in Tucson.

“Vintage objects of folk art, as opposed to the more commercial offerings that have populated the market in the last thirty to forty years, have two distinct educational advantages for scholars of Mexican history and society as well as for folklorists,” said TMY Program Director (and on her spare time, Mexican folk arts specialist) Dr. Maribel Alvarez. “They exemplify the height of artistic craftsmanship that lives in the eyes, hands, and minds of Mexico’s indigenous and working class communities — many of the same communities that now call the U.S.A. home. And they are a reminder that when the arts are supported by policy and markets, they can really flourish and give people a dignified alternative to earn a living.”

Tucson Meet Yourself has already started conversations with Kevin and James to see how we can partner to incentivize and support some of the Mexican and Mexican-American folk artists that have long been associated with the TMY festival. Here’s hoping that our joint love for ordinary beauty will lead us to some exciting projects in 2013!

OK, but that’s just the standard plot line.

What makes the Pastorela a beloved folk event is something else.

First, while there are stock characters that remain as “types” in each staged play (the young shepherdess, the lazy young pastor or shepherd’s dog Bartolo, the devil, the archangel, etc.) in each community, writers are allowed to exercise creative license and make these “types” stand in for current events and local characters.

This makes for truly inventive and comical scenes, mostly taken from pop culture (as the devil is made to represent politicians or shallow TV personalities). One year, in Tucson, the devil appeared as Donald Trump tempting the pastores to become his “apprentices.” In the late 1990s, in Austin, Texas, the Devil and his assistants were portrayed as Real Estate Developers. In one production, the temptation the pastores faced was the fame offered by “American Idol.”

The archangel Miguel also disguises himself in artistic and pop-culture ways to intervene against Satan. The pastores, in turn, have been interpreted in many ways: as migrants, as women escaping domestic violence, or displaced workers, or activists fighting gentrification, etc. The Devil and his assistants are always a source of comic relief: they fumble, are full of themselves, and misunderstand the true value of things (i.e. not money but love; not titles, but honest work, etc.). It is this flexible narrative structure and the possibility of inserting coded messages of many kinds within the basic plot that make Pastorelas appealing to both religious and secular audiences alike.

Let’s review some basic Pastorela facts.

• The roots of La Pastorela go back to Medieval Spain and Italy (somewhere circa the 16th century). St. Francis of Assisi is believed to have started the tradition of Christmas pageants in Italy, using real animals and a baby. There is at least one record of Princess Isabella watching a Christmas play in 1487. There is a also a record of a Nativity play produced in Tlatelolco, Mexico in 1530. In 1595, the first “Coloquio de los Pastores” (a seminar for Pastorela-aficionados) was held in Sinaloa.

• Spanish priests introduced folk dramatizations in the Americas as a pedagogical tools sure to catch the attention of indigenous peoples, many of whom had elaborate folk dramas, festivals, and other festivities in their own cultures.

• In New Mexico, more than in any other region of New Spain (even Mexico!), the Pastorela was only one of many other folk dramas ritually taught and liturgically performed by the Spanish and the indigenous groups. Among the most popular, we can name Los Comanches, Moors and Christians, and The Lost Child.

• For most of its history, Pastorelas existed only as oral literature. In the 19th century they began to be written down as “scripts” that were then adapted by local playwrights.

• The 1960s, with the birth of the Chicano movement, began to see a revival of interest in Pastorelas.

• The town of Belén, New Mexico (how appropriate!) is believed to produce the longest-running consecutive Pastorela anywhere in the Southwest.

• In December 1991, PBS brodcasted under their “Great Performances” series a Pastorela produced by El Teatro Campesino, written by Luis Valdez. Linda Rondstadt, Paul Rodriguez, Freddy Fender, Lalo Guerrero, Flaco Jimenez, and Cheech Marin (among other stars) were casted in some of the traditional roles. Entertainment Weekly said that the production [deserved] “to become an annual TV event.”

