NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FROM OVER 18 COUNTRIES BATTLE FOR
“WORLD’S BEST PARTY ROCKER DJ” TITLE AT THE 

RED BULL THRE3STYLE WORLD FINALS

IN VANCOUVER B.C. DECEMBER 13 – 17, 2011

– DJ Big Once From Chicago to Represent the U.S. in Premier DJ Competition –

Featured Headliners include: Z-Trip, DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock, DJ Nu-Mark’s Signature Toy Set,
The Rub (Cosmo Baker and DJ Ayers), Stone Throw Records’ Peanut Butter Wolf and
Legendary Producer Just Blaze 


SANTA MONICA, CA  – November 22, 2011 – Who’s the best party rocker DJ on the planet? The Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals aims to answer that question when eighteen national champion DJs converge and compete in Vancouver from December 13 – 17, 2011 for the coveted title. To earn a spot in the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals, hundreds of DJs from around the globe battled it out in regional and national qualifiers. At each stage the rules remain the same: 15 minutes to rock the crowd with a set that incorporates at least three genres of music and keeps partygoers on their feet, and the judges impressed.

Representing the U.S. is 30-year old DJ Big Once (see photo to the left), who was crowned the national champ on November 10, 2011 in Las Vegas, NV after an intense battle between eleven of the country’s DJs.  Big Once, from Chicago, impressed the judges and crowd with his seamless mix of electro, dubstep, and rock. “I designed the set to be really interactive,” he explained.  “I opened strong and finished strong and I had some weird things in the middle to keep it interesting.” Looking ahead to Vancouver, Big Once will be mixing up a special set that is sure to be memorable and stand out among the competition.

THE CONTENDERS & JUDGES
The Red Bull Thre3Style weeklong judging panel will include Canadian DJ stalwart Skratch Bastid, 2003 DMC Champion and MTV Canada resident DJ Dopey, and the 2010 Thre3Style Champion DJ kARVE of France. They will be tasked with evaluating originality/creativity, track selection, technical skills, stage presence, and audience response for each of the competitors listed below:

Robert Moreno – Argentina
DJ Perplex – Australia
Javier Rossell – Bolivia
Nedu Lopes – Brazil
Hedspin – Canada
DJ Byte – Chile
DJ PHO – Columbia
DJ Ken K – Denmark
Supa – France
DJ Dippy -– India
DJ 8 Man – Japan
DJ Spell – New Zealand
FMC – Norway
Thomas Young – Peru
BITCODE – Spain
DJ Bazooka – Switzerland
DJ Big Al – United Kingdom
DJ Big Once – United States of America

THE HEADLINERS
Headlining each night is a wide range of DJ icons, including The Rub (Cosmo Baker and DJ Ayers), Stone Throw Records’ Peanut Butter Wolf, legendary producer Just Blaze, a special performance of DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock, DJ Nu-Mark’s signature Toy Set, and a Red Bull Thre3Style World Final set by Z-Trip.

THE SCHEDULE
The first four nights of the calendar are knock-out stages, with the winner of each advancing to the Red Bull Thre3Style World Final on Saturday, December 17, 2011 at Commodore Ballroom.  See complete schedule of events below.  All venues are in Vancouver, B.C.

Night 1 – Tue., Dec. 13, 2011 [9:00pm] – Bar None:
Australia vs. Bolivia vs. Brazil vs. Norway

Headliners:
- The Rub
- Smalltown DJs
- The Boyscouts

Night 2 – Wed., Dec. 14, 2011 [9:00pm] – Venue Nightclub:
Argentina vs. Canada vs. India vs. Spain

Headliners:
- Peanut Butter Wolf
- Skratch Bastid
- The Freshest Crew

Night 3 – Thu., Dec. 15, 2011 [9:00pm] – Fortune Sound Club:
Columbia vs. Denmark vs. Japan vs. Switzerland vs. UK

Headliners:
- Just Blaze
- Team Canada DJs
- The Goodfellas

Night 4 – Fri., Dec. 16, 2011 [9:00pm] – Five Sixty:
Chile vs. France vs. New Zealand vs. Peru vs. USA

Headliners:
- DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock
- DJ Dopey
- Faction Soundcrew

Night 5/FINALS – Sat., Dec. 17, 2011 [9:00pm] – Commodore Ballroom:
Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals featuring winners from Nights 1-4.

Headliners:
- Z-Trip
- DJ Nu-Mark
- Vinyl Ritchie

TICKET INFORMATION
For all ticket information, please go to www.redbull.ca/thre3style

PARTY ROCKIN’ AUDIO: MIXCLOUD
Who is the best party rocker DJ in the world?  You be the judge.  Check out www.mixcloud.com/RedBullThre3Style to follow the globe’s best DJs and listen to their Red Bull Thre3Style sets.

THE HISTORY OF RED BULL THRE3STYLE
The Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals in Vancouver is a homecoming of sorts. The original concept of Red Bull Thre3Style began five years ago as a Tuesday night experiment at a small club in Kelowna, BC. In 2010, the event first went global and changed the face of modern DJ battles. From the USA to Japan to New Zealand, 10 countries from around the world held deep-heated events to determine who the best party-rocking battle ambassador would be. Ultimately these warriors of the one’s and two’s came together in Paris, France at the end of the the year and flexed every musical muscle in their body at the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals. In the end it was Paris’ own DJ kARVE who wowed the judges with his impressive collage of hip-hop head-nodding electro-rocking tunage. If last year’s event was anything to go by then the 2011 Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals is guaranteed to send the international DJing scene spinning like a record on a turntable.

FOLLOW US
Follow us on Twitter: @redbullcanada | @redbullVAN | @redbullthre3style | #rb3style
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RedBull  | www.facebook.com/redbullthre3style
For more info, articles, video and photos, visit www.redbull.ca/thre3style

GLOBAL SPONSOR MINI OFFERS ACCESS AND RIDES
Music fans looking for a way to the event need look no further than Facebook.  MINI Canada’s Facebook page will be running contests for a free ride to the event and access to the World Final competition.  Winners will be picked up from their Vancouver location in an all-new MINI Countryman and delivered to the front door of the finals to experience the event.

Fans interested in entering the contest for a ride and access to the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals can visit the Thre3Style tab on MINI Canada’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MINICanada

RED BULL CONTENT POOL:  FREE FOR EDITORIAL USAGE
Through the Red Bull network, hi-res video and still images are captured and made immediately available for editorial use for all media channels including television, film, print, mobile, and digital. The content is centrally located in the Red Bull Content Pool for media partners at www.redbullcontentpool.com

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For all media inquiries, please contact:

Lynn Tejada (née Hasty)
Green Galactic PR
213.840.1201
lynn@greengalactic.com

Nyla Hassell
Red Bull Communications
nyla.hassell@us.redbull.com

Joffrey Ballet founders Robert Joffrey & Gerald Arpino, early 1960's. Photo credit: unknown

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, the first film to chronicle the legendary Joffrey Ballet, is set to premiere in New York City in January 2012 at the Dance On Camera Festival. The feature length documentary takes a look at this groundbreaking cultural treasure, known a s the first truly American dance company. Narrated by Tony® and Emmy® Award winner Mandy Patinkin and directed by Bob Hercules (Bill T. Jones: A Good Man), the film documents how the Joffrey revolutionized American ballet by daringly combining modern dance with traditional ballet, and setting it to pop and rock music scores. Following the North American premiere in late January, the film will embark on a theatrical tour to select cities in the U.S. Released through Hybrid Cinema, the documentary is expected to have a DVD release in the first quarter of 2012 as well.
For Immediate Release:

Hybrid Cinema Announces New Documentary

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance

Chronicling the History of the Groundbreaking Joffrey Ballet

Set to Premiere in New York City
January 2012

Followed by a Theatrical Tour in Select Cities


LOS ANGELES, CA – October 18, 2011 – Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, the first film to chronicle the legendary Joffrey Ballet, is set to premiere in New York City in January 2012 at the Dance On Camera Festival (see that press release here). The feature length documentary takes a look at this groundbreaking cultural treasure, known as the first truly American dance company. Narrated by Tony® and Emmy® Award winner Mandy Patinkin and directed by Bob Hercules (Bill T. Jones: A Good Man), the film documents how the Joffrey revolutionized American ballet by daringly combining modern dance with traditional ballet, and setting it to pop and rock music scores. Following the North American premiere in late January, the film will embark on a theatrical tour to select cities in the U.S. Released through Hybrid Cinema, the documentary is expected to have a DVD release in the first quarter of 2012 as well. For more information, please visit www.joffreymovie.com.

Joffrey Ballet founders Robert Joffrey & Gerald Arpino, early 1960's. Photo credit: unknown

Co-founded in 1956 by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey and dancer Gerald Arpino, who would become their principal choreographer, The Joffrey Ballet began as a DIY dance company of six dancers touring the United States in a borrowed station wagon. What started as a childhood dream quickly grew into one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies. Together, Joffrey and Arpino transformed the face of dance by merging classical ballet technique with bold new perspectives for edgy new ballets that challenged conventions. Aggressive touring took the Company from school auditoriums across America’s Heartland, to the White House at Jacqueline Kennedy’s invitation, on to Russia for a month-long tour during the height of the Cold War, and beyond.  They also garnered extensive media attention for their daring originality, which included appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, the cover of Time magazine, and in major motion pictures such as Save the Last Dance and Robert Altman’s The Company (which is based on the Joffrey).

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance weaves a wealth of rare archival footage and photographs along with interviews featuring former and current Joffrey star dancers, showing the full history of the Company from its founding in 1956 to the present. It describes how the Joffrey repeatedly resurrected itself after devastating financial and artistic setbacks and introduced cutting-edge choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Laura Dean and Margo Sappington to larger audiences.

The film features rare excerpts from many seminal Joffrey works including Astarte, Trinity and Billboards, as well as breakthrough collaborations with choreographers Twyla Tharp (Deuce Coupe), Kurt Jooss (The Green Table) and Leonide Massine (Parade).

 Featuring: Kevin McKenzie, Helgi Tomasson, Lar Lubovitch, Ashley C. Wheater, Gary Chryst, Trinette Singleton, Anna Kisselgoff, Adam Sklute, Christian Holder, Dermot Burke, Paul Sutherland, Francoise Martinet, Brunilda Ruiz, Jonathan Watts, Diane Consoer, Sasha Anawalt, and Hedy Weiss.

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance:
A Lakeview Films Production in association with Ocean Films
A Film by Bob Hercules
Executive Producers: Jay Alix & Harold Ramis
Producers: Una Jackman & Erica Mann Ramis
Writer/Director: Bob Hercules
Narrator: Mandy Patinkin
Directors of Photography: Michael Swanson & Keith Walker
Original Music Composition: Mark Bandy
Editing: Melissa Sterne
Run Time: 87m10s

Gerald Arpino rehearsal shot from the 1980s. Photo courtesy Joffrey Ballet.

About Director Bob Hercules –
Bob Hercules is an award-winning veteran producer/director (Forgiving Dr. Mengele, Bill T. Jones: A Good Man, Senator Obama Goes to Africa).  The co-founder of Media Process Group, his work has been seen widely on PBS, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel and the Independent Film Channel (IFC). He has also directed commercials for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Alzheimer’s Association, McDonald’s Corporation, Gap Clothing Stores and the Obama For President Campaign.  His documentary, A Good Man, co-directed by Gordon Quinn, chronicles the intense creative journey of Bill T. Jones – a 2010 Kennedy Center Honors recipient and two-time Tony® Award winner for Best Choreography.  It premieres November 11, 2011 on PBS’ celebrated series American Masters.


