Videos 2020

Mustafa Kilcak is a teacher in Tucson who has played and sung for groups such as World Winds and 5 Horses 4 Winds. A Turkish musician, he makes and sings Turkish rock, protest, folk, and pop music.

Calpulli Tonantzin is an Aztec dance group. Dance ceremonies are opened and closed by burning copal to the four directions. Our dances represent the cosmos, the energy of every living being. We dance to the beats of the huehuetl, or “drum” in the nahuatl dialect of our ancestors.

Tucson Sino Taiji was founded in 2007 and now has 20 regular members. The group’s goal is to improve the health of our members and to promote the awareness of Taiji in Tucson community. They have participated and performed in many cultural events both in Tucson and Phoenix, such as Tucson Meet Yourself, 4th Street Fair, Chinese New Year and Chinese Autumn Festival Concerts. Taiji is an ancient Chinese martial art that has been practiced for over two thousand years in China. This form of martial arts is the combination of slow martial art movements with deep breathing. Practicing Taiji has been proven to improve physical and mental health.

Haha’atadkam means “one who makes pottery” in the O’odham language. This artform for both ornamental and utilitarian purposes is a lesser known form of the Tohono O’odham people, who are often celebrated for their basketweaking. In this conversation and demonstration, learn about the history and practice of Tohono O’odham pottery and the story each pot has to tell.
Facilitator: BERNARD SIQUIEROS, Tohono O’odham community member
REUBEN NARAJNO, Tohono O’odham potter
KATHLEEN VANCE, Tohono O’odham potter
This event will be broadcast on TMY’s Facebook page and TMY’s YouTube Channel.
About the presenters:
Bernard G. Siquieros is an enrolled member of the Tohono O’odham Nation recently retired as the Curator of Education at Himdag Ki: Hekĭhu, Hemu, Im B I-Ha’ap, the Tohono O’odham Nation’s Cultural Center and Museum. He has also worked as a counselor, researcher, program coordinator, and education administrator on and off the Tohono O’odham Nation. He is an avid photographer and has contributed immensely to the tribe’s photo documentation efforts at Himdag Ki.
Reuben Naranjo is a Tohono O’odham potter who first learned from his grandmother, Mary Neblina Lewis. He later studied with Alicia Bustamente of S-Gogosik, Sonora, Mexico, and Annie Manuel of Hickiwan, Arizona, to make utilitarian terracotta ollas and white clay friendship pots using colored clay slips and paints. For Reuben, being a potter recalls the first O’odham potter our creator, I’itoi heki hu t-wenag, who first created the O’odham from red clay, water sand and fire. Reuben is a 2016 recipient of the Southwest Folklife Alliance Master-Apprentice Award.
Kathleen (Kathy) Vance is of Tohono O’odham and San Carlos Apache lineage and calls the southern Arizona desert home. Although she grew up in Tucson she moved to the main reservation as a teen and began her foundation on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Kathy has been culturally influenced by a community of people who respect and value the Himdag (O’odham lifeways). In 2000, with other womenfolk, Kathy began working with Alicia Bustamante of El Bajio community located in northern Mexico which is historically O’odham country. Alicia was one of the few remaining traditional O’odham potters. With Alicia, Kathy learned the basic fundamentals of the anvil and paddle method. Alicia encouraged Kathy not to give up and reassured her that great potters have humble beginnings and that each setback is actually growth in this tradition. After Alicia unexpectedly passed away, she met Reuben Naranjo who became a resource and mentor to her. For the past 14 years, under his teachings and guidance, she continues to produce utilitarian pottery such as; cooking vessels, water ollas, seed jars, effigy pots and whistles.

Hosted by Tucson City of Gastronomy Food Justice Committee, this event highlights the work happening on Community Food Bank’s Las Milpitas de Cottonwood Community Farm, a six-acre community farm just southwest of downtown Tucson. Las Milpitas serves 120 families and is operated by the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona on urban land leased from Pima County. Las Milpitas growers share their experiences farming together for household food and income and present a demonstrations how to how to pick, prepare, and eat purslane, or verdolagas as it better known in Tucson!

JORGE PINON & KIM CLIFFTON, Growers on Milpitas South End well-known for their purslane/verdolaga harvests. Jorge just finished a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer with Milpitas and is now Plot Leader.

Las Milpitas de Cottonwood is a six-acre community farm, located on the banks of the Santa Cruz River, that provides materials and support for local residents to grow food for themselves, making healthy, local food more accessible to low-income families. The farm offers family garden plots, gardening supplies, and educational workshops at no cost.

Enchiladas Recipe by Genia Vasquez Cliffton

Join Naina Bhamidipati and Mari Kaneta for a conversation about gesture as a vehicle for storytelling in dance and the work of upholding a dance tradition outside its cultural homeland. Bhamidipati demonstrates bharathanatyam, a traditional dance from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, accompanied by her brother, Nitish, on the mridangam drum. Kaneta, founder and sensei at Tucson’s Suzuyuki Kai, demonstrates classical Japanese dance forms such as odori and kabuki.