• As is the case with carnivals and other festivities that allow symbolic inversion (in Mexico, for example the burning of the Judas at Easter or the “calaveras” verses composed around Day of the Dead), the Pastorela offers one of those unique times when the folks can comment critically on authority figures without fearing retribution (it’s all in good fun, after all).

Tucson has had its own original version of the Pastorela for the last 17 years. Produced faithfully each year by Borderlands Theater, the Tucson production has at least one significant innovation among Pastorelas worldwide; it is the only one staged with Christmas songs sung to the rhythm and tunes of original Tohono O’odham “waila” music. The idea came a few years ago to BT’s Artistis Associate Director Eva Tessler; she found the perfect musical complement to the traditional Pastorela in the sound of Gerty and the T.O. Boys.

On Preview Night this year join University of Arizona Folklorist and Tucson Meet Yourself Program Director Dr. Maribel Alvarez in an interactive session following the play: learn more about how the classic Shepherd’s Play first emerged, how several different versions exist, the meaning behind the folklore and much, much more. And share your own favorite experiences, characters, and plots, from the many performances of Borderlands’ A Tucson Pastorela!

Here are details on dates, times, and tickets.

DECEMBER 20-23, 2012
LEO RICH THEATER,
Tucson Convention Center,
260 S. Church Ave.

PREVIEW – 1/2 PRICE TICKETS AND KIDS ARE FREE: December 20, 7:30pm —
$12 General & Senior, $6 Student, Free children 12 and under

OPENING NIGHT CELEBRACIÓN: December 21, 7:30pm
$24 General and Senior, $12 Student,
$7 children 12 and under
Opening Night Celebración with postres, plus meet and greet the ghost writers and performers!

REGULAR PERFORMANCES: December 22, 7:30pm
$19.75 General, $17.75 Senior, $12 Student,
$7 children 12 and under

SUNDAY MATINEE: December 23, 2pm
$19.75 General, $17.75 Senior, $12 Student,
$7 children 12 and under
Special performance by Ballet Folklorico Tapatio before Sunday’s matinee!

RESERVATIONS: (520) 882-7406
www.borderlandstheater.org

Grandma’s Gorditas-HD 720p from J. Serrano on Vimeo.

In case you missed it, the 2012 TMY Festival Magazine included a feature story about Natasha’s cooking. You can download a copy of that story here to learn more about the traditions that inspire and sustain this young, dynamic Chef.

One of the classic Russian dishes prepared by Chef Natasha are Pelmeni — dumplings consisting of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough; it is believed that they originated in Siberia. Pelmeni are common in Russia and have similar names in other languages such as Belarusian, Tatar, Ukrainian, and Latvian. This little food morsel is a classic example of the kind of cross-cultural food that can be found, in slight variations, in other parts of the worlds. Globalization is a process that has been more than 500 years in the making and foods that appear and re-appear in different cultural contexts is evidence of how it works. The pelmeni is similar to the Polish pierogi; the Mongolian buuz; the Chinese jiaozi and Cantonese won ton.

Curious? TMY invites you to visit Kalina Restaurant this holiday season.

Open: Tuesday through Saturday 9:30 am – 9:30 pm
Closed: Sunday and Monday

Lunch/Dinner menu and High tea menu available all day long

Address:
8969 E. Tanque Verde #209
Tucson, AZ 85749

Due to a small and cozy dinning room
PLEASE call 520-360-4040 to reserve a table.

TMY is partnering with the Tucson Audubon Society to launch a series of articles in their magazine and community activities in 2013 about the importance and unique “lore” of birds in our region. Did you know that the now named Audubon magazine was originally founded in 1899 under the name “Bird-Lore”?

Tucson Audubon Society Executive Director Paul Green had this to say about the partnership with TMY:

“Tucson Audubon has been promoting the protection and stewardship of southern Arizona’s birds since 1949, and has been inspired by the outreach work of Tucson Meet Yourself. So we are asking Tucsonans to meet their birds! In a series of articles in the organization’s newsletter we will be introducing those new to birds to the great diversity of species that live all around us in our city at different times of year. Tucson Audubon provides more than 150 free birdwatching trips in our region every year and this year will be partnering more closely with Tucson Meet Yourself to introduce us all to our common local birds.”