About Narrator Mandy Patinkin –
Mandy Patinkin is an American actor of the Broadway stage, network television, and film. His credits include starring roles in musical theater presentations of Sunday in the Park with George, The Secret Garden, The Wild Party, Evita and Mamaloshen; television shows Chicago Hope, The Larry Sanders Show, Dead Like Me, and Criminal Minds; and the unforgettable Inigo Montoya in the 1987 comedy classic film The Princess Bride. Patinkin will be headlining on Broadway in November with Patti LuPone in An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin and is currently starring in the new Showtime series Homeland with Claire Danes.


About the Producers –
The film was born through the friendship of legendary multi-hyphenate actor-producer-director-writer Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Analyze This and SCTV) and first time producer Jay Alix.  Fans of the Joffrey, they both saw the need to interview Gerald Arpino before he passed. When they discovered that no documentary had ever been made of this legendary company, they decided now was the time.

Harold Ramis, Executive Producer –
Harold Ramis is a screenwriter, director and actor whose films include some of the most popular and influential comedies of our time – Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Ghostbusters, Back to School, Groundhog Day, Multiplicity, Analyze This, Bedazzled, Analyze That, The Ice Harvest and Year One. Among his numerous professional honors and awards, Ramis is the recipient of the American Comedy Award, the British Comedy Award, the BAFTA (British Academy) award for screenwriting (Groundhog Day), and the Just for Laughs Lifetime Achievement Award.  Four of his films were listed among the American Film Institute’s “100 Funniest Movies” and Groundhog Day was recently chosen one of the “101 Greatest Screenplays” by the Writers Guild of America. Harold Ramis has also directed several episodes of NBC’s acclaimed series The Office.

Jay Alix, Executive Producer –
Jay Alix is new to the documentary film world.  Having completed many private and corporate documentary projects, this film is his production debut for public distribution.  On the road to getting here, he was the founder, past chairman and president of AlixPartners, an internationally recognized firm of corporate turnaround, restructuring, performance improvement, and financial advisory professionals. He was also co-founder, chairman and past president of Questor Partners, a $1.2 billion investment fund focused on investing in turnarounds, underperforming and distressed companies, as well as special situations.

Una Jackman, Producer –

Una Jackman founded the Detroit Friends of the Joffrey Ballet in 2000, an organization that brought the Joffrey to perform at The Detroit Opera House for the past ten years and continues to have a presence in Detroit each year. Jackman was first introduced to Gerald Arpino and The Joffrey Ballet in 1980. While serving as a board member of Dance with Altitude in Telluride from 1995 to 2000, where the Joffrey enjoyed a summer residency for five years, she developed a close friendship with Arpino and the two conceived of the Detroit Friends organization. The making of this documentary, particularly doing the final interviews with him, is her way of paying tribute to Arpino’s life’s work and to the Company he co-founded.



Erica Mann Ramis, Producer –
Erica Mann Ramis is a poet and writer who has spent most of her life in and around the film industry. Her connection with the Joffrey began fifteen years ago when she met  Arpino. Ramis’ lifetime love of ballet and modern dance came to fruition when she and husband, filmmaker Harold Ramis, connected with Jay Alix and Una Jackman, and they resolved to document Arpino’s life and the history of The Joffrey Ballet.


The Joffrey Ballet Mission –
The Joffrey is a world-class, Chicago-based ballet company and dance education organization committed to artistic excellence and innovation, presenting a unique repertoire encompassing masterpieces of the past and cutting-edge works. The Joffrey is committed to providing arts education and accessible dance training through its Joffrey Academy of Dance and Community Engagement programs.


About The Joffrey Ballet –
For more than a half-century, The Joffrey Ballet’s commitment to taking world-class, artistically vibrant work to a broad and varied audience has created a solid foundation that continues to support the Company’s unprecedented capacity for achieving important “firsts.” Today, the Joffrey, which has been hugely successful in its former residences in New York and Los Angeles, lives permanently in a brilliant new facility, Joffrey Tower, in the heart of America, Chicago, Illinois. The Company’s commitment to accessibility is met through the most extensive touring schedule of any dance company in history, an innovative and highly effective education program including the much lauded Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, and collaborations with myriad other visual and performing arts organizations.

Classically trained to the highest standards, The Joffrey Ballet expresses a unique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity of America with its Company, audiences and repertoire, which includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces and contemporary works. Founded by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey in 1956, guided by celebrated choreographer Gerald Arpino from 1988 until 2007, The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under internationally renowned Artistic Director Ashley C. Wheater and Executive Director Christopher Clinton Conway. The Joffrey Ballet has become one of the most revered and recognizable arts organizations in America and one of the top dance companies in the world. To learn more, please visit http://joffrey.org.

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For more information, or to request screeners, images, and interviews, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Joffrey Ballet founders Robert Joffrey & Gerald Arpino. Photo courtesy Joffrey Ballet.

After a 5 year hiatus, underground performance party pioneer Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) returns to the limelight with I Am Vegetable at the Premiere Events Center (aka Lot 613) in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, October 8, 2011.  I Am Vegetable is a delectable interactive costume party that merges theater, story telling, music, performance art, and dancing with imaginative sets that integrate the audience with the action.  The event soundscape incorporates dubstep, electro/breaks, house, tech house, and ambient/downtempo with a tasty DJ line-up that features John Kelley, Shayn, Trevor + Travis Wyse, Petey, and more. The creative brains behind I Am Vegetable are musician and event director Teo Castro and costume designer Mikiko Nagao, who have collaborated on creative underground events since the 1990s.  I Am Vegetable runs from 9:00pm to 3:30am. Tickets range from $20 to $40. Premiere Events Center/Lot 613 (http://www.lot613.com) is located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. 

Underground Performance Party Pioneer
Dream Circus Theatre Presents
I Am Vegetable
A Wildly Costumed Interactive Theatrical Dance Event
At Premiere Events Center (Lot 613) in Downtown LA
Saturday, October 8, 2011

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 16, 2011 – After a 5 year hiatus, underground performance party pioneer Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) returns to the limelight with I Am Vegetable at the Premiere Events Center (aka Lot 613) in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, October 8, 2011.  I Am Vegetable is a delectable interactive costume party that merges theater, story telling, music, performance art, and dancing with imaginative sets that integrate the audience with the action.  The event soundscape incorporates dubstep, electro/breaks, house, tech house, and ambient/downtempo with a tasty DJ line-up that features John Kelley, Shayn, Trevor + Travis Wyse, Petey, and more. The creative brains behind I Am Vegetable are musician and event director Teo Castro and costume designer Mikiko Nagao, who have collaborated on creative underground events since the 1990s.  I Am Vegetable runs from 9:00pm to 3:30am. Tickets range from $20 to $40. Premiere Events Center/Lot 613 (http://www.lot613.com) is located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. For more information, please visit http://www.dreamcircus.com or call 310-853-3075.

Attendees are encouraged to wear vegetable-themed costumes and bring their favorite organic vegetables for the communal soup that will be served all night long. The event will be streamed live at http://www.stickam.com. Guests must be 21 years of age or older to attend. A limited number of advance tickets can be purchased for $20-25 at http://fla.vor.us/1100057-I-AM-VEGETABLE-tickets/I-AM-VEGETABLE-Los-Angeles–.html. On the day of event, tickets are $30 with vegetable costume and organic vegetable for the communal soup, $40 “plain jane.” Street parking is free.  $10 secured valet parking will also be available. Please also see DCT’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/dreamcircus.theatre as well as the event page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=247783768584432

I Am Vegetable welcomes Fud-gee Bear and Electric GrassHopper back from a Deep Hi Bear Nation. Climbing out from the underground city of Zion, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, they will bring magic, mystery and fantasy back into our world once again.  Event attendees will be transported into a world where they can mingle with roaming I Am Vegetable characters in elaborate costumes, get a scrub down in the make-believe “Vegetable Wash,” and wander down the interactive “Vegetable Brick Road” (a floor with interactive screens and projections) on their way to the “Veggie Voyeurism Museum” (a “green light” district of steamy vegetables).

In the “Market Membrane” front room, a farmer’s market-themed area, guests can enjoy dubstep/electro breaks DJ sets, VJs, theatrical performances, and a costume contest. The outside “Mushroom Garden,” is a place for attendees to sit, lounge, drink, and eat.  More DJs, VJs, an ambient room, and photo booth will be set as a soup bowl.  Out back, attendees will find the “Psycho-Ponics Ward,” a black-lit room with house/tech DJ sets, VJs and theatrical performances with a backdrop of vegetables hooked up to tubes. The upstairs area houses the chill zone known as “The Refrigerator” with VJs and ambient music.

Interactive characters will roam throughout the event space.  Examples include the “Mr. Snails” characters (like the Mr. Smiths from the Matrix movies) – Secret Service snails who try to capture veggie attendees – and “The Garlic Informant,” who saves the veggies from the Mr. Snails.

The event is a vehicle to launch nutritional vegetable awareness and support the organic health movement for sustainable living.  Organic local food companies will be participating.

Featured DJs by Event Area:

Market Membrane - a vegetable marketplace full of sinful, carnal delights features dubstep/electro breaks with:
- John Kelley (Ball of Wax / Moontribe) - site
- Shayn Almeida (Intetech / Deep LA) – site
- Bartek (Quade / Ball of Wax) – site
- SuneviL LovechiLd – site
- Petey (Technique) – site

Psycho-Ponics Ward – veggie crazed madness, with padded walls and black lights, is hosted by Fade Dra and features house/tech house with:
- HAWT DJs Mikey + Eddie B. (HAWT Music) - site
- Frank Fader (Dogtown DJs) – site
- Ben Annand (Moontribe / Tropical) – site
- DJ Xian Fayette (I Am)
- DJ M*Linss (Dogtown DJs)

The Mushroom Garden - outside chill area features ambient/downtempo with:
- Imagika – site
- Trevor + Travis Wyse (Green Sector) – site
- Maggie (Moontribe) – site
- Kevin Chills (See Thru Sound) – site

Click here to watch Dream Circus Theatre in action.

Teo Castro, Co-Founder Dream Circus Theatre / Producer / Writer
Party planner, performer and legend in the L.A. underground circuit, Teo Castro runs Dream Circus Theatre with his wife, Mikiko Nagao.  The collective organizes the legendary “I Am” series of themed events that merge theatrical performances and electronic music into party environments. Castro and Nagao also created a street music and clothing company called Stoner Generation. He worked with Bill Manspeaker (Green Jello), Lou Maglia (former president of Island Records), and Art Jaeger (former executive at Capitol Records) in executive and production capacities at QTOPIA Event Center in Hollywood, which later became the Vanguard. For Insomniac Events, he created Dream Circus Village at Electric Daisy Carnival.  Other organizations and artists he has worked with over the years include Red Bull, M-Audio, Native Instruments, Magic (Las Vegas), Jane’s Addiction, Snoop Dog, Lollapalooza LLC, Coachella Music Festival, Burning Man, Cirque du Soleil, Dance with Films, House of Blues, Charlie Armstrong (Paramount Pictures), and PF Chang’s.

Mikiko Nagao, Costume Designer / Event Creator –
Mikiko Nagao is an innovative costume designer who has worked on commercial, film, television, and theater projects for the past 10 years. With her husband Teo Castro, she runs Dream Circus Theatre.  She has created custom designs for over 100 productions including costumes for stilt walker clowns, medieval soldiers, angelic space gods, large monsters, Victorian characters, and more. Past large-scale productions include creating costumes for Dream Circus Theatre’s 2003 tour of 35 cities with Lollapalooza.  Nagao studied at Bantan Design Fashion Institute (Tokyo) and Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (San Francisco and Los Angeles).  http://MKOCostumes.com

Dream Circus Theatre –
Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) was initially involved in the local underground scene in the mid 1990s, the first in the Los Angeles area to merge theatrical performances such as fire dancers, aerialists, performance artists, and art installations in a DJ dance party environment.  DCT is known for their innovative series of event/parties called “I Am” – costume, themed parties, which fuse all the elements mentioned above. DCT has self-produced, created and written over 100 original events and shows.