Facilitator: KATE ALEXANDER, TMY Performance Curator

MARI KANETA, Japanese dancer and sensei

NAINA BHAMIDIPATI, Bharathanatyam dancer and drummer

Tucson Sino Dance promotes Chinese culture and heritage via authentic Chinese dancing, while encouraging physical and mental health for participants. They perform specific dances from the 56 minority groups of China, each with their own unique music, costumes, and movements. Over the years, Tucson Sino Dance has become an integral part of celebration activities for Tucson Chinese Association, Tucson Chinese School, Pan Asian Community Alliance, Tucson Unified School District, and Tucson Chinese Church. The group also works with senior centers and local schools.

Halau Hula O Ualani is a Polynesian Group that has been studying and performing in Tucson since 1993. The group first performed under the direction of Ernie Menehune Eraina Kannette and the Polynesian Review. When Menehune passed, Kumu Ualani formed her own school, still carrying her mentor’s name, The Menehune Dancers. She is now assisted by her daughter Alyce, known as Alaka’i Kanani. This diverse group of hula dancers, both wahine (women) and kane (men), has dedicated their lives to learning hula. Some have been with the group since 1993, others join new every year. Ualani’s daughter Alyce is the group’s Alaka’i Kanani, or assistant. Kumu Ualani says, “I am so grateful during these hard times that we are able to share the Love and Aloha of dance and music of the Hawaiian island with everyone. Mahalo for having us.”

Richard Noel is a musician and facilitator using percussion as a method of healing, enjoyment, and community building. A longtime performer, former board member, and steady stage manager for Tucson Meet Yourself, Richard has brought life to this festival for many years. Richard was born and raised in the twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago. As a child, he became fascinated with drumming and global rhythms, as drumming with his family and community was simply a part of daily life on the islands. As a young adult pursuing a career in aerospace engineering, Richard and his family relocated to the United States in 1998. In 2018, Richard was awarded a Master-Apprentice Artist Award from the Southwest Folklife Alliance for his work preserving traditions in steel pan and various Caribbean hand drums. Richard is also the founder and director of Jam2Grow, an arts-based program using drumming and other modalities to boost morale and teamwork, reduce stress, and stimulate self-expression and joy. His performances reveal the beauty and power of steel pan music from Trinidad and Tobago, drawing on percussion, storytelling, and humor to uplift audiences and share with them the lively culture of the Caribbean. Richard serves as an in-home crisis care therapist for at risk youth.

The musical duo, Duo Yvapurû is Maxi Larrea and Jennie Gubner. Maxi Larrea is a guitarist, arranger, composer, and music educator from Rosario, Argentina, now living in Tucson. He composes, performs, and teaches tango and other guitar forms. His first solo album of tango and folklore original compositions _Donde Termina el Río/Where the River Ends _was released in Summer 2020 and is available for download from major platforms or directly from the artist. Jennie Gubner is a violinist, as well as an assistant professor of ethnomusicology and Chair of the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Applied Intercultural Arts Research at the University of Arizona. She is a Latin American music scholar who has spent over 15 years researching and performing in intergenerational and participatory tango music scenes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Together, Duo Yvapurû blend guitar, violin and vocal harmonies to bring to life folk, tango, and popular music songs from different regions of Argentina and across the Americas.

The Lajkonik Polish Folk Ensemble brings colorful, fun, and exciting Polish folk songs and dances to the Tucson community and beyond. Performing in colorful authentic traditional costumes, we bring Polish traditional dancing to life on stage with humor and energy. Presenting a wide array of folk dances from Poland, Lajkonik has performed in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Portland, and in Rzeszow Poland four times at the international festival of Polish folk ensembles. We are invited to perform at various festivals Slavic, Serbian, Hungarian, Russian and also Mexican concerts. Founder Joanna Schmit was a 2010 recipient of Polish Heritage Award from the Polish American Congress of Arizona, and named a 2019 Recognized Polish Activist in the US West. Her son Matthew Schmit was selected Young Polish Leader in US by Polish Consul General in Los Angeles. Joanna and Matthew Schmit were recipients of a 2017 Master-Apprentice Artist Award from the Southwest Folklife Alliance.

Tradiciones was founded in 2009 in Tucson with the purpose of sharing Peruvian and Latin American music in Arizona and beyond. The group has been participating in TMY for ten consecutive years, each one bringing a unique experience full of joy and gratefulness. Tradiciones also performs in local restaurants, bars, and festivals.

Nossa Bossa Nova is the child of husband and wife team, Mike and Theresa Levy, who have been performing Brazilian Bossa Nova for more than 15 years. Fluent in Portuguese and several other languages, Theresa brings an authenticity to the music and a pure voice that allows access even for those who who don’t speak the language. Multi-instrumentalist Mike Levy and son, Lorenzo Levy, complete the sound of the band. They bring experience from five albums and have been featured on two Putumayo compilations.