Stay tuned as TMY announces a series of programs in 2013 that will highlight significant partnerships with like-minded organizations and other partners throughout the year. If you have an idea for a particular project or organization whose work may benefit from a closer focus and knowledge of folkways/folklife/or folk-lore, write to Program Director Maribel Alvarez to discuss your interest: tucsonmeetyourself1974@gmail.com.

If TMY is a melting pot bubbling over with culture, then Maribel Alvarez is its executive chef, who stirs in the authentic local ingredients of people, folk arts, foods and programming. BorderLore ran alongside TMY’s enthusiastic director and folklorist to capture some comments about this upcoming weekend.

BL: You’re a folklorist, a believer in how traditional arts enable authentic community engagement, inter-generational connections and access to resources. How can a Tucsonan look at TMY differently, through a folklorist’s eyes?

MA: As folklorists, Big Jim and I look at the festival primarily as an educational experience, not as entertainment. Clearly, there is a balance between our folkloristic intentions and what Jim calls “show biz.” People must have a good time first and foremost. They are usually lured by food, music and dance. The challenge for a folklorist is how to create depth of experience in a festive atmosphere –- so much of the allure of cultural expressions of others is guided (or I should say, mis-guided) by ideas of the exotic and stereotype. Hence a folklorist spends a lot of time “staging,” if you will, the platform in which one hopes people will step across the boundaries of their own comfort zone of identity to feel, experience, taste a different way of being and expressing beauty and meaning. The staging cannot be so heavy-handed that it feels preachy. But it cannot be left to chance either; otherwise, you’d have just any multicultural event and not really a folklife festival.

BL: Tucson is city of festivals. Why is this mass of community cultural expression so different from other Tucson events?

MA: TMY is the festival of festivals in Tucson. Everyone has their own events, but everyone still wants to be part of TMY. Why is that? Well, over the years, many people came to understand that participating in the festival was a kind of statement of philosophy (I am tempted to say a “political” statement but that may be misconstrued because I don’t mean “political” in reference to partisanship). By statement of philosophy I mean something like a stance on what the festival represents as an ideal: and that is simply the idea of cultural democracy (where “being different” is not the mark of lower value, but the mark of richness and resources and self-determination).

BL: Is it just too big to access all the benefits?

MA: Each year we get a message from someone who is nostalgic about the way “it used to be” and they usually mean that it was small and 100% non-commercial. The economics of the time now require us to engage sponsors. That has brought growth as well. We also allow the Common Causeway area where many non-profits share information that is good for our community. Does that have anything to do with folklore and folklife? Not directly. Not in the same way that the Yaquis are setting up a ramada, or the way bluegrass singers represent “folk” in most people’s minds. But folklife is dynamic and it is most of all about meaningful conviviality — people coming together as “folks” who share meanings that they pass on to others. In some ways what we see now is that — in addition to all the ethnic and cultural groups represented within the festival — the festival is also (expressing formally, writ-large) a representation of Tucson and Tucsonans. I like the phrase “immigrants, refugees, Native Americans, long-timers and newcomers….Tucsonans all” to express this communal characteristic of the festival beyond ethnicity.

BL: Without picking favorites, what’s the first secretly-special booth or foodstuff you are going to look for/enjoy this festival?

MA: OK, I am going to give you the exclusive on that one; only because BorderLore is close to my heart [laughs]. When the festival is all set up, my first visit will be to the exhibits “Symbols of AIDS Activism” and “Quilts Making a Difference.” The reason is that we put a lot of resources and effort into making our partnership with AIDSWALK Tucson more than just another walk. We tried to bring our type of assets to the partnership with Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation – that is, curatorial expertise. Our staff Curator Peggy Hazard collected many objects of personal significance from folks involved in AIDS activism locally and all the quilts on display touch on a story of loss, survival and resiliency. If these exhibits work, to me that is the kind of partnership TMY should always pursue: the ones where there’s value-added in terms of meaningful education and human exchange.