Castro, Nagao and/or Dream Circus Theatre have been featured in news and entertainment media around the world including the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, KCRW, KPFK, KROQ, KLOS, MTV, CNN, FNN, CBS-TV, Bad Boys, MTV, Rolling Stone, and Time Magazine (Asia).

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For more information, images, or to request an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Inaugural Zeitgeist Media Festival 2011
Brings Socially Conscious Art

To The Music Box in Hollywood
Sunday, September 11, 2011


With Additional Global Events: 9/9/11 to 9/11/11

LOS ANGELES, CA – August 25, 2011 – The inaugural Zeitgeist Media Festival (ZMF), uniting the world through socially conscious art, happens in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at The Music Box in Hollywood… and around the world on the same weekend!  The not-for-profit festival features music, visual and interactive art, poetry, comedy, and theatrics including a concert featuring forward-thinking artistic powerhouses such as world musician Natacha Atlas, El Willy & the Wolves with special guest guitar legend Billy Gibbons, violin virtuoso Lili Haydn, Ben Stewart’s Hierosonic, and the social comedy of Rick Overton (MC) and Lee Camp.  The Zeitgeist Media Festival runs from 2:00pm to 10:00pm and is an all ages event.  In addition to $40.00 per ticket, attendees must also contribute a small canned/sealed food donation to gain entrance. The Music Box is located at 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028. For more information on the venue, please call 323-464-0808 or visit http://www.themusicbox.la.  For online tickets, please visit http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/venueSearch.jsp?venue_id=8104. This is a Non-Profit/At Cost Event, where the ticket price reflects the expenditure of the event itself.  For additional information on the Zeitgeist Media Festival, please see http://zeitgeistmediafestival.org.

ZMF is a global, multimedia event working to utilize the Arts as an avenue to create sustainable values in the pursuit of a better world. The event features a magical 3,000 square foot rooftop “living garden” environment, which will house fine art, video projections, and more music with the help of LA’s Dream Circus Theatre. Notable artists with work in the rooftop garden include Banksy and Mear One. Interpretative live painter Norton Wisdom will also perform in the rooftop garden.  ZMF will also host a regional food drive, in partnership with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, to provide relief to the growing number of people struggling with poverty in LA County. A list of recommended goods can be found here. Several nonprofits will also be on hand at the Los Angeles event with information booths on-site.

From Canada to London to Israel, ZMF expects over 70 parallel events.  In addition to socially conscious art, the global event encourages participants in other regions to also conduct similar, local, resource-based drives for those in need in their respective regions.  The global events are being updated on the ZMF website as they are finalized. A short list can be found near the bottom of this page.  If you wish to follow the global events’ progress on Facebook, please see: 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Zeitgeist-Media-Festival/194115850637429. The Facebook page for the ZMF LA event is at: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=229754137068117.



LA Performers –
Los Angeles ZMF performers include:

- Rick Overton (MC) – social comedy – site
- Lee Camp – social comedy – site
- Natacha Atlas – world musician – site
- El Willy & the Wolves with special guest Billy Gibbons – site
- Lili Haydn – violin virtuoso – site
- Dream Circus Theatre – rooftop atmosphere and performance – site
- Hierosonic- filmmaker Ben Stewart’s hybrid rock project – site
- Peter Joseph – multimedia, performing “Zeitgeist: Requiem for One” – site
- Norton Wisdom – live visual art – site
- Charles Fleischer – comedy – site
- Garret John LoPorto – “The Wayseer Manifesto” – site
- The Lions – dub reggae musical group – site
- Master Zero – theatrical – site
- The Lost Children of Babylon - “The Protectors of Spiritual Hip Hop” – site
- Heather Donavon – singer-songwriter – site

Performer bios and descriptions of participating organizations are summarized below.

Webcast –
The entire ZMF LA main event will be webcast live for free at http://www.stickam.com (details TBD).

Peter Joseph, the creator of the Zeitgeist Film Series and founder of the “Zeitgeist Movement” who helms the festival, explains, “Since antiquity, the Arts have been a powerful catalyst in the development of the ‘zeitgeist’ of the time. From the awe-inspiring aesthetics of religious art and music throughout the ages to the Renaissance and the dawn of the Age of Reason, the Arts have given way to powerful awareness, often opening the doors for social and cultural evolution. The Arts have continually challenged common beliefs in order to initiate progress. It is no wonder that many of the greatest thinkers and scientists in history have given tremendous credence to its power and utility.”

The Zeitgeist Film Series –
The award-winning, controversial Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007) obtained over 100,000,000 views during its first year online.  In 2008, the sequel, Zeitgeist: Addendum, premiered at the Artivist Film Festival in Hollywood, CA.  As with its predecessor, the award-winning Addendum was a huge viral internet phenomenon obtaining over 50,000,000 views within its first year.

In January 2011, over 300 independent groups around the world hosted theatrical screenings of the third installment, Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, in 30 languages across 60 countries.  The headcount for the global premiere was over 50,000 in attendance.  Zeitgeist: Moving Forward may be the widest nonprofit, global theatrical premiere in history with the most languages, countries and locations — ALL with no major distributor but solely on a volunteer and nonprofit basis. This follows on the footsteps of Zeitgeist: The Movie being the most watched documentary in internet history!

The three films have become a cultural film series project, which continue to consider the current “zeitgeist” or “spirit or awareness of the time.”

http://zeitgeistmovie.com
- Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007)
- Zeitgeist: Addendum (2008)
- Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (2011)

Participating ZMF LA Nonprofit Organization (NPO) Partners:

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank –
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is a nonprofit charitable organization that has been serving the disadvantaged in the Los Angeles community since 1973.   To fulfill the organization’s mission, the Food Bank sources and acquires food and other products to distribute to needy people through charitable agencies or directly through programs.  The Food Bank energizes the community to get involved and support hunger relief.  The organization conducts hunger education and awareness campaigns.  And it also advocates for public policies that alleviate hunger.  The goal is for no one to go hungry in Los Angeles County.  The Food Bank is at the heart of a charitable food distribution network that includes over 1,000 charitable agency sites throughout Los Angeles County.  The organization partners with Feeding America, the nation’s largest non-governmental, domestic hunger relief organization. As part of this partnership, the Food Bank follows the guidelines put forth by the network and is subject to monitoring. http://www.lafoodbank.com

Inside Out Community Arts –
Through visual arts, performing arts, and media workshops, Inside Out Community Arts promotes healthy interaction among diverse at-risk and underserved Los Angeles middle school and high school youth. Led by both specially trained teams of professional artists and high school age mentors, Inside Out bridges cultural, geographic, socioeconomic, and differently-abled boundaries to support youth in creating and presenting topical theater, art, and media. The organization’s goal is to empower youth with the tools, confidence, and inspiration to make a positive difference in their communities and the world … “from the inside out.” http://www.insideoutca.org

KPFK 90.7 FM –
KPFK 90.7 FM is a member station of the Pacifica Foundation, which consists of five radio stations, over 100 affiliate stations, and the Pacifica Radio Archives, responsible for preserving the voices of artists, activists and progressive journalists since 1949, when the foundation was established by peace activist Lew Hill. To further peace through broadcasting activities, Hill determined that radio sponsored by individual listeners would be the best way to ensure editorial freedom. http://www.kpfk.org

NextAid –
NextAid is a Los Angeles-based humanitarian organization that harnesses the power of music to support sustainable development projects that serve vulnerable children, youth and women in Africa. Through music events and public education initiatives, NextAid provides empowering opportunities for concerned individuals to make a difference. NextAid’s current initiatives benefit youth in Nairobi, Kenya, specifically the Kawangware Vision Centre (KVC).  KVC is a project based in the Kawangware slum of Nairobi, Kenya, run by a community-based youth group, which makes silk-screened gift bags out of recycled paper to sell to local businesses. Recognizing the organization’s potential to make a bigger impact, NextAid has partnered with KVC to build a new “green” workshop and multipurpose facility in order to expand KVC’s operation and serve more youth. On August 12th, International Youth Day, NextAid’s Bids Build Hope Online Auction kicked off featuring over 50 unique items to raise funds for KVC. http://www.nextaid.org

Venice Arts –

Venice Arts’ mission is to ignite youths’ imagination, mentor their creativity, and expand their sense of possibility through high quality, accessible media–based arts education programs. Venice Arts also serves as a catalyst for people of all ages, living in low–income or underrepresented communities, to create and share personal and community stories through photography, film, and multimedia. http://www.venice-arts.org



Additional NPO participants to be confirmed.

Performer Bios:

Rick Overton –
Rick Overton is the son of two musicians — his father was Thelonious Monk’s arranger and a teacher at Julliard, and his mother was in the pop quartet The Chordettes, the girl group famous for the singles “Lollipop” and “Mr. Sandman.”  So, of course, he had no choice but to go into comedy. He has been in over 100 films and countless TV shows (most recently in Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz), but still has time to do his own brand of comedy that combines quick routines with deeper questions, theories, and “quantumplations” about how we all wound up here.  He has an Emmy Award for his writing and just returned from a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  In his over 40 years of getting laughs, he’s been a rabble rousing alternative comic since long before being socially aware was an “alternative.” Comics have always led the way in pointing out naked emperors, never more so than in these last few years. He is a Patriot with a true love for the global experiment of America and its founders, as well as a Matriot with a strong love for planet Earth. He loves Human Kind for, among other things, paying his bills. Though he is not as fond of Human Unkind, who are screwing everything up.  According to Overton, “We’re stuck in a brightly lit Dark Age these days with only one smart door to choose in this game show — a Renaissance beats a Dark Age every time.”  The answer, according to Overton, is in good alpha role models — bold souls to defend us from encroaching malice.

Lee Camp –
Lee Camp is a stand-up comic, actor, activist, and writer.  He provided a catharsis for millions of people when he went live on Fox News and called the network a “parade of propaganda and a festival of ignorance.”  He’s a contributor to The Onion and has performed stand-up comedy at events featuring Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore.  He was recently on Showtime’s series The Green Room with Paul Provenza with Roseanne and Bob Saget.  Called one of the best new faces at the Montreal Comedy Festival, he ran for president on Comedy Central’s Fresh Debate ’08 and he has performed comedic commentary on PBS, E! Network, SpikeTV, MTV, and ABC’s Good Morning America. He is also featured in the bestseller Satiristas! with the likes of George Carlin, Bill Maher, and Stephen Colbert.  He is also popular on the college circuit — hundreds of schools across the country have raved about Camp’s unique and fast-paced comedy. He is a regular contributor to New Dissident Radio and The Jeff Santos Show on Revolution Boston Radio and bears a tattoo on his left forearm, a quote from Howard Zinn, which says, “Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power that can transform the world.”

Natacha Atlas –
Anglo-Egyptian singer Natacha Atlas has spent more than a decade fusing electronic beats with North African and Arabic music, finding links between seemingly disparate musical genres, exploring new and different sonic settings, and working with a wealth of like-minded collaborators from across the world along the way. Her music has been influenced by many styles including Arabic, hip hop, drum ‘n’ bass, R&B, Hindi pop, French chanson, and reggae. Atlas began her career as part of the world fusion group Transglobal Underground. In 1995, she began to focus on her solo career with the release of Diaspora. She has since released seven solo albums and been a part of numerous collaborations. Atlas’ list of collaborators include artists as varied as singers Sinead O’Connor and Sarah Brightman, the avant-garde classical composer Jocelyn Pook, British Asian visionary Nitin Sawhney, and the multi-instrumentalist and musical director of Ana Hina, Harvey Brough. Her version of “Mon Amie La Rose” became a surprise success in France, reaching 16 on the French Singles Charts in 1999. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Conference Against Racism.