Tanisha Tucker, Traci Faith Hamilton, and Maria Francisco discuss the harvest and/or preparation of three Tohono O'odham foods, tepary beans, ciolim (cholla buds), and yeast Bread. The family continues a tradition of saguaro fruit harvest and syrup production and also briefly share about prickly pear jelly. The video offers a glimpse into just a few of the traditional foods in the Tucson basin.

Location: Mission Garden, Tucson
Video: Nate McKowen, UpdraftProductions.com
Music: Gertie N the T.O. Boyz

Supported by the Arts Foundation of Tucson & Southern Arizona
A Tucson Meet Yourself/Southwest Folklife Alliance production

Dr. Michael Engs, of Arizona Heritage Tours, brings to the kitchen the lesser-known contributions of African-descent people who first reached the Southwest in 1538 through events related to Spanish exploration, conquest, and settlement. Some came involuntarily as enslaved people, others as free adventurers and entrepreneurs. A second wave came by way of the western expansion of the United States military and left an imprint on the cuisine of the Columbian exchange. Here, Sidney Engs shares a "3 sisters stew," while Rachel Pollack offers information on the global cultural and gastronomic influence of the Columbian exchange.

Location: Mission Garden, Tucson
Video: Nate McKowen, UpdraftProductions.com
Music: Grupo Riken

Supported by Arts Foundation of Tucson & Southern Arizona
A Tucson Meet Yourself/Southwest Folklife Alliance production

Barbara Eiswerth of Iskashiita Refugee Network and Maria Magliani, a recent asylee from Venezuela, demonstrate Crema de Auyama (cream of squash/pumpkin soup) and Venezuelan arepas. This soup recipe is simple and easy to adapt to other squash or vegetables found in local gardens. Arepas are an omnipresent part of the Venezuelan table and Maria shares her lifelong-honed technique for forming the dough into the Venezuelan staple.

For more information on Iskashiita Refugee Network visit
https://www.iskashitaa.org/

Location: Mission Garden, Tucson
Video: Nate McKowen, UpdraftProductions.com
Music: Grupo Riken

Supported by Arts Foundation of Tucson & Southern Arizona
A Tucson Meet Yourself/Southwest Folklife Alliance production

Conversants: SELINA MORALES, Folklorist; ROD AMBROSE, Storyteller; BARBEA WILLIAMS, Theater/Dance Artist

Storytelling as manifestation of change in African and African American communities is an ancient and powerful community practice. Listen and learn from a conversation between folklorist Selina Morales and SFA Master Artist; community leader, movement builder and storyteller, Rod Ambrose; and dance/theater artists Barbea Williams about the vital role of traditional knowledge in building a more equitable future.
Facilitator

SELINA MORALES is a Philadelphia-based public folklorist whose work focuses on the intersection of community aesthetics, heritage, and social justice. She is currently working with the Southwest Folklife Alliance on the national Radical Imagination for Racial Justice initiative, coaching community-based researchers to document and interpret racial justice projects in their own ALAANA communities. She directs the Philadelphia Folklore Project and is a faculty member at Goucher College’s Masters in Cultural Sustainability Program, where she teaches ethical and effective cultural partnerships and nonprofit leadership and management. She serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School and on the Advisory Council of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Panelist 1

Originally from Chicago, ROD AMBROSE is a lifelong storyteller, pulling from the oral traditions of West Africa, where storytellers shared values, legends, and news through song and story. For over 47 years Ambrose has studied, learned, developed, composed, written, acted in and directed plays, and told stories in schools, universities and colleges throughout Arizona. Rod retired from the city of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department in 2016, 50 years to the day that he officially entered the work force at the Chicago City Parks System. Rod moved to Arizona in 1968 after a dangerous experience of gang banging in Chicago. In Phoenix he came under the mentorship of Mr. Richard E. Harris, the first African American journalist at the Arizona Republic, and Helen K. Mason, the first African American woman to serve as Park Supervisor for the City of Phoenix and also founder of the now-legendary Black Theater Troupe Inc. Rod has served on numerous boards of directors, councils, community task forces and commissions throughout his career. In 1998 the First Offender Program Facilitated by Ambrose was cited by the Annie E. Casey Foundation as a Best Practices model and one of the top programs of its type in the United States. Ambrose established the chairmanship of the South Mountain WORKS Coalition, developed under the auspices of Southwest Behavioral Health to assist with the education and empowerment of the citizens of South Mountain Community Village in the reduction of underage drinking of alcohol and other drugs illegal to children and teens in the area. He served as chairman there from 2010-2015. Ambrose currently serves as Project Manager of the African Diaspora Advisory Council of the state of Arizona. Among his many awards, he is a 2016 recipient of the Southwest Folklife Alliance’s Master-Apprentice Artist Award.
Panelist 2

BARBEA WILLIAMS is an award-winning performer dedicated to sharing ethnic dance, theatre and visual cultural traditions that derive from Africa and the African Diaspora, as an arts educator, performing and visual artist. Currently, Ms. Williams is the co-founder and artistic director of Barbea Williams Performing Company (BWPC), in her 19th year as faculty for the School of Dance at the University of Arizona. She also serves as the managing director for the BWPC Dance and Art Academy, which offers various classes, workshops and residences specializing in African and African Latino cultural expressions. Her performances seek to transfer her audiences to another world rekindling spirits of missed opportunities.