BL: See you at the festival, Maribel!

Multidisciplinary artist Kimi Eisele is curator of TMY’s newest cultural area — Kidlore. Here’s the inside story on how KidLore is curating engaging and playful experiences that reflect imagination, cultural interaction and fun.

BL: What’s the main intention of Kidlore. How is play an important component of TMY mission?

KE: KidLore is a new area of the festival dedicated to celebrating the cultural expression of children. Whether kids know it or not, folklore is a huge part of childhood. The games, songs, jokes, stories and rhymes we learn or invent help us engage with one another and ultimately give us a sense of belonging. In other words, they define our “culture” as children. Within that, of course, there are as many variations as there are cultural expressions. While I sang “Shimmy, shimmy coco pop…,” a girl my same age somewhere in Latin America sang “Para subir al cielo…,” for example. These seemingly meaningless rhymes helped us learn language and rhyme and voice projection, and they were fun! Add to those rhymes other songs, dances, jokes, snacks, clothing, celebration rituals and games kids play, and you have a very lively folklore. The KidLore area of TMY was created to acknowledge this rich and playful “lore,” to celebrate it and to investigate new traditions being created by children today in Tucson.

BL: Engaging kids and communities – how is imagination and creativity important to building communities?

KE: Imagination and creativity are the building blocks for community. Are we going to stare at a screen or are we going to interact with our neighbors? Kids like to stare at screens, of course, but they also like to sing and dance and invent games and build things. I think kids are the greatest artists and designers because they never say things like, “We can’t afford that” or “That’s not possible.” In the land of make-believe, everything is possible!

One of the ways KidLore honors this spirit is through KidScape, an area where kids can create their ideal version of the city of Tucson using cardboard boxes and other recyclable materials. More trees? Better sidewalks? More parks? Less cars? What do kids want? A collaboration with the Living Streets Alliance (a nonprofit organization working to make our streets more livable and friendly for walkers and bicycles), KidScape aims to invite kids more fully into the conversation about how we might re-imagine Tucson as place where kids (and grown-ups) can walk, ride and play safely.

City planning isn’t exactly folklore, but the creativity of children is a critical thing to engage if we want to move forward as a city that considers spatial relationships and their integral role in creating tolerance, understanding, and shared experiences across race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Those spatial relationships tie in directly with folklore because how we express our culture has everything to do with how we are perceived by others. Will our future city include more places for these kinds of safe and interesting encounters to happen naturally and freely? If so, where?

My secret wish is that kids will pick up on the incredibly diverse and wonderful “city” that is formed by the festival itself. After making origami and eating fry bread and watching hip-hop dancers and making a costume out of recycled materials at TMY, perhaps they’ll start to ask themselves and their parents, “Hey, why can’t our city be like this everyday.” Maybe through KidScape, and through the other activities at KidLore, they’ll start inventing ways that it can be.

BL: Please share the nuts and bolts about KidLore, including plans for staging, programs, food, arts, performance and fashion.

KE: KidLore aims to touch upon all the elements of folklore in a kid-friendly and kid-centered way. It features staged performances by dancers, singers, musicians, jugglers, puppeteers and storytellers. Most of these performances will be interactive in some way and as such, serve to draw folks to the area. Who can resist a good drum rhythm or mariachi band?

Also on stage we’ll have kid-led “Jokes and Riddles” sessions where kids (and grown-ups) can share their favorite jokes. We’ll also have “Snack Attacks,” which involve demonstrations and samplings of selected favorite kid snacks.

Off stage, a series of ongoing activities will keep kids busy and creative. We’ve teamed up with the Girl Scouts to offer “Fashion Passion,” where kids can make clothing and costumes out of recycled materials and then model their designs during a catwalk fashion show on stage. There’s a “Games” area where kids can play tried-and-true games or invent new kinds of play with balls, hula- hoops, and jump-ropes. They also can learn from other kids how to make string figures (like cat’s cradle), solve the Rubik’s cube, and juggle. A group of writers called Sowing the Seeds will offer kids the opportunity to write a story and make a book. And in celebration of TMY’s 39th Birthday, we’ll have an honest-to-goodness birthday party complete with cupcakes, candles and the birthday song! Throughout the KidLore area, we’ll also have “chalkboards” that kids (and sometimes grown-ups) can write to share with others their own traditions and customs for play, celebration, entertainment, and expressions.