El Willy & The Wolves –

El Willy, aka El Willy & The Wolves, is an art derivative drawn from Elwood Francis and Billy F. Gibbons and their infamous alliance within the New City and Williamsburg community of experimental soundscapists.  The communal exchange between the long-standing association of Francis and Gibbons extends into signal and audio bending within a contemporary backbeat driven framework without the exclusion of blues based art forms. To the contrary, the unusual combination is a blend of elements ranging from solid twelve and sixteen bar patterns toward modern surrealist interpretations.  An antagonists’ design termed by observers as “Redneck Tech.”

Lili Haydn –
Before launching her solo career, Lili Haydn established herself as one of the most sought after violinists in Los Angeles playing with the LA Philharmonic, Porno for Pyros, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Victoria Williams, Tom Petty, Robert Plant, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Roger Waters, Funkadelic, and Jimmy Page. In 1994, she formed her own band and started a two-year stint at the Viper Room in West Hollywood.  By 1997, she had a record contract with Atlantic and released her debut album, Lili.  Since that time, she went on to record three additional, critically acclaimed, major label recordings as a solo artist.  Her last CD, Place Between Places, was a favorite on NPR, and Hadyn performed the single “Strawberry Street” on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and HBO’s Californication.  A humanitarian and activist, she performs regularly for various human rights organizations.  In addition to the previously mentioned artists, she has also played with Brandy, Tony! Toni! Tone!, and No Doubt.  George Clinton calls her “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin.”

Dream Circus Theatre –
Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) was involved in the local underground scene in the mid 1990s, the first in the Los Angeles area to merge theatrical performances such as fire dancers, aerialists, performance artists, and art installations in a DJ dance party environment.  DCT is known for their innovative series of event/parties called “I AM” – costume, themed parties, which fuse all the elements mentioned above. DCT has self-produced, created and written over 100 original events and shows. They have worked with numerous organizations and artists over the years including Red Bull, M-Audio, Native Instruments, the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, KCRW, KPFK, KROQ, KLOS, MTV, CNN, FNN, CBS-TV, Rolling Stone Magazine, Details Magazine, Time Magazine (Asia), Bad Boys television show, Magic (Las Vegas), Jane’s Addiction, Snoop Dog, Lollapalooza LLC, Coachella Music Festival, Burning Man, Electric Daisy Carnival, Dance with Films, Qtopia, Vanguard, House of Blues, Lou Malia (former president of Island Records), and PF Changs.

Hierosonic –
Hierosonic, filmmaker Ben Stewart’s hybrid rock project, prides itself on raw, energetic performances both on stage and in the studio. Originally conceived in 2002 out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the band’s career has spanned over 9 years and several hundred performances, solidifying the band as a staple within the realm of underground rock music.  Keeping it fresh, the band redefines its rock music heritage with the musical language of industrial and hip hop. With a healthy dose of thought-provoking lyrics, dirty bass lines, and pop hooks, Hierosonic strives for new sounds with a unique familiarity.  The band is widely known for performances with A-list acts such as A Perfect Circle, Incubus, Jane’s Addiction, 30 Seconds to Mars, Audioslave, Filter, Sick Puppies, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, The Used, Cold, Lacuna Coil, and Halestorm.

Peter Joseph –
Peter Joseph, born in North Carolina to a mailman father and a social worker mother, began his creative interests with music at a young age. He moved to New York to attend a conservatory, only to drop out after an inability to afford the tuition. As the creator of the world famous, award-winning Zeitgeist Film Series and founder of the controversial “Zeitgeist Movement,” which seeks to shift our social system into a more sustainable paradigm, Joseph continues to focus on media-related expressions, including music composition, performance, and film production, each with a focus on affecting society for the better. He has lectured around the world on the topics of social sustainably and has been featured in the New York Times, Russia Today, TedX, and many other outlets.

Norton Wisdom –
Since 1979, interpretive performance painter Norton Wisdom has worked with numerous musical ensembles, spontaneously painting images that capture the essence of the moment. He regularly performs live with bands/musicians onstage, creating art inspired by the music. Working on an illuminated Mylar surface, his imagery emerges, evolves and dissolves throughout the performance. He has worked with members of Jane’s Addiction, The Rolling Stones, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, the Grateful Dead, George Clinton, David Navarro, LTJ Bukem, Lili Haydn, Ivan Neville, and DJ Nobody.  He is also deeply connected to the LA improv jazz scene, and specifically to guitarist Nels Cline.   He contributed his creative efforts to the Winter Olympics 2002 (Salt Lake), the opening of the Bellagio Hotel (Las Vegas), and premiere of Cirque Du Soleil (Las Vegas). Museum and festival projects include Coachella, UC Santa Barbara Art Museum, Laguna Art Museum, Skirball Museum, Orange County Art Museum, San Diego Museum, WOMAD World of Music, Arts and Dance Festival, Milwaukee Museum Art, and others.

Charles Fleischer –

Comedian Charles Fleischer is best known as the voices of Roger Rabbit, Benny The Cab, Psycho, and Greasy in Disney and Amblin Entertainment’s film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.   Fleischer’s other voice roles include work on The Polar Express and We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story. On-screen roles include Back to the Future Part II and Gridlock’d.   Roles on television include a recurring role on the 1970s hit series Welcome Back, Kotter as Carvelli, and as Chuck on the hit series Laverne & Shirley.  Fleischer’s stand-up routines are known for an intelligent but unusual take on obscure topics. A musician and songwriter as well, he has performed as a guest with the group Blues Traveler.  Fleishcher writes for film and television plus continues to do stand-up.  He also hosts his own weekly web show, Fleischer’s Universe.

Garret John LoPorto –

College dropout turned sonic drug dealer, best-selling author, YouTube sensation, rabble-rouser, troublemaker, and champion for free-thinkers everywhere, LoPorto is raising an army of the world’s misfits, mavericks, visionaries and pioneers – dubbed “Wayseers” - to help bring greater alignment with the mysterious source of genius known as “the Way.” He uses music, video, books, and social media to call this legion of Wayseers to turn on to what they are, tune in to the Way, and drop out of unhelpful institutions, blazing a trail for what the world really needs. He has been written about in The New York Times, Money Magazine, The London Financial Times, and The Boston Globe, and many other national newspapers. LoPorto and his projects have been featured on national television, including CNN and ABC.

The Lions –
Many of The Lions met through the LA rare groove outfit Breakestra and have collaborated on various projects throughout the past 10 years. The LA dub reggae collective came together as the result of an impromptu recording session, which included members of not only Breakestra, but also Connie Price and the Keystones, Rhythm Roots All-Stars, Orgone, Sound Directions, Plant Life, Poetics, and Macy Gray (to name a few).  Their live show is a healthy mix of vocal and dub tracks, balancing classic reggae, soul cuts, and new originals, while incorporating the sounds of Ethiopia, Colombia, and Africa. The Lions have performed at Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Sunset Junction, El Rey Theatre, The Roxy, Belly Up, Slims, and The Echoplex.  They have supported the likes of Antibalas, Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Aggrolites, Bedouin Soundclash, and Ooklah the Moc.  They were also the backing band on two occasions for reggae legends The Heptones. LA radio stations KCRW, KPFK, and KXLU all support the group.

Master-Zero –
Born from the ethers of the universe, Master-Zero is an inter-dimensional being who views the world as we live in it.  A master of zero is a void, nothing. In that emptiness, there is a place to be open to everything. Master-Zero is a question of what is or isn’t, right or wrong, good or bad. A voyeur of the human condition, Master-Zero embraces music as the portal into reality, the key to unlock the door of this dimension. Singing about what is present in the world of now with electronic beats that pulsate rhythm and subsonic bass, Master-Zero gravitates to the electric guitar to awaken the sirens.  Human theatrics play a part in the story through movement of dance and expression.  Artful scenic designs, along with visual images projected as moving light, create the backdrop to set up a voyeuristic live drama where the story remains the question and in that question is the story.

The Lost Children of Babylon –
The Lost Children of Babylon (LCOB), aka “The Protectors of Spiritual Hip Hop,” are a Philadelphia-based conscious hip hop group founded by Rasul Allahu in the mid-1990s. The group is known for their conscious and spiritual style with lyrics influenced by Nuwaubian philosophy, Islam, and The Nation of Gods & Earths.  They first appeared in 1996 on Jedi Mind Tricks’ Amber Probe EP.  Combining underground hip hop with esoteric ideologies and political zeal, LCOB has released four albums. The first three were released through Babygrande Records — The Equidivium: Where Light Was Created, Words From the Duat: The Book of Anubis, and The 911 Report: The Ulitmate Conspiracy. The latest album, Zeitgeist: The Spirit of the Age, was released by Chamber Musik/LCOB Productions in 2010.  They are also affiliated with Killah Priest, Black Market Militia, The Maccabeez, Wu-Tang Killa Beez, and the Sunz of Man.

Heather Donavon –
Hailing from Atlanta, GA, and raised in Dallas, TX, Heather Donavon is a performing songwriter, studio/session singer, and voice over artist.  She has opened for Keb’ Mo’, Fiona Apple, and Tori Amos.  Her voice has been heard in national TV and radio commercials for brands like Toys R’ Us, Coke Zero (Super Bowl), TJ Maxx, MTV, and Hyundai Elantra.  She has independently released two albums on iTunes.  Her first album, Mosaic, is a compilation of soulful jazz and Spanish classics along with intimate interpretations of her favorite songwriters’ material. Donavon’s second album of piano pop driven melodies, Sense of Me, was co-written with Jonathan Hayes and Bonnie Hayes.  The title track, “Sense of Me,” was awarded “Song of the Year” from the West Coast Songwriter’s International Song Competition and “Honorable Mention” from The Billboard Songwriting Competition. She has performed at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX, at Ground Zero in New York City, alongside the San Francisco Glide Ensemble Gospel Choir, and at Agape Church in Los Angeles, CA.

Visual Artist Bios:

Banksy –
Banksy, an internationally known graffiti artist, activist, director, and painter based in England, creates satirical street art and subversive epigrams that combine irreverent dark humor with graffiti using a distinctive stenciling technique. His work gives a voice to the voiceless living in urban environments.  Bansky’s work was born out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. His first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, billed as “the world’s first street art disaster movie,” made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.  In January 2011, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary for the film. Banksy has also self-published several books that contain photos of his work in various countries as well as some of his canvas work and exhibitions, accompanied by his own writings.

Mear One –
Mear One, born in Santa Cruz, California, is a Los Angeles-based artist known for his often-political street graffiti art.  He sees himself as a messenger and spiritual warrior using his imagination as a communication device. He is commonly associated with the CBS (Can’t Be Stopped – City Bomb Squad) and WCA (West Coast Artist) crews. As a graphic designer, Mear One designed apparel for Conart, Kaotic, and his own Reform brand. He has done album covers for artists like Limp Bizkit and joined artists Shepard Fairey and Robbie Conal to create a series of anti-war, anti-Bush posters. A well-known street artist and prolific graffiti writer for over 20 years, his partners have included Skate One, Az Rock, Tren, Item, Anger, Yem, and Cisco.

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For more information, images, or to request an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Create:Fixate Presents
Stop-Pause-Now
At Premiere Events Center in Downtown Los Angeles
Saturday, July 16, 2011

LOS ANGELES, CA – Arts organization Create:Fixate (C:F) is once again up to some good with their next exhibit Stop-Pause-Now on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at the Premiere Events Center. C:F’s signature blend features vibrant artwork and music produced by over forty local artists, DJs, land musicians. The excitement begins at 4:00pm with a gallery preview.  The main event starts at 7:00pm and closes at 2:00am.  Admission is $15.00 before 9:00pm and $20.00 for the remainder of the night. Premiere Events Center is located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. For more information, including an image gallery of participating artists’ works, please visit www.createfixate.com. C:F can be reached by phone at 310-590-7199 for other inquiries.