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
Facilitator

KATE ALEXANDER, TMY Festival Performance Curator
Panelist 1

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.
Panelist 3

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.

The Saguaro Strutters are a local line dance team more than 20 years old. Most of the team’s 10 dancers picked up line dancing by going to classes in Tucson. While the individual members and size of the group have changed over the years, they all enjoy dancing, performing, and promoting line dancing in the Tucson community. Until the spring of 2020, they performe throughout the year at various charity and local events as well as nursing homes and care facilities. Line dancing is choreographed, taught and danced all around the world to many different musical genres though is often associated with country music. The Strutters dance primarily to country music but enjoy performing to all different types of music.

Odaiko Sonora is Tucson’s Japanese taiko ensemble drumming group. “Taiko” is the word for drum in Japanese, and the ensemble is known for its high-energy performances. Formed in 2002, the group has been a TMY favorite for 18 years, bringing drumming, song, and folk dance in the taiko tradition to the festival. As one might expect, drums were important in Japan’s history: as communication, entertainment and in spiritual practice. Modern taiko, however, dates back to the 1950s and developed almost simultaneously post World War II Japan and North America. Odaiko Sonora shares the artform with over 120,000 people every year through classes, performances, school residencies, team building and master workshops, and by producing concerts by internationally acclaimed taiko artists.

The Sound of Thunder was established in 2007 to represent Tucson’s Korean community and its culture through the study and performance of classical Korean dance and drumming. The group has performed in TMY since its inception and has also appeared in Phoenix and Sierra Vista.

General Tchefary was transplanted to the desert Southwest from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, West Africa. A recording artist and performer since 1998, he performs reggae music rooted in African traditions, spreading a message that traverses International borders and all aspects of humanity. He sings in five languages mixing his own traditional African melodies and Jamaican reggae to create “African Roots Reggae.” He recently released his third album, Jah is Love.

Fadi Iskandar is a master violinist from Syria with a deep musical understanding and knowledge of Middle Eastern music, theory, and culture. Trained as a young boy in classical violin, he then learned Middle Eastern music from elders in his community through improvisation and the practice of mastering by ear “maqam” or musical scales. His artistry is influenced by Arabic, Armenian, Syriac, Gypsy, French, Russian, Kurdish, Turkish, and Byzantine musical forms. Fadi is a 2018 recipient of the Southwest Folklife Alliance Master-Apprentice Artist Award.

This Tucson-based “legendary” Latin Chicano Blues band, Los Nawdy Dawgs brings a unique supernatural vibe to blues, Latin, and Chicano Rock. They believe the Arizona desert, Tucson sunsets, and bacanora create a special backdrop to their sound. The band’s mantra is “Be good to the music and the music will be good to you,” and they see music as a gift from God.

Grupo Riken has been performing in the Tucson area since 2009, specializing in folk music from the Caribbean and Latin America, including Cuban bolero, Puerto Rican jibaro music and plena, Latin jazz, salsa, and bossa nova. The group’s unique sound comes from folk instruments such as the Puerto Rican cuatro, Peruvian cajón, and Afro-Caribbean bongos and congas. The name Riken is a derivation from the name used by the indigenous Tainos in Puerto Rico, who call the island “Boriken.” Grupo Riken has performed at Tucson Meet Yourself, Tohono Chul Park, and in 2016 released their first CD De Aqui Pa’ Allá. Their members include José Luis Puerta, guitar; Alexis Rivera, cuatro; and David Pérez, percussion.

What happens when two different ethnic backgrounds from Africa meet in the Sonoran Desert? The rhythm of unity is born! Jaliya is Elijah Ndoye and Yacouba Traore. Elijah comes from the fishing community of Lebou, an ethnic group in Senegal, West Africa. He grew up in a culture where the emphasis was on piety and respect for elders with a strong practice of celebratory public exorcism dances, drumming, and rituals. Yacouba is from the landlocked country of Burkina Faso, West Africa. He is a griot, or jali, part of a long lineage of West African historians, story tellers, praise singers, poets, and musicians. Their music blends their deep-rooted culture and rich traditions with their own style of world music that is soft, bluesy, jazzy all at once.