BL: Tell us about the KidLore team!

KE: We’ve worked hard to let KidLore be informed largely by kids themselves. I did a lot of research by asking kid friends of mine for their ideas, and to weigh in on some of the existing, grown-up ideas. We tweaked some things and completely overhauled others based on kids’ feedback. KidLore will have crew of youth volunteers helping throughout the weekend, so it will be fun to hear kids as emcees and as motivating mentors at some of the activities. We’ll have some teens from Finding Voice, a program for refugee and immigrant teenagers through Catalina High School, as well as some 9th graders from City High School who are going to help with the Games area. I hear there are quite a few jugglers and Rubik’s Cube masters among them!

In addition to the main activities, vendors and information booths also have a presence in the area. They include: Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, Living Streets Alliance, Sowing the Seeds, Devereux Arizona, Julie’s Puppets, Seam to Sew and Rockin Mama Baby Gear, Postal History Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Salpointe Catholic High School, International School of Tucson, Child Cognition Lab at the University of Arizona, Desert Sky Community School, Assistance League of Tucson, Learning A-Z, Tucson Waldorf School, Sonoran Glass School, Luz-Guerrero Early College High School, Southern Arizona Children’s Advocacy Center, Mad Science of Pima County, Los Changuitos Feos, Arts for All, Tucson International Academy, and Adela Antoinette Face & Body Painting.

The KidLore planning team is Alida Wilson-Gunn, Lisa Falk, and myself with oversight by Maribel Alvarez.

BL: Closing note about what kids, parents or curious adults can enjoy and learn from at TMY KidLore?

KE: More than anything KidLore is designed as a place to live and re-live childhood with all of its wonders and fun. Granted, there is no end to the wondrousness and fun at Tucson Meet Yourself in its entirety. So maybe KidLore, which is located at the Southern end of the festival grounds, is the gateway into the wondrousness: a place to listen, laugh, play and be delighted before moving on to the food and tremendous artistry offered elsewhere. Or maybe it’s the perfect festival exit, the last area you visit on your way home: a reminder that folklore and the joy of cultural expression begin in childhood and continue to carry us—as long as we’re willing to taste and play and listen and share—for the rest of our lives.

She has been called a TMY sparkplug. Now Mia Hansen is instilling sustainability in the TMY engine.

BL: What’s up with the TMY Green Team? Who are the players behind it?

MH: Pima County has formed a Sustainability Committee which offered to support TMY’s effort to reduce waste, recycle and work towards a reduced carbon footprint. Catherine Strickland heads up the Pima County Sustainability Committee, which is made up of employees from various departments. They have given advice, reviewed our layout, offered suggestions, and are creating Green Station signs which will guide the public on how to properly dispose of 1) compostables (plant-based food waste, paper plates, cups & napkins, wooden skewers, corn cobs, etc.), 2) recyclables (plastic bottles, paper, brochures, cardboard), and 3) landfill waste (meat, bone, styrofoam, plastic utensils).

For our TMY Green Team we quickly involved the enthusiastic UA Students for Sustainability, Chester Phillips – Director, and the UA Compost Cats – a team of 12 UA Students entrepreneurs of compost. They have agreed to support TMY by picking up all our compost materials and taking them to the facility at the UA Agricultural center on Campbell/Roger. They will recruit UA students to be ‘Green Guides’ to educate people at the TMY Green Stations as to what to put — where.

City of Tucson Environmental Services is our contracted waste & recycling service. They will provide blue recycling ‘clear stream’ containers to collect recyclables during the festival as well as garbage and compost bins. They will provide the eight 40-yard dumpsters that will haul the garbage to the landfill (hopefully less of it) and the recyclables to their proper location. They are providing advice on what people actually understand about recycling and how to get the message across to a community which has a limited experience with waste reduction.