The evening begins with a preview of the exhibit from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. There is a $5 suggested donation during this period but kids twelve-years old and younger are allowed free entry.  Parents are encouraged to bring the whole family during the preview hours and take advantage of the Kids Kreativity Zone.  Overflowing with art supplies, the Zone provides a supervised space where youth can dive into their own expression while parents explore the evening’s exhibit. While all ages are welcome during the preview, attendees must be 21-years old or older to enter after 7:00pm.

Create:Fixate Founder and Artistic Director Michelle Berc explains the event’s theme, “Sometimes, you’ve got to take a moment, with all that’s whizzing by.  The noise level rises and it becomes an ever-increasing challenge to just be, much less Be Present. So take a moment. Let go of that angst about the past and your worries about the future. Give your undivided attention to what’s going on right in front of you. Pause. Center. Focus.  And when you’re ready, Take Action. Find your way to Now and make it happen!”

All participating artists along with high school students from Sun Valley High School will be creating one piece of artwork that expresses the show’s theme.

Stop-Pause-Now will feature the creativity of over thirty visual artists in the “Optical Lounge” – the evening’s visual feast – presenting a stunning array of painting, photography, multi-media, interactive installation, and performance art. Highlights include:

• Kenneth Ober’s current paintings are meditations exploring and defining time and space through complex fields created by using the excessive repetition of simple, small lines.  The paintings are made primarily with a tool designed for pin-striping automobiles, which is used to apply relentlessly consistent lines of paint to subtly textured canvas.

• At first distance Michelle Matthews‘ works are typically read as photographs. It is only when the viewer steps closer to the piece that they become disoriented by the materiality of the thread. Anonymous spaces become materialized in tens of thousands of stitches, and the thread supplants the photographic pixel.

• In her assemblages, Jena Priebe uses a myriad of media such as mirrors, glass, antiquated found objects, metals, adhesives and the guts of machines.

• Mark Dugally’s love of motorcycles and passion for the extraordinary come together in the rolling creations that are functional pieces of art. His designs are exotic materiality mixed with an aesthetic that questions what we know as “motorcycle.”

• Ken Murphy is a musician, programmer, artist, and tinkerer living in San Francisco, who is interested in the intersection of art and technology.  His latest creation “A History of the Sky” is a time-lapse visualization of the sky, clouds, weather and light.

• Chase, named one of Italian Vogue’s favorite 2006 street artists in the world (alongside Shepard Fairey and Banksy), is an artist/designer and Belgium transplant now based in Los Angeles.  He spends most of his time painting free murals containing uplifting messages in cities around the world. Chase will be doing a live painting installation during the event, which will be auctioned off to raise money for Create:Fixate’s community outreach programs for at-risk youth.

• In 2006, Kat Dawes traveled to Africa seeking to intimately understand the Laws of the Universe, hitchhiking from South to Central Africa and back again for a year with minimal possessions and financial resources.  Her vision inspired her to create a unifying word – NOWism™– that celebrates the practice of wisdom expressed throughout all cultures and ages.  In addition to live painting, Dawes will be giving a short talk about her campaign for the NOW.

The “Audio Lab” – otherwise known as the music portion of the evening – completes Create:Fixate’s vision.  Highlights include:

• Love in the Circus features unique and seductive melodies that combine and blur the lines of electronica, rock, jazz and blues with sultry, edgy, museful hooks. The group has recently played at festivals in Bali, Europe and recently toured Australia and Indonesia over New Years. C:F will be offering a free download of their latest album!

• As a continuation of an alliance with KCRW, C:F welcomes the one and only Jason Bentley who serves as the Music Director of the station and host of their signature program “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”  Bentley, who maintains a distinguished career as a Music Supervisor for film and advertising, is a tireless champion of new music and culture with an influence close to home and around the globe.

• Idiot Savant is the DJ collaboration between Jesse Wright and Ron Levy, the founders of Pocket Underground.  Since 2004, they have been a staple in California house and techno communities.

• DJ Wiseacre, the co-creator of three very successful LA parties, including Lift, will continue his quest to bridge genres of music and people by spinning fine tunes from all over the world, ranging from Brooklyn to the Balkans, from South America to Sweden, from house, to disco, to Afro-Latin broken beat and dub.

As part of Create:Fixate’s community outreach efforts the organization continues to empower youth through arts education projects. For the second time, C:F and Sun Valley High School will join forces. The exhibit will feature a collection of work from the students of Andrea Graham, who weave the concepts of emotional and spiritual health with art.  Using the show’s theme, Graham teaches her students to become aware of their preoccupations, so that they can move beyond and learn the benefits of living in the present.

Create:Fixate is an arts organization based in Los Angeles.  It is completing its 9th year of producing art/music events that bring together emerging artists and musicians, along with thousands of art lovers and party goers in massive – and at times intimate – warehouse locations and alternative spaces on a quarterly basis.  Founder Michelle Berc curates, produces and hosts these ambitious group art shows that present creative beings from around the globe with an emphasis on the local talent of Los Angeles. The production team also includes Music Coordinator Andrea Giardina, and a core team of volunteers and dedicated advisory board members. Awe-inspiring painters, photographers, sculptors, and multi-media artists exhibit alongside an equally impressive array of Los Angeles’ finest DJs and musicians. Each event’s aural artists are poised to create a soundtrack for the night that transforms this from a simple ‘art show’ into one of the city’s most anticipated art events.

~The Optical Lounge~

Adam Diaz
Adam Diaz was born and raised in Los Angeles. He attended college at California State University Northridge, obtaining a degree in English literature, with extensive course study in traditional art techniques. He is currently working as an animator for cable television programs, having channeled his traditional visual skills into the world of 3D graphics and animation. The focus in his mature art is both visual and narrative as he includes passages from his verse writings into his paintings. His aim is to form a new experience for the viewer by marrying imagery and hints of narrative–always with a nod to the comic culture.

Alexander Drecun
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Alexander Drecun moved to Los Angeles in 2004 to attend Occidental College where he received his B.A. in Art History and Visual Arts (Film Emphasis) and his minor in English and Contemporary Literature.  As part of his course work, he studied film-based black and white photography, a pursuit that quickly changed from academic requirement to passion.  Based in Los Angeles, he now divides his time between street photography and his work as a director of photography on feature films, documentaries, and commercials.  The images displayed represent two facets of Drecun’s street work: candid moments of intimacy, humor, or melancholy that speak to the strangeness of the human experience and portraiture documenting the breadth of a singular human experience manifested in appearance.

Ali Matin
Born in Iran, in 1972, Ali Matin started his journey as a freelance photographer in 1991.  He traveled throughout Iran and captured the uniqueness of its diverse nature and culture. His work has been widely published by UNESCO, the Cultural Ministry of Iran, and private publishers.  Today, he pursues his passion in documentary photography; catching the synchronic moments of the unfolding time and defining it symbolically.  Matin is showcasing “Man and Nature” in this exhibition.

Anthony Kraus
A Native American from the Watanak tribe, Anthony Kraus now lives in San Francisco where he is pursuing his masters in Indigenous and Buddhist philosophy at San Francisco State University.  In his free time, Kraus trains as a cage-fighter.  His work as a live-painter and muralist has won awards while at the same time stirring controversy.  He thinks art will save the world.

Ashleigh Sumner
Ashleigh Sumner is a self-taught artist living in Los Angeles. Originally from North Carolina, Sumner received her B.A. in Theatre Arts before moving west to pursue an acting career in stage, film, and television. Influenced and inspired by the social, physical, and artistic environment of California, Sumner expanded her creative pursuits beyond the stage to the canvas. While Sumner is still professionally involved in the collaborative process of performance, she finds tranquility in the solitary process of painting.

Ben Encarnacion aka Benedigital
Ben Encarnacion aka Benedigital escaped the streets of South Central Los Angeles over 13 years ago to become a successful graphic designer and interactive art director. He draws upon a background in graphic design, architecture, fine arts, and animation to produce work for his extensive client list, which includes Warner Brothers, Lucas Arts, Relativity Media, Discovery Channel, Disney, HBO, General Motors, and Kia, just to name a few.

Inspired by his vocation, his avocation began to emerge and 2 years ago Benedigital began creating his own art in earnest. Channeling his personal experiences thru graffiti, painting, computer graphics, and creating mixed media, he addressed issues of gang violence, social injustice, and his rich heritage.  The evolution of his art is a fusion of the underground electronic music scene and his digital fantasy world. Embracing this energy, Benedigital has become a fixture in the growing live painting community in Los Angeles.

Boris Litvinov
Boris Litvinov started sculpting at an early age using materials harvested from broken home appliances and any hardware he could find. More recently, Litvinov has added stone sculpture to his repertoire. As in his early works, the prevailing theme for his art remains a change in physical form, a metamorphosis from a cold, dead media to life-like shapes and forms. As a sculptor, Litvinov reaches into his professional experience as a physical therapist.  He has come into contact with many bodies, resulting in art that often reminds people of natural body curves or shapes.

Chase
Chase is an artist/designer and Belgium transplant now based in Los Angeles. He spends most of his time painting free murals that contain uplifting messages in cities around the world. Best known for his “Remember Who You Are” and “Awareness Geezers” campaigns, the intent behind his work is to inspire people to follow their hearts and to remind them to stay connected to their inner child. In 2006 Chase was named as one of Italian Vogue’s favorite street artists, alongside Shepard Fairey and Banksy.

Christina Angelina
Christina Angelina has been an artist her entire life. After attending NYU, the Art Center College of Design, and OTIS, she graduated with a BFA from UCLA in 2008. Additionally, through UCLA she has attended universities in Italy and Greece, focusing on Art History and Classics. Angelina has owned, curated and co-owned four galleries, with her present space being Starfighter Studios in Venice, Ca.  Her work has also been featured at the Oscar suites at the Pacific Design Center, LA Fashion Week, the Brewery Art Walk, the Downtown Art Walk, the Venice Art Walk, the Venice Art Crawl, the Abbot Kinney Festival, Equality California Events, the Catalina Art Walk and Lightning in a Bottle. Her work is constantly changing so you can look forward to some new and exciting pieces this summer at Create:Fixate.

Farzad Kohan
The thought provoking works of Farzad Kohan range from drawings and paintings to sculpture, installation and photography. Kohan is widely known for his experimental work using unconventional methods and mediums.

Kohan comments that his work is merely a reflection of how he sees the world around him. “My art reflects what is often a simultaneous experience of both the struggle and beauty that comprises life. With my art, I communicate across cultural divides, language barriers, religion and gender.  I’m a citizen of this world.”

General.LA
General.LA has shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), the Geffen, A+D Museum of Architecture and Design, and the prestigious Art Center College of Design, where he was top of his class. He was creative consultant for the first graphic tee campaign with American Apparel, designer and consultant of Coachella’s 2008 center stage with Pulse Architecture, has just finished designing and co-producing a 300M Major-Studio feature film yet-to-be released, and is principle of his own design firm General.LA and Co-founder of the agency Monumental International Ltd. He has been a guest critic at Art Center College of Design’s Environmental Design and Fine Art program, UCLA AUD, and Southern California Institute of Architecture SCI-Arc. General.LA is currently developing the next evolution of 2001’s Parametricism, this time microgenre-izing specific evolutionary “lexicon.genetics” as well as creating its primary manifestation known as the phenomena of “General.ization,” the unifying formula of the universe.