Ted Warmbrand is a folk musician who embodies the spirit of Pete Seeger, using songs to build community, protest injustice, and bring joy to those around him. From peace rallies, churches, bars, street corners, homemade puppet shows, in city council chambers, and schools, Ted has carried the tradition of voicing current issues through song to audiences of all ages and persuasions. In his long-time musical career in Tucson, Ted has worked to translate songs for Nicaraguan musicians he sponsored with his nonprofit, ITZABOUTIME Productions. As an original programmer for KXCI Community Radio, his “Music From the Living Loom” show aired for 17 years and featured topical songs, live performances, and interviews with visiting artists. He is currently working to complete a documentary video preserving the memory of the Tucson Folksingers, 1955-1961, a group of young Tucsonans in the late 1950s, who spawned a folk scene in Tucson brought together civic-minded people to make the Old Pueblo less racist and more peace loving. Their songs and camaraderie gave them strength to be who they were and challenge closed-mindedness.

Recorded and Edited by Samantha Bounkeua, Ruth Christopherson, and Adam Cooper-Terán. Including additional footage from KGUN 9 "A Work In Progress" by Maggie Vespa, "One Of The Folk" Directed by Gilbert Rataezyk, and live recordings by J. Maya Luz.

Mexican weaving and embroidery are integral traditional art forms in Mexico and the Americas, closely tied to indigenous knowledge and resiliency. Join artists, activists, and scholars for a conversations that braids knowledge and experience to explore textiles as a form of cultural resistance, economic autonomy, and women’s collective empowerment.

Facilitator: DR. MICHELLE TELLEZ, University of Arizona Mexican American Studies
LORENA ANDRADE, Director, La Mujer Obrera, El Paso, Texas
NANSI GUEVARA, Textile artist, Brownsville, Texas
MARIA DEL CARMEN PARRA CANO, Owner of Indigena

You can view this event below during and after its premiere. To interact with others during the live streaming, you can watch here:

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Facilitator

DR. MICHELLE TELLEZ is an assistant professor in the University of Arizona Department of Mexican American Studies. She writes about transnational community formations, Chicana feminism, and gendered migration for academic journals, books and as public scholarship. A founding member of the Chicana M(other)work collective, the Arizona Son Jarocho Collective, and the Binational Arts Residency project, Dr. Téllez has a long history in grassroots organizing projects and community-based arts and performance. She is co-editor of The Chicana M(other)work Anthology: Porque Sin Madres No Hay Revolución (2019) and the author of Autonomy in the Spaces of Neoliberal Neglect: Las Mujeres de Maclovio Rojas (forthcoming 2021).
Panelist 1

LORENA ANDRADE is the director of La Mujer Obrera (LMO), an organization in El Paso, Texas dedicated to creating communities defined by women. Andrade helped organize the women displaced from the garment industry as a result of the implementation of The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). As the organization grew Andrade collaborated with committees within the organization to identify, develop, and implement programs grounded in the history of women workers and Mexican indigenous heritage. She also participated in developing the social enterprise side of La Mujer Obrera, Centro Mayapan, which includes: Rayito de Sol Dayacare & Learning Center; Café Mayapan, and LumMetik Trading Co, which focuses on fair trade. In 2011, Andrade became director of LMO, the organization’s programing includes Familiads Unidas del Chamizal, a community organization, Proyecto Verde, Museo Maychen, Tierra es Vida community farm, and annual cultural events.
Panelist 2

NANSI GUEVARA is a designer, artist, and teacher based in Brownsville, Texas. Originally from Laredo, she holds a bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Design from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s in Education from Harvard University. She is currently focused on design, education, and community public art to create spaces of resistance and affirmation, and economies of community cultural wealth and support. She is a graphic designer, an illustrator, and a textile/rasquache based public artist. She runs her own freelance design & education practice, Corazón Contento, based out of Brownsville, Texas and is an adjunct lecturer at the School of Art at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Nansi has been awarded residencies, fellowships, and grants from the NEA, Artplace America, Fulbright, a Blade of Grass, NALAC, and most recently SFAI.
Panelist 3

MARIA DEL CARMEN PARRA CANO is mami-preneur of Indigena & Sana Sana Foods. Maria is a Xicana Indigena born in Phoenix and grew up in Barrio Garfield along with her siblings. Maria received her undergraduate degree from Arizona State University, her MBA from Grand Canyon University and a culinary arts degree from Scottsdale Culinary Institute – Le Cordon Bleu. Maria is a mother of four children (2-7 years old). Mother, wife, sister, aunt, community organizer, danzante y mujer de ceremonia as part of the Calpoalli Nahuacalco, she is also co-founder and the Executive Director of the Cihuapactli Collective, Chef at the Healthy Roots Cafe, co-founder MEChA de ASU’s Xicana/o Graduation and board member for the Sagrado Galleria & the Orchard Community Learning Center in South Phoenix. Maria provides postpartum support as a CoMadrita/doula and provides rebozo workshops for use throughout the life cycle.

Formed in winter of 2012 by Hamdija Ajanovic (vocal and guitar) and Goran Miletic (drums), Quarter Royale hails from urban desert of the American Southwest. Bringing together years of performing and recording experience, the power duo finds music influences and inspiration in traditional blues, rock, and ethno sounds and rhythms of Balkans and Eastern Europe.

