Traditions Thursdays: The Living Traditions of Taiko & Capoeira  

Karen Falkenstrom of Odaiko Sonora and Anne Pollack of Capoeira Mandinga share roles, responsibilities, and ethics of teaching and transmitting traditional practices. Deeply engaged in the practice and teaching of their respective forms, both artists will speak about their personal journeys acquiring and transmitting cultural knowledge.

Facilitator: KATE ALEXANDER, TMY Performance Curator
KAREN FALKENSTROM, Founder/Director, Odaiko Sonora
ANNE POLLACK, Founder/Director, Capoeira Mandinga Tucson

You can view this event live on the TMY homepage or later on our TMY Videos 2020 page. To interact with others during the live streaming, you can watch on TMY’s Facebook page or TMY’s YouTube Channel.

Karen Falkenstrom is the founder and director of Odaiko Sonora, Tucson’s taiko drumming ensemble. A 1.5 generation Korean/Norwegian-American, she has studied with numerous North American taiko masters and travels to Japan annually to study drumming, vocal, and dance traditions that inform North American taiko.

Anne Pollack (Mestra Luar do Sertão) began training capoeira in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1986 with the founder of Capoeira Mandinga, Mestre Marcelo Caveirinha. She has traveled all over Brazil, Europe, and the US to train both Capoeira Regional and Angola. She received her capoeira nickname, Luar do Sertão, “moonlight over the desert outback,” from Mestre Suassuna before she moved to the desert Southwest. In 1996, she founded Capoeira Mandinga Tucson. She has over 20 years of experience teaching capoeira and Brazilian arts to children and adults through the Capoeira Mandinga Tucson Academy, and other schools, colleges, libraries, senior centers, events and festivals. She is a 2019 recipient of the Southwest Folklife Alliance Master-Apprentice Award.