Hagop Belian
Hagop Belian was born and raised in Syria before moving to the United States in his early teens.  His creative process began while studying at UC Santa Cruz, where he earned a BA in Mathematics. His work explores the possibilities of illusion and how nothing is ever as it seems. It is about the deconstruction of the human condition and the “unlearning” of one’s own belief system.  Each piece allows Belian to reveal another layer of the hologram of life.  He currently lives in Venice Beach where he continues to explore the unreal.

Jaja Dario
Born in Los Angeles in 1979, Jaja Dario was raised in Manila where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Arts-Painting at the University of the Philippines in 2004. Dario’s creative approach revolves around the mystical and transpersonal realms of consciousness, and was brought about by a deeply felt experience of oneness with the universe. Her artistic process begins by being intuitively informed of the song that she names each painting after, then she drafts multiple points of concentric circles with a compass on a wooden panel frame. Dario then sets the stage for a visual journey of exploration in color perspective through value, intensity, and layers of emulsion. She carefully plays with the intervals of time and space, spinning around the wooden panel as she paints, composing and creating her lively geometric tones and harmonious forms in attempt to visually vibrate the music of the spheres.

James Ketover
James Ketover was born in Salt Lake City, UT.  During secondary school in New York he was privileged to study art with the distinguished illustrator, Bill Parsons.  He credits Mr. Parsons with teaching him the importance of careful observation, creativity and execution.  Ketover regards art and design as a constant reminder that there are no creative restraints except those individuals place upon themselves.

This work investigates different modes of representation in order to reveal various qualitative aspects of spatial organization.  The art was inspired by Louis Sullivan’s A System of Architectural Ornament According with a Philosophy of Man’s Powers (1922).

Jasko Begovic
Born in Bosnia, Jasko Begovic creates art that is both probing and poignant, and although his pieces are conspicuously filled with anguish, they are also about alacrity and elation. His art breathes into his memories and has no rules or borders.

Jena Priebe
Conceptual sculptor Jena Priebe lives and works in Los Angeles, California. In her studio in downtown LA, she works to achieve a symbiotic relationship with her life and the creation of her art. She uses a myriad of media and her assemblages include mirrors, glass, antiquated found objects, metals, adhesives and the guts of machines. Some things are haggled over, bartered for, unearthed in a forgotten family attic or pulled from the depths of tangled industrial salvage yards. Her pieces are meant to give the mechanical metaphor of the path we take through the complexities of life.

Ultimately, she wants to express the magic of those things we often take for granted. To capture the simplicity of wonder and joy we sometimes forget for our everyday surroundings.

John Lavezzo
John Lavezzo makes orb paintings.  The space created is threefold: optical illusion, abstraction and relief.  The optical illusion occurs when tinted, cast and painted plaster hemispheres are perceived as a two dimensional surface.  The abstraction exists in the form of colors, shapes and patterns made up of orbs and the space of the canvas.  The relief is revealed in the physical presence of the work. Changes within the orbs and their placement are made in an improvisational way as influenced by his mood, energy level, and intuition.

Justin Snyder
The Long Beach based artist Justin Snyder is an emerging painter living in Long Beach, CA. After spending 8 years working as a film editor for Twentieth Century FOX, he has now taken his art career full time. His latest body of work, consisting of paintings on canvas and wood, has been described as dimensional layouts of echoing harmonics, distorted body forms, and organic abstraction.  Snyder is an active figure in the Los Angeles Art Community and has become an activist and outreach worker around issues on homelessness and starvation.

Kenneth Ober
Kenneth Houghton Ober was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on February 22, 1972.  He studied Art, Art History, and Literature at the University of Maryland in College Park for two years. The art and culture of Asia served as an introduction to Buddhist philosophy, which led him to Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.  The desire to connect with a larger art world brought Ober to California, where he graduated from Otis College of Art and Design in 2001.

Ober’s current paintings are meditations, exploring and defining time and space through complex fields created by using the excessive repetition of simple, small lines.  The paintings are made primarily with a tool designed for pin-striping automobiles, which is used to apply relentlessly consistent lines of paint to subtly textured canvas.

Kuger Peterson
Kuger Peterson is an artist based in Los Angeles.  His surrealistic assemblages ventilate his political concerns and ignite a dialogue between the viewer and the subject.  Ironic situations and rhetorical subversions inspired by the media and our dominant institutions fuel each piece.  Instead of passively absorbing the work, the viewer is confronted with moral dilemmas, implied narratives, and familiar imagery.

Mark Dugally
Mark Dugally is an artist, designer and bike builder in the Los Angeles area. A native to the area, he grew up around architectural design and a family business of custom homes. His love of motorcycles and passion for the extraordinary come together in the rolling creations he creates, which are also functional pieces of art. Dugally’s work is all about exotic materiality mixed with an aesthetic that questions what we know as “motorcycle.”

Michelle Matthews
Michelle Matthews is a photographer, artist and graphic designer.  Since 2007 she has been creating a body of work that relates to the representation of photography through embroidery. From a distance, these works are typically read as photographs. It is only when the viewer steps closer to the piece that they become disoriented by the materiality of the thread. Anonymous spaces become materialized in tens of thousands of stitches, and the thread supplants the photographic pixel. What has been typically a medium of celebration, national pride, corporate championing and consumer trade, becomes a place for making the banal and insignificant heroic, bringing into focus, the history, consequence and potential of our built environment. Although we build it, at the end of the day, Matthews’s work brings attention to how space defines us as both individuals, and as a society.

Mister Pike
Mister Pike produces art in the time and space of inspiration, on street walks, using discarded materials.  This disregards the art object, instead encouraging art as a re-arrangement of what is already there.  It is “art” only for the time it remains intact, the digital photograph being the record of art taking place.  Mister Pike creates a story using comic strip narration, a medium easily understood by anyone. Graffiti, vandalism, and invasion of public space are also brought forth in his art, yet the materials in the pieces were already there and can easily be removed.  The messages are typically playful with a humorous approach to serious topics.

Patrick Haemmerlein
A native of Kinderhook, NY, Patrick Haemmerlein is a freelance designer and artist living in Los Angeles. After receiving his BFA from The Savannah College of Art and Design in 2000, Haemmerlein took a long road trip across the country and settled down in LA.  There he began to obsessively photograph the city and its components. He gradually moved into a new art form as he started to combine and create the images he was shooting. Reflecting on the issues of the day, Haemmerlein explores themes of nature versus industry and how they can coexist or clash.

Rebecca Cabage
Rebecca Cabage graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA in Photographic Illustration. After graduation Cabbage moved to Los Angeles, seeking solace in the California warmth and sunshine after 4 years in the cold, cold winters of upstate New York.

Cabage has worked for clients such as Honda/Acura (via Genex) and Virgin Records.  She has also shown her work in various galleries in Los Angeles, including MOPLA and AFTA. In addition to photography, she works as the Director for Studio Bookings at Smashbox Studios. She is currently in production for her book “Save the Salton Sea.”

Sonja Solinas
Los Angeles artist Sonja Salinas, a.k.a. Little Sonrisa, paints quirky worlds that might exist in the gap between reality and dreams. These whimsical creations are influenced by the dark lowbrow movement and the strange universe of surrealism.

Having a strong background in graphic design, the artist works not only digitally, but also in oil and colored pencil on wood panel and canvas.  Her latest body of work, a collection of eccentric humanlike birds telling nostalgic stories to the child within is her interpretation of mythology, in which birds have been symbols of power and freedom, linking the human world to surreal realms that lie beyond ordinary experience.

Stephan Canthal
Technology is a key component in the work of Stephan Canthal.  He began experimenting with the photographic medium while pursuing a Fine Arts degree at California State University of Long Beach.  His interest in advancing this medium and its process has led him to printing on multiple surfaces, including aluminum, wood, film, and specialty papers. As he explores the idea of printing images on different surfaces, he has begun to use texture not only to accent the image, but also to create a communication between substrate and imagery.

Yu Cotton-well
Yu Cotton-well was born and grew up in Yokohama, Japan.  A decade ago, she decided to move to California to expand her cultural and artistic experience. She uses fiber as her main medium and often blends different kinds of materials, including every day objects.  She seeks to create a relationship between her personal life and her artwork, as well as to convey a message that she believes is always hidden in everyday life.

Cotton-well also likes to combine written materials with her visual media to deepen the meanings both visually and conceptually. Her recent piece “3yrs 9mons 25dys” transforms ordinary diaries into a three-dimensional piece with her personal memories placed in drawers.  Cotton-well wishes to capture those delicate moments in life where we pause and look inward to reflect.

~Video Artists~

Stuart Scanlon
For the last decade and a half Stuart Scanlon has created animation, motion graphics and visual effects for commercials, film titles and theme parks. In recent years he has fused those talents and his formal music training to create musically inspired video work. His desire to return to his live performance roots and his love of the underground dance music scene has inspired his process of designing fixed visual compositions which he deconstructs and reassembles in real-time. His work can be seen on permanent installation in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong as well as appearing temporarily in the hills of San Diego, the deserts of Nevada, the warehouses of Los Angeles and televisions near you.

Ken Murphy
Ken Murphy is a musician, programmer, artist, and tinkerer living in San Francisco.  He is interested in the intersection of art and technology.  His past projects include abstract, luminescent artworks using LEDs and “Blinkybugs”–simple, blinking electronic insects that can be built from few parts.  They are now available in the form of a combination book and kit.  He also has written how-to articles for Popular Science and Make Magazine.  His musical background includes film scoring, as well as producing “music buttons” used by NPR programs such as “All Things Considered.”

“A History of the Sky” is a time-lapse visualization of the sky, clouds, weather and light over a long period of time.  An image of the sky is captured every 10 seconds for a full year; the images from each day are assembled into a movie, and the days are arranged chronologically.  The mosaic of time-lapse movies reveals the cyclical patterns of sunrise and sunset over the course of the year.

~Live Painting~

Kat Dawes
Dynamic and charismatic, Kat Dawes can be recognized by her signature double braids and head wrap. Communicating with her entire being, Dawes’s contagious energy makes her compelling and memorable.

In 2006, Dawes traveled Africa to intimately understand the Laws of the Universe, hitchhiking from South to Central Africa and back again for a year with minimal possessions and financial resources.  Her vision inspired her to create a unifying word – NOWism™ – that celebrates the practice of wisdom expressed throughout all cultures and ages. NOWism™ is a universal reminder service, encouraging people to participate in the present moment by BEING their desired results…NOW.

In addition to live painting, Dawes will be giving a short talk about her campaign for the NOW.

~Fashion and Jewelry Designers~

Delevo Designs
After graduating from Columbia College, Deborah Vogt became a founding member of The Conjugate Projekt, Transamoeba Studios and The Chicago Art Department, participating in the creation of many collectives, multitudes of events and performance art installations throughout Chicago. She began creating her line of jewelry, Delevo designs, in the year 2000, even traveling to Bali to teach her stylized designs to the master artisans there. Upon landing in Los Angeles, she worked with several high end designers, and early in 2010 co-founded d i a l e c t gallery on 6th Street downtown. She now divides her time between curating and singing in her band, Early Bird Circus. Her jewelry is hand-crafted, elegant and simple, using fine woods, sterling silver and gold, precious and semi-precious stones and recycled materials to create universal and distinctive designs.

ONA Los Angeles
Leona Giddings, aka Ona, began her mission to be a fashion designer in 1999. She attended a fashion program in her home town of Tucson AZ, then in 2000 moved to Los Angeles when accepted to FIDM.  For ten years she worked in the fashion industry, learning and developing her skills, working as a pattern maker, assistant designer at Fredericks of Hollywood and eventually moving on to “ready to wear” in technical design.