Dan Levenson is a 2017 recipient of the competitive Southwest Folklife Alliance’s Master Apprentice Artist Award for his lifetime achievements in the tradition of Appalachian Old Time fiddle and banjo music. He has won contests including first place at the 2005 Ohio Clawhammer Banjo Championship and Grand Champion at the 2010 Ajo, AZ Fiddle Contest. As a Southern Appalachian native who grew up with the music of that region, Dan is a respected and sought-after teacher and performer of both the clawhammer banjo and Appalachian style fiddle and gained an international reputation performing and teaching workshops in fiddle, banjo, and string band ensembles in the US, England, Ireland, Israel, and Brazil. He is an editor for Banjo Newsletter Magazine’s “Old Time Way,” and has published fourteen books with Mel Bay publications including Clawhammer Banjo From Scratch and Old Time Fiddle From Scratch to get folks started, as well as repertoire books for those looking to broaden their tune list.

The Philippine Mabuhay Cultural Foundation was founded in 1989 as non-profit organization that promotes and enhances the intercultural understanding between the peoples of the United States and the Philippines. The performance groups shares music and dance traditions from the Philippines at schools and cultural events in Tucson and also sponsors cultural performers from the Philippines such as the UP Concert Chorus and the Leyte Dance Troupe Performers.

The Bouncing Czechs was formed in 1996 within the Tucson Czech-Slovak Club. Since then the band has grown in popularity and now performs throughout Arizona, playing European Polkas and Waltzes and many old time folk favorites. The band is an Oktoberfest highlight throughout Southern Arizona. Current members include band leader John Prokop, tuba; Roxanna Baker, accordion; Scotty Welch, trumpet; Budd Malchus, clarinet and sax; and Dan Duperre, drums.

Established in 2001 by our late director and accomplished mariachi musician, Refugio “Cuco” Del Cid, Mariachi Herencia de Cuco Del Cid is a group of young musicians promoting our Mexican heritage and culture through mariachi music in Tucson and all over Arizona. Cuco, an accomplished musician of over 60 years, set the foundation for this group with the expectation that all the members of the group must go to college to further their education and that tradition continues today. Mariachi Herencia has performed for many events both public and private. Mariachi Herencia also volunteers their time accompanying the 11:00am Mass at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church as well as the 8:00am Traditional Mariachi Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral the second and fourth Sunday of every month.

Tucson Casineros, lead by Art Garcia and Virna Fratt, is a non-profit dance group that during non-covid times holds Cuban style dance classes and social dance events on a weekly basis. Angie Bohorquez from Monzón Dance Company created a collaboration with TucSon Casineros, Zona Pachanga, Tucson Kiz, and Salsón Dance Company, leading the community in a series of socially-distant online classes. The dance styles showcased are Boogaloo, Bachata, Cuban Salsa, Urban Kiz, and Salsa, as well as some free style dance and shines.

ZeeCeeKeely is a Tucson-based reggae band formed by the band’s front man, Zachary C. Keely. The bands Zach’s messages of peace, respect, reflection, and rights, with the sounds of roots reggae, rock, dancehall, and jazz. In his musical career, Zach has played in supporting acts for performers such as Damien Marley, Steel Pulse, Skanks Roots Project, Hirie, Common Kings, Eli Mac and more, and has performed in Arizona Roots musical festival. The band’s six other members include Carlos “C-los” on percussion, Adam Chavez on bass, Daniel Martinez on keyboards and backing vocals, Mike Clark on percussion and backing vocals, Trey on saxophone, and Justin Nazari on rhythm guitar. ZeeCeeKeely calls their sound “Desert Roots Rock Reggae” and aim to get people up and dancing to the rhythm of their vibrations.

Gertie N the T.O. Boyz is famous for its crowd-moving, old-time traditional Tohono O’odham music or “waila,” a blend of Norteño, cumbia, and polka sounds. The band consists of Gertie on the accordion along with saxophone, violin, bass, bajo sexto, and drums. All band members are from the Tohono O’odham Nation in Southwestern and Central Arizona. The only female-led waila band on the Tohono O’odham Nation, Gertie N the TO Boyz was the musical band for Borderlands Theater’s “A Tucson Pastorela” for nearly 20 years and has performed all over Arizona’s cities and tribal lands and across the United States. In 2010, the band was nominated for a Native American Music Awards in the Waila Category. In 2016 Gertie received a Lifetime Achievement award from Cultural Sounds of Tucson. She is the recipient of a 2017 Master-Apprentice Artist Award from the Southwest Folklife Alliance in recognition of her work upholding the waila tradition and passing it on to new generations. In 2019 she traveled to Washington D.C. where was a panelist at the Library of Congress in honor of Native American Heritage Month. Gertie considers herself an ambassador for waila music, a form she learned from her dad, Augustine Lopez Sr.