The Southern Arizona Green Chamber of Commerce, via Rick Small, Executive Director also is involved, and is providing support through an appeal to their members and the community to support our efforts with cash contributions. They are providing volunteers to support our Green Stations at the Festival where they will help educate the public on the benefits of waste reduction and sustainable practices such as composting and recycling.

The Community Food Bank is our TMY Green Team Volunteer sponsor. They are providing free Green Team T-shirts to the first 200 volunteers who sign up to help us clean up the festival. They are supporting our efforts to ‘embrace more green practices’ and will be exhibiting and selling local apples at their booth.

BL: What should festival goers know about the TMY green stations?

MH: Each of the four main Festival Areas will have 6-8 Green Stations, which are clearly marked stations with three bins and options:
1) Compost (dispose of your compostable materials first):
2) Recycle (plastic bottles, aluminum cans, paper programs & brochures; And
3) Garbage – everything else will go into the landfill. Attendees should read the signs that will be located above each Green Station for what goes where.

BL: How are TMY volunteers involved? What should we expect of attendees?

MH: TMY Green Guides will be stationed at Green Stations and guide the public to dispose properly. The TMY Green Team will take the Compost, Recyclable and Waste to the Curbside dumpsters and will help keep the grounds clean. And the TMY Audience will join the Green Team and “Leave No Trace,” reducing waste as well as reducing clean-up costs (and reduced costs help keep the festival free for everyone.)

Pima County, City of Tucson, SAGCC & UA Compost Cats are providing advice, staff, signs, support and ideas, and will monitor the success of our pilot program for use with other festivals & events through FEATSAZ – Festivals & Events Association of Tucson & Southern Arizona.

BL: Closing thoughts about staying green and sustainable next weekend?

MH: We’re really focused on recycling and composting. We have recycled before, but with limited success. The audience education program is KEY to the success of this effort. We must try not to contaminate the compost bins or the recycling bins. So I’ll leave with a few green slogans for everyone to remember when attending next week:
Tucson EAT Yourself — clean your plate, compost what you can’t.
Tucson REUSE Yourself — recycle everything you can!
Tucson REDUCE Your Waste — let’s leave the Festival grounds neat, clean and beautiful.

Tucson loves a good party, and next weekend TMY’s Traditions of Caribbean will be THE place for fun, festivities, educational workshops and promenade. All authentically led by Richard Noel, master percussionist and TMY Board member, and presented by Kuumba Made. Carnival maestro Richard gives us the scoop on Traditions of the Caribbean:

BL: How are we expanding the Parade and Carnival folklife celebration this year?

RN: Our 2012 Traditions of the Caribbean program has grown into a three day experience where attendees can listen, watch, dance, play, taste, make, and participate in steel drum workshops, carnival parade, body & face painting, stiltwalking and limbo dance all weekend. We’ll have Tucsonans who hail from the island leading the show, as well as special guest artists/teachers coming directly from Trinidad. The program also includes presentations over three days of other related Afro-Caribbean sounds and rituals—including Puerto Rican “bomba y plena,” Cuban Orisha chanting and drumming, and Jamaican reggae. There will be dress-making demonstrations, calypso, soca, and limbo demonstrations as well as hands-on workshops. And bringing it all together is the Parade, presented by Arizona Bilingual Magazine. Everything leads up to this grand event, which starts 7:00 Saturday evening. Local favorites Flam Chen and Tucson Arts Brigade are involved as are special international guests.

BL: The Workshop is always popular, will you explain what’s in store for attendees?

RN: The 2012 tradition of Caribbean carnival steel drum workshop, hosted by Arts for Life, is being conducted by Professor, Musical Arranger, Conductor and Performer Anthony Rose of Trinidad and Tobago. Professor Rose will lead a steel drum workshop with students from local high school steel drum bands. TMY Attendees can listen in to sessions begin with a 15-minute performance and demo by Professor Rose, with me on Percussion. The workshop also includes a video performance by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Band. An open forum discussion follows along with hands on skills and techniques. Come join us!