ONA Los Angeles can be described as a fiercely elegant collection of Men’s and Women’s contemporary clothing. Dresses and tops for women are often versatile, making them wearable several different ways. Many of the printed styles feature exclusive and original textile artwork.

Viola Living Jewels
Jessica Viola is a botanical designer and the founder of Viola Living Jewels and Viola Gardens. For the past thirteen years, Viola has been cultivating her design portfolio and practice based on sustainability, whole-system solutions and artistic vision.  Viola Gardens was born nearly six years ago, specializing in permaculture-based botanical design, CA native plant restoration, drought-tolerant water-wise artscapes, edible gardens and organics.  Viola Gardens has worked with a large range of clients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, both residentially and commercially.  Viola lectures on sustainable landscape design and permaculture at Santa Monica College, Venice Community Housing and Pepperdine University.  After many years of working in design, studying, stretching, exploring holistic living, traveling to South and Central America, playing music, singing, making art, creating gardens and teaching,  Viola Living Jewels was born.  The collection features fashion-forward botanical jewelry; amulets of our wild essence.

Fahmina
Topanga eco-designer Fahmina is tarnishing the thought that leather can’t be green. The Bangladeshi New Yorker model reconstructs gorgeous, handmade leather accessories from reclaimed and pre-cycled leather. 100% of the leather used is pre-consumer waste, salvaged from factory cutting tables.  Mixing colors and textures fearlessly, she creates elegant design that is chic, urban and utilitarian, hand made with excellent quality.  The fanny clutches are an instant hit because they are a chic rendition of the good ol’ fanny pack. Other merchandise includes bangle style Slit Cuffs, gauntlets, Komorbondhs, and belts for men and women. Earrings are constructed with leather and14K gold hooks or sterling silver hooks, and are therefore are hypoallergenic.  Everything is designed and engineered with ingenious simplicity.  This is an eco-conscious company paving the way towards a green and sustainable world. Leather art from the heart.

Mamacita Jewelry
Mamacita Jewelry by Erin Ferro began in 1996. Each piece is handcrafted and one of a kind. Usually made from 18k gold filled wire and chain, each piece is wire-wrapped with love. Mamacita gathers inspiration from her family and friends, Quintano Roo, the ocean, the desert, and the semi- precious stones, wood, shells, feathers and beads that she collects along the way. You can find Mamacita at the outdoor artist market on Abbott Kinney in Venice on Sundays and in various boutiques.

Jenneration Fix
Jenneration Fix is a small company made up of two Jennifers:  two women who wanted to help the environment in their own way.  They aim to make a difference in the world by transforming rescued materials into art and supporting various non-profit organizations at the same time.  Jenneration Fix, in effect, makes a complete circle back into the community by taking potential pollutants in the world from businesses and individuals, creating fun and useful items and then donating a portion of their profits back into a wide variety of charities.

The crafty ladies use materials such as discarded fabrics and clothing pieces, leather, scrap wood, e-waste, warped vinyl records, corks, and plastic packaging to make art work, jewelry, purses and clutches, pet toys, clocks, greeting cards and other quirky and fun gifts!

Solsis Clothing for the Soul

~The Audio Lab~

Slash Fiction
Slash Fiction is the remix-slash-DJ duo comprised of Henry Slash and Mick Fiction (with additional production from Chris Winston) and signed to Sleazetone Records. They are the resident DJs at Full Frontal Disco and have lovingly destroyed the dance floor at other clubs, parties and events too numerous to list.
http://www.myspace.com/slashfiction
http://soundcloud.com/slashfiction

DJ Miss Bliss
DJ Miss Bliss is one of the only female DJs in town that still spins vinyl records.  You can catch her all over Hollywood at places like The Viper room, The Foundation Room, King King and Cinespace. When she is not digging for records or spinning her bliss, she is surfing waves at the beach.  Don’t miss the bliss.
www.julieji.com

Jason Bentley (KCRW)
Jason Bentley serves as Music Director of KCRW and host of their signature program “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”  He has had a distinguished career as a music supervisor for film and advertising, and has worked an exhaustive DJ schedule in bohemian Los Angeles. Bentley is a tireless champion of new music and culture with an influence close to home and around the globe. Bentley is no stranger to the business side of music, having worked in A&R at Maverick and Island Records, music supervising the Matrix trilogy, and consulting for countless advertisements, video games, and live events. While acting as the Music Director of the station where he’s grown up – literally and figuratively – is a challenging task, Bentley is devoted to leading KCRW’s team of talented DJs into a new era.
www.kcrw.com/jasonbentley

Love in the Circus
Love in the Circus features unique and seductive melodies that combine and blur the lines of electronica, rock, jazz and blues with sultry, edgy, museful hooks. The group was formed by singer/bassist Leanna Rachel and multimedia producer/guitarist Chris Brickler. Curtis Cunningham joins the group on drums, Eric Hargett on keys/saxophone and Cha Chi on percussion/synths. The High Priestess and Leah Zeger add beautiful textures on the harp and violin, respectively. The group has recently played at festivals in Bali, Europe and just toured Australia and Indonesia over New Years.
www.loveinthecircus.com

Morgan Alexander (Bottom Floor)
Morgan Alexander began building a sonic home in house music during the early nineties.  Career highlights include a residency with LIFE, Boston’s largest deep house night, traveling with Mountain Dew’s entertainment presence for the X Games, regular features on the West Coast, and hosting “Wednesday Revolutions,” the deep installment of Boston’s revered electronic dance music show on WERS 88.9FM.  Alexander volunteers a healthy portion of his time to a board appointment with NextAid – the dance music community’s response to vulnerable children and youth in Africa.  2011 finds him very much at home in sunny Santa Monica, producing Bottom Floor.  The venture, formed with Halo of CityDeep Music, provides a multi-faceted platform for DJs and producers prolific in their ability to squeeze soul out of machines.
www.thebottomfloor.com
www.facebook.com/morgalex

WISEACRE (theLIFT – LA / LOUIE and CHAN / FOUND LOVE – NYC)
Living in the seaside republic of Venice for 20 years, DJ Wiseacre initially established a successful career as a commercial/fine art photographer. In 2003, he decided to pick up some vinyl, a couple of turntables, a mixer, two speakers and a few friends in orderto begin the labor of love we call “throwin’ parties”. Since this time, Wiseacre has put his love for photography on hold and co-created three very successful LA parties, FUNKY IN THE MIDDLE, CUSTOM SUNDAZE and now the LIFT, which after one year is expanding to San Francisco and New York.
http://www.facebook.com/djwiseacre
http://www.louieandchan.com
http://www.facebook.com/tryandfindus

Macaya
Disco to Afrobeat, funky house to electro, soul to punk, downtempo to rock– as long as it sounds good and makes heads bob, he’ll play it. Born in the Bay Area, raised in the Pacific NW via Chile, and now a ten year resident of LA, Macaya spent time behind the decks at LACMA, The Viper Room, Tarfest, CTA Theatre Project, The Echo, Mountain Bar, and many gallery openings and/or apartment parties. He paints when he’s not DJing: www.jasonmacaya.com

Idiot Savant (Pocket Underground :: the DoLaB/Woogie)
Idiot Savant is the DJ collaboration between Jesse Wright and Ron Levy.  They cofounded Pocket Underground in 2004 as an outlet for less obvious, fun-filled events in LA and have been a staple in the Southern California House and Techno communities for over a decade.  Jesse is the Managing Director for the Woogie Stage at the Lightning in a Bottle Festival, created by the amazing collective the DoLab.  Ron has released numerous records since 2001 and smells better than Jesse.
www.facebook.com/idiotsavantmusic

Ketchup Soup
“Accordion diva Mrs. Hobbs has a new project — a collaboration with singer/songwriter lovemando called Ketchup Soup, in which her penchant for torchy, slightly surreal, old-timey French jazz-inspired numbers finds a sympathetic, if slightly more gritty, urban counterpart. Together they compose and interpret music with an arresting, romantic, and slightly noir vision of the modern bohemian cabaret.”
- Shana Nys Dambrot, Flavorpill.com
www.ketchupsoupband.com
http://www.listn.to/ketchupsoup

Shayn Almeida
As former product specialist for Native Instruments and Stanton DJ, Almeida has held residencies at clubs such as Spundae, Avalon, and Sugar.  Mixing various styles of House, TechHouse, Breaks, and Dubstep, Almeida has  played at events ranging from Earthdance, Moontribe, and Boombox, to Burning Man and the Democratic National Convention.  After taking a five year hiatus to concentrate on his Yoga studies, Almeida is now back on the scene focused on DJing and Music Production. He is currently working on original music and remixes for the dance floor, as well as down-tempo, dubbed out tracks for the yoga community.
http://DjShayn.com
http://twitter.com/ShaynAlmeida

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For more information, images, or to request an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Los Angeles, CA – Humanitarian organization NextAid presents its second annual World AIDS Day campaign fundraising event at LA’s top “green” event location, Marrakesh House. Entitled SOUND>EFFECT and taking place on Saturday December 11, 2010  from 5:00pm – midnight, NextAid and partners will create an unforgettable evening of music, dancing and art.  NextAid joins forces with like-minded organizations Family Affair, HearME, Green Wave and Africa10 at film director Chris Paine’s noted sustainably remodeled home located on a scenic hillside in Culver City (private address, parking info revealed upon ticket purchase).

For Immediate Release

NextAid Unites Los Angeles’ Dance Music Scene
For World AIDS Day Campaign Fundraising Event
SOUND>EFFECT
At LA’s Premier Green Space, Marrakesh House
December 11, 2010

Los Angeles, CA – Humanitarian organization NextAid presents its second annual World AIDS Day campaign fundraising event at LA’s top “green” event location, Marrakesh House. Entitled SOUND>EFFECT and taking place on Saturday December 11, 2010  from 5:00pm – midnight, NextAid and partners will create an unforgettable evening of music, dancing and art.  NextAid joins forces with like-minded organizations Family Affair, HearME, Green Wave and Africa10 at film director Chris Paine’s noted sustainably remodeled home located on a scenic hillside in Culver City (private address, parking info revealed upon ticket purchase).

Entertainment will include live performances by trip hop vocalist Shana Halligan of Bitter:Sweet and funk/soul band King Kid, along with some of Los Angeles’ favorite DJ’s Marques Wyatt, Andy Caldwell, Braden and Mr. Caparro, Michele Bass, and more with dancers and percussionists. The evening will be MC’d by KCRW’s Raul Campos and Debi Mae West. Visuals will include projections from the World Cup film Africa10 and HearME’s music programs. This will be one of Marques’ last LA performances before he moves to New York City. The evening will also include a silent auction featuring ecological and fair trade products and services, and work from local and African artists. Supporters include Fusicology, Flavorpill, and Deep-LA. For more information, go to www.nextaid.org/wad2010

This exclusive event has a strict capacity limit of 300 people. The first 100 tickets are $30 and are only available through November 30^th, the price then goes up to $40. VIP tickets are $60 and include open bar all night long. There will be an open bar cocktail hour from 5:00-7:00pm, with a fundraising bar the rest of the evening. There will also be light food provided by organic and/or local restaurants. Tickets are available via http://soundeffect.eventbrite.com.

Proceeds from SOUND>EFFECT, as well as all of NextAid’s World AIDS Day events and online campaign, will support current NextAid projects in Africa which include constructing an eco-friendly micro-enterprise facility for a street youth project in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya; supporting the education of orphaned children and youth in South Africa by providing school uniforms and supplies; and donating to critical maternal health programs for girls and women in Sierra Leone.  Proceeds from the Marrakesh House event will also benefit Green Wave and HearME. Green Wave is raising funds to build a “green” children’s sanctuary in a Nairobi slum, and HearME provides mini music studios and an online music network to orphanages around the world.