Waila is the traditional social dance music of the Tohono O’odham (Desert People). Drawn from the Mexican norteño tradition, though strictly instrumental, waila musicians play polkas, chotes (two-steps), cumbias, mazurka, and kwalya, a type of square dance danced at festivities of all occasions. bands that typically include saxophones and/or accordions, bajo sexto or electric guitar, electric bass and drums.

Arizona Blues Hall of Famer Tom Walbank has been playing the blues for 35 years. He has shared the stage with blues greats such as B.B. King, Robert Cray, Charlie Musselwhite, and Kim Wilson. A solo performer who specializes in the Electric Delta Blues tradition, Walbank plays blues that echo the slide work of Muddy Waters and Elmore James, while his internationally acclaimed harmonica playing recalls both Sonny Terry and Sugar Blue.

Flowers have a special connection to the Pascua Yaqui and are used in celebrations and memorials. Learn from traditional artists how to make paper flowers and the meaning of these sacred object for to Yaqui/Yoeme people.

Panel co-curated by Daniel Vega, Director Department of Language & Culture. We thank the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Department of Language & Cultural for their partnership!

Facilitators: PASCUALA VALENZUELA, Ms. Pascua Yaqui & LAYLALANAI GOCOBACHI, Junior Miss Pascua Yaqui

Artists: IRENE SANCHEZ & PAULA YUCUPICIO

PASCUALA VALENZUELA, Miss Pascua Yaqui, is the daughter of Simon Valenzeula and Olvera Monte-Valenzuela and comes from the Barrio Libre 39th community. She is currently a freshman at Tohono O’odham Community College studying social work. Her interest include embroidery and crochet.

LAYLALANAI GOCOBACHI, Junior Miss Pascua Yaqui, is the daughter of Jesus Gocobachi and Almarosa Valencia and comes from the Barrio Libre 39th and New Pascua communities. Miss Gocobachi is currently a sophomore at Tucson High School. Her interests include volleyball and digital arts.

IRENE SANCHEZ, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, is the daughter of Merejildo Valenzuela Hernandez (Jusacamea) Rivera and Nasaria Guillen Rubio Espinoza Rivera. She was raised in Barrio Libre neighborhood, the fourth child of eleven children and now the elder of her father’s generation. She has worked for the Tribe for 37 years and is currently a patient advocate in the Managed Care Health Program. Irene has been a mentor with Strength Building Partners, a Saguaro Girl Scout Council Group Leader for fourteen years, and a member of Voices for Education. A member of the Yaqui Arts Association, she volunteers with the Yoemem Tekia Museum, and other organizations in the Tucson Area. Irene teaches paper flower making and donates flowers to Yaqui ceremonies, fiestas and other occasions, as flowers represent blessings and are dedicated to the Virgin De Guadalupe.

PAULA YUCUPICIO grew up in Old Pascua learning her culture from her parents. She lived in Old Pascua for about 38 years until her mother passed away. "I learned how to make our traditional paper flowers from my mother when I was seven years old. She's the reason I am here. I've been with Tucson Meet Yourself for around 18 years now, in place of my mother señora Ignacia Yucupicio and my aunt Antonia Leon. I believe it's important to share our tradition so other ethnicities can see the beautiful traditions we have. Flowers traditionally have a religious significance for Yaqui people, they are a symbol of God's blessings, a manifestation of good in this world. Flowers are used for many Yaqui purposes, including church fiestas, Yaqui altars, Day of The Dead wreaths and other Yaqui ceremonies."

The Tucson City of Gastronomy hosts this introduction to the work of the Dunbar Pavilion and its educational Community Garden. Learn how the Garden is a new programming centerpiece of the historic Dunbar School, a center for celebrating the rich history and culture of Tucson’s African-American community and a hub for collaborative local efforts toward racial justice. Debi Chess, Executive Director; Desiree Gonzales, Wellness Programming Manager; and Garden Manager Yesi Olivera discuss the Dunbar Pavilion’s role in the Tucson community and their collective hopes for the garden with host, E. Liane Hernandez, Culture Kitchen Curator. Tani Sanchez of UA Africana Studies also discusses work on the in-progress Dunbar cookbook project and shares a recipe for sweet potato pie.

Facilitator: E. LIANE HERNANDEZ, TMY Culture Kitchen Curator
Panelists:
DEBI CHESS, Director, Dunbar Pavilion DR. TANI SANCHEZ, Associate Professor, University of Arizona, Africana Studies
YESI OLIVERA, Garden Manager, Dunbar Pavilion
DESIREE GONZALES, Programs Manager, Dunbar Pavilion

DEBI CHESS is the executive director of the Dunbar Pavilion and an advocate for the preservation and cultivation of Black spaces in Tucson and Southern Arizona. She lives and works in the Dunbar/Spring neighborhood.