BL: Will you give us an historical perspective on the TMY Carnival steel-pan tradition?

RN: Preparations for Carnival — whether it be in Trinidad, other Latin American countries or across the US and Europe — often can take all year. It is believed that Afro-Caribbean slaves mimicked the French’s Carnival and added their own cultural touches, which many considered subversive. This led some governments to ban carnivals, and at the same time this fostered a culture of underground improvisation. This improvisation included playing drums made out of oil drum bottoms. These steel-pans are now an iconic feature of Trinidad and Caribbean music and are featured prominently in TMY’s own original creation.

BL: The TMY Traditions of Caribbean program has an educational component that extends into the community this year, true?

RN: We have created a Steel-Pan Program for the schools, aspiring to unite youths, adults, families and communities, and to encourage families to be involved in the child’s uncovered talent. We are providing all steel-pan instruments for the implementation, maintenance and growth of a steel-pan orchestra under our leadership. The program will focus on the students creative abilities and provide a new medium of positive expression. Children who may not find music captivating and stimulating, will enjoy this instrument’s unique qualities, and also will discover the correlation between music, math and science as they apply steel-pan techniques. There will be lectures on self-esteem and cultural pride with emphasis on the origin of the steel-pan. The cohesiveness necessary to make a steel-pan orchestra successful will build awareness of teamwork and co-operation, plus foster a sense of belonging. This project will open the eyes and minds of young people to the vast possibilities and realization of their worth and gifts. We will be available for consultation and support with specific projects throughout the school year, so this project is truly exciting!

BL: We love our Tucson talent, but tell us about some of the incredible international talent who will be part of Traditions of the Caribbean this year.

RN: In addition to Professor Rose, TMY welcomes Sonny Salina, the renowned dancer, choreographer, costume designer & costume maker. Sonny is a native of Trinidad and Tobago and a virtuoso in Traditional Caribbean folk form. He has been acclaimed as the leading Limbo Dancer of the World. Currently Sonny is a dance director in New York and is flying in to be part of TMY. Al Roberts also is joining us. He is a singer, song writer and producer who has been performing for three decades in the Caribbean, USA and Europe. Since moving to Boston from his native Trinidad, he has performed with the Boston Globe Jazz Festival and received two nominations for Boston Music Awards as a member of the group MOZAMBA.

BL: Sounds exciting!

RN: It’s all part of the fun in exploring the Caribbean’s joyful musical heritage. I hope TMY attendees check out the entire weekend schedule, and head over to the TCC stage around 6:45pm Saturday night to participate in the Carnival Parade. It’s magic!

The city celebrated a birthday last month. Jim Griffith recalls the diversity that enhances the meaning of such Tucson gatherings.

August was the month of Tucson’s official birthday. That is to say, it’s the month of the founding, in 1775, of el presidio de San Agustín de Tucson, a Spanish military post on the east bank of the Santa Cruz River, across from the O’odham village of Schuk Shon, or “Black at the Base.” That was the beginning of Tucson as a European community. Those Europeans were soldiers in the Spanish army, their wives and families. They themselves were a rather mixed lot. Some were peninsular Spaniards, some were born in the new world, of Spanish or mixed blood. And their commander was an Irish officer in the Spanish army named Don Hugo Oconor – Hugo O’Conner back in the Emerald Isle. Thus it was that from its very beginning, Tucson has been home to several languages, several cultures.

This diversity kept snowballing over the years, until now our desert city is home to people from all over the world, along with their languages, cultures and world views. Many of these newcomers who didn’t move on to (literally) greener pastures adapted to their new home while adding to its character. Somehow a tradition of hospitable assimilation has prevailed, so that unlike many other modern Sunbelt cities, Tucson has managed to preserve much of its own character in many ways.

As Tohono O’odham waila musician Daniel Joaquin told a Tucson audience many years ago, “We hope you’ll make us welcome, because after all, we made you welcome.”