Sound>Effect is part of NextAid’s 4th Annual World AIDS Day campaign that kicked off on November 27th and runs the entire month of December. Over 14 parties in 10 cities in 3 countries are on board! Visit NextAid’s website to find detailed info for events in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Cape Town, Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, Vancouver, Omaha, and San Diego.

For those who cannot make it to a benefit party, they can still be a part of the global campaign by joining the online campaign. NextAid artists, such as DJ Dan and DJ Colette, will be raising awareness and funds for projects through a Twitter generated $10 tweet campaign. Supporters can make direct donations to NextAid, send holiday eCard gift donations to friends and family, shop for great music gifts from OM Records at the Holiday Pop Up Store (launching soon) where 10% of sales will go to NextAid, and make other purchases from over 1200 retailers at NextAid’s We-Care.com shopping mall. Changemakers are also invited to take action with NextAid’s “10 Ways to Do Good” list that makes it easy to be a part of the movement.  Anyone anywhere can donate, email, make a tweet or a beat, and be part of this global campaign! For all the campaign info, go to www.nextaid.org/wad2010

About NextAid -
NextAid is an LA-based nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of music to support sustainable development projects that serve vulnerable children, youth and women in Africa. Through music events and public education initiatives, NextAid provides empowering opportunities for concerned individuals to make a difference.  www.nextaid.org

About World AIDS Day -
World AIDS Day is a day when individuals and organizations from around the world come together to bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic. This year marks the 22^nd anniversary of World AIDS Day with the theme of “Universal Access and Human Rights.” The human rights approach is comprehensive, tying directly into the response needed for universal access to treatment, prevention, care and support. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done. More information can be found at www.worldaidscampaign.org.

About Family Affair –

Family Affair is an event & marketing company based in Los Angeles specializing in raising money and awareness for social and environmental causes. The company has created and developed “Parties with a Purpose” which focus on the idea of “Responsible Entertainment” combining fun entertainment, education, and empowerment to deliver a powerful and emotional message inspiring guests to make a difference on the planet. In the past 2 years, Family Affair has partnered with some incredible organizations which include Trees for the Future, The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, The 11th Hour Action Campaign, Tree Media, Surfrider Foundation, The Algalita Marine Research Foundation, Give A Glass, and more. www.family-affair.org

About HearME –

HearME’s mission is to connect orphans around the globe by providing them with computers, music software, and an online studio enabling them to collaborate with each other across cultural boundaries.  The organization aims to bring empowerment, peace, and understanding through music. HearME has Hubs in Iraq, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, and Puerto Rico. The goal of HearME for The Sound Alliance is to raise money for the Los Angeles Hub which creates online classes for children to view around the world. For more information and to see videos please visit http://hearmehub.com.

About Green Wave –

Green Wave is a 501(c)(3) human/planet service agency providing green education & coaching through consulting, campaigns, workshops, collaborative projects, and volunteer retreats. Green Wave believes in teaching by creating living examples in order to lead future generations to a sustainable future. The organization’s mission is to inspire waves of change focused on living peacefully and harmoniously with the environment and with each other for the conscious well being of our planet. Green Wave’s goal is to create a legion of international ambassadors to assist in the creation and support of powerful education initiatives and eco- friendly developments with collaborating nonprofits on a global scale. www.inspiringwavesofchange.org

About Africa10 –

Africa10 uses film, music, and social media to inspire soccer fans and non-fans alike to celebrate the power of the game in Africa and support African unity. At the heart of it all is a character-driven feature length documentary that tells the story of a diverse group of Africans across the continent to illuminate the transformative power of soccer. Subjects range from impoverished fans to soccer super stars such as Sulley Muntari and Abedi Pelé, musicians such as Femi Kuti and will.i.am to African dignitaries Kofi Annan and Desmond Tutu. Proceeds from the Africa10 project go towards supporting charities such as Grassroot Soccer and Right to Play who use soccer and sport to teach life skills and create change in Africa. Find out more at Africa10.com

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For more information please contact Susan von Seggern on susanvonseggern@nextaid.org or 213-840-0077.

For Immediate Release:  August 30, 2010

ARC Pasadena Hosts
Colin Connor: Draftwork
New Choreographic Explorations
Sunday, September 12, 2010

LOS ANGELES, CA – ARC Pasadena hosts Colin Connor: Draftwork, new choreographic explorations created by award-winning choreographer Colin Connor on Sunday, September 12, 2010. Connor’s work, which he has presented across the Americas and Europe, is acclaimed for its rich musicality and physical excitement.  This is a unique Los Angeles area opportunity to see the beginnings of new work by Connor in collaboration with four glorious dancers: Katie Diamond, Robin Wilson, Cameron Evans, and Andrew Wojtal. The showing is the culmination of a two-week intensive experimental creative period in the studio, generously provided by ARC Pasadena. The single performance will be held Sunday evening from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. in ARC’s gorgeous new dance space.  The performance is free.  Space is limited – guests are encouraged to arrive early to secure a seat.  Light refreshments will follow the showing.  ARC Pasadena is located at 1158 East Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91106.  For more information on the artist please visit http://colinconnor.com.

Colin Connor: Draftwork finds the choreographer working in collaboration with dancers Katie Diamond, Robin Wilson, Cameron Evans, and Andrew Wojtal:

• Katie Diamond has been a soloist for four years with the Limón Dance Company.  She has also  performed with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Contra Costa Ballet, Pam Tanowitz Dance, Cornfield Dance, the Albany Berkshire Ballet, Daniel Charon, and Jessica Gaynor Dance.  She teaches at the Limón Institute and will be a guest teacher at CalArts this Fall 2010.

• Robin Wilson, a member of Helios, was a member of the Limón Dance Company and Los Angeles Movement Arts.  She also dances with Randé Dorn Dance Company.

• Cameron Evans, a student at CalArts, has performed David Gordon’s work at Dance Theater Workshop in New York.

• Andrew Wojtal is a recipient of a 2010 Princess Grace Dance Award. Also a CalArts student, he has choreographed and performed at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) in Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex, and the Bates Dance Festival. This summer, he danced with Island Moving Company at the Great Friends Dance Festival.

Colin Connor is a Los Angeles-based choreographer whose over fifty commissions span the worlds of contemporary, ballet, and flamenco.  His work draws from a large range of influences – musical, literary, social and scientific – all used to bring attention back to the communicative power of the human body.  Connor’s work has been presented at numerous venues across the Americas and Europe, including the Joyce Theater in New York, the Moment’Homme Festival in Montreal, The Holland Festival in Den Hague, and the Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporánea in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.  “Full Sail (In Praise of Storms)” won Sarasota Ballet’s International Choreography Competition. He was also a winner of the Charleston Ballet Theatre’s Fountainhead Choreography Competition, twice a guest choreographer at both The Yard and The Carlisle Project, and given a creative residency at the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography Commissions.  Creations of his work have been funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts among other funding agencies.

Connor danced for eight years as a soloist with the Limón Dance Company. Presently on faculty at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), he has been on the faculties of The Juilliard School, New York University, and has been a guest teacher at many of the finest training centers in the world including The Place in London, the Rotterdamse Dansacademie, Jacob’s Pillow, Dresden’s Palucca Schule, the Joffrey Summer Workshop, The Dance Studio in Novosibirsk, Russia, and the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem.

From Colin Connor’s Artist Statement:
“My work is rooted in the mystery of how we live in our physical beings. It is an ongoing investigation of perception, both of dancers and audience, and based on how, in the end, all human experience is felt through the senses. With our lives increasingly mediated by various technologies, I believe that art which focuses attention back to the completeness of how we live in our bodies becomes ever more essential.”

As a choreographer, Connor inspires performances described as, “Earthy, a little rough and daring, sexy and totally spellbinding,” by Dance Magazine after 2010 performances at the Joyce Theater in New York.  Connor’s dance work has been called “a metaphor for human resilience,” by The Village Voice, and his choreography drew this response from Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times: “a relief these days to see movement treated as a sufficiently expressive medium.”

ARC (A Room to Create) Pasadena is a striking new venue located in one of Southern California’s most vibrant cultural centers. The mission of ARC Pasadena is to support and nurture an appreciation of dance by providing a state of the art facility for dancers, choreographers, teachers, lecturers, and dance enthusiasts. ARC Pasadena also serves as the headquarters for the Pennington Dance Group, a nonprofit organization that promotes dance through performances, education and outreach programs.  Entrance to ARC Pasadena is behind the facility as is  free parking.  Additional parking can be found on the adjacent streets.  The closest cross street is Michigan Avenue.  ARC Pasadena is a six-block walk from the Metro Gold Line-Lake Avenue stop.  For more information please visit www.arcpasadena.org and also http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pasadena-CA/ARC-Pasadena/135542179794545?ref=t.

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For more information, images, or to request interviews, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Royal/T piano painted by Kenny Scharf (photo credit: Amanda Brooks)

Royal/T, the playful art space, shop and café, is expanding its nighttime offerings with live entertainment, a new art cabaret space, tapas and other culinary treats, and extravagant special events — fusing popular culture, music, film, and contemporary art into a creative Westside lounge environment.  Set in Royal/T’s back gallery space, Nighttime at Royal/T‘s mission is to provide high quality eclectic programming in art-full, high-style surroundings filled with owner Susan Hancock‘s world-class contemporary art collection.  The space will be open every Wednesday, Thursday as well as selected additional nights, featuring cabaret acts and eclectic music performances. Cabaret nights are free and run from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Cover charge for most other events range from $5 to $20.  Royal/T will also continue to offer special evening events featuring films, DJ sets, art performances, and theme parties.  Nighttime at Royal/T events will feature French-Japanese fusion tapas except when a guest chef reigns in the kitchen.

For Immediate Release
August 17, 2010

Culver City’s Royal/T Introduces
Nighttime at Royal/T
Expanding Its Evening Offerings
With Art Cabaret Nights Every Wednesday & Thursday
+ Eclectic Special Events
Fall 2010

* Live Entertainment * High Art * Engineered Cocktails * World Class Tapas *

CULVER CITY, CA – Royal/T, the playful art space, shop and café, is expanding its nighttime offerings with live entertainment, a new art cabaret space, tapas and other culinary treats, and extravagant special events — fusing popular culture, music, film, and contemporary art into a creative Westside lounge environment.  Set in Royal/T’s back gallery space, Nighttime at Royal/T‘s mission is to provide high quality eclectic programming in art-full, high-style surroundings filled with owner Susan Hancock‘s world-class contemporary art collection.  The space will be open every Wednesday, Thursday as well as selected additional nights, featuring cabaret acts and eclectic music performances. Cabaret nights are free and run from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Cover charge for most other events range from $5 to $20.  Royal/T will also continue to offer special evening events featuring films, DJ sets, art performances, and theme parties.  Nighttime at Royal/T events will feature French-Japanese fusion tapas except when a guest chef reigns in the kitchen.  Royal/T (www.royal-t.org, 310.559.6300) is located at 8910 Washington Blvd. (back entrance at 8927 Lindblade St.), Culver City, CA 90232.

Fall 2010 NIghttime at Royal/T Event Highlights …

Evidence and Vibration Institute Orchestra

Wed. Aug. 25, 8:00 – 11:00pm -

An evening of improvised electronic music featuring Vibration Institute Orchestra and Evidence

Vibration Institute Orchestra (http://vibrationinstitutemusic.com/music) is an ambient improvisation group led by bassist/DJ/composer John von Seggern in collaboration with Matt Piper, Steve Tavaglione, and Laura Escudé.

Evidence (www.ecnedive.com) is a collaboration between sound artists Stephan Moore and Scott Smallwood, who have developed a distinctive language of deeply layered sound, using field recordings of