DR. TANI SANCHEZ is a professor in the University of Arizona’s Department of Africana Studies. She is primarily interested in racial representations in the media and in the study of African American history and culture. She has worked as an editor, broadcast journalist and as a media information specialist. She is the first president of the Tucson Chapter Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (founded by Gloria Smith), an active member of the Tucson Black Film Club and is a member of the Women’s Progressive and Civic Club. She holds a doctorate in Comparative Cultural and Literary studies. She believes long-standing continuing oppression will persist if racial problems and their origins are simply ignored, so she works to educate students and community members on the everyday ways that discrimination and racism impact America.

YESI OLIVERA is the garden manager at the Dunbar Community Garden. She is originally from the coast of Oaxaca and has Zapotec roots. Her passion for tending to the land & growing ancestral foods & medicines is rooted in her mother’s cooking of traditional Oaxacan food & her abuelitas relationship to the land through farming & wild plant harvesting. Yesi envisions recreating the Dunbar Community Garden as a green space that centers Black and Indigenous people in Tucson reclaiming the land practices & medicines of their ancestors.

Hosted by the Tucson City of Gastronomy, the University of Arizona Museum of Art, and UA Center for Regional Food Studies, this panel discussion explores how COVID-19 has changed our local food system. Panelists discuss the impacts of the pandemic, ways that local food producers have responded and inspired change, and whether we have reasons to be hopeful for the future.

Facilitator: MEGAN A. CARNEY, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UA School of Anthropology & Director, Center for Regional Food Studies

GIGI OWEN, Assistant Research Scientist, UA Climate Assessment for the Southwest
LAUREL BELLANTE, Assistant Director, UA Center for Regional Food Studies
DOUG LEVY, Executive Chef, Feast
BRIDGETTE NOBBE, Coordinator, UA Food Pantry
YUE "MAX" LI Flowers and Bullets

Flamenco Del Pueblo Viejo is a Tucson-based flamenco performing group comprised of guitarist Misael Barraza and dancer Jason Martinez. Barraza is a highly sought-after and decorated flamenco and classical guitarist from Hermosillo, Mexico. Martinez is a seasoned flamenco dancer and percussionist from Albuquerque and a 2018 recipient of the Southwest Folklife Alliance’s Master-Apprentice Artist Award. Both artists have performed and taught worldwide.

In this conversation learn about a ceremony with longstanding significance to Tucson Meet Yourself: a Yaqui ceremonial blessing. Since 1974, this blessing has been offered by members of the Pascua Yaqui at the close of TMY; the relationship of trust between the Yaqui and Yoeme people and festival organizers is such that TMY is one of the only non-indigenous, public settings in which this sacred ceremony is sanctioned. Elders in the Pascua Yaqui tribe have described the ceremony at TMY as a gift offered for the healing of the community, and for a new year of health and prosperity. We cannot enact the ceremony online, as visual and audio documentation of the protocols violates Yaqui spiritual practices and traditional authorities. Instead, we offer an opportunity for the community to learn more about the ceremony and about the ongoing relationship between TMY and the Yaqui/Yoeme people.

CONVERSANTS:
Xavier Flores, grandson of the Moro Mayor Don Pedro M. Flores, Sr. who led the Yaqui blessing at TMY for over four decades
MARIBEL ALVAREZ, Festival Program Director and University of Arizona folklorist

In communities throughout North America and in the Celtic regions of Europe, Celtic music supports and enables social dances that serve to bring people together and maintain relationships. In this demonstration, Claire Zucker of Púca and the Wild Ones and a dancer will draw connections between the Celtic traditions they represent. Expect fiddling, dancing, and singing!

Facilitator: KATE ALEXANDER, TMY Performance Curator
Panelists: CLAIRE ZUCKER, Púca and the Wild Ones, and a dancer, DAVE FIRESTINE, Musician and member of the band STEAM, CHRISTINE SOLINSKY, Irish Dancer and ABBIE SORG, Contra Dancer and Caller.

CLAIRE ZUCKER hails from the green woods of eastern Tennessee, and her life circles around family and her love of music and dance. She plays traditional Irish and American Old-time music in sessions, jams, and in various bands, and for 25 years has built community and connected people to music and dance by calling and organizing contradances.

Tucson City of Gastronomy hosts the premiere of a new video by the San Xavier Co-op Farm about the tepary bean, an ancient Tohono O’odham food that continues to thrive in the Sonora Desert due to its cultural significance, drought tolerance, health benefits, and delicious taste. In tandem with the video, farm staff share cultural perspective and modern recipes for White Tepary Bean Hummus and Vegan Red Tepary Bean Brownies.

Facilitator: GABRIEL VEGA, San Xavier Co-op Farm Manager
AMY R. JUAN, Community member and activist
FRANCINE BAUTISTA, MARYIA MILES, Farm employees
ALEJANDRO HIGUERA, Filmmaker

The San Xavier Cooperative Association practices healthy farming and grows traditional crops to support the cultural and environmental values of the Tohono O’odham people as well as economic development within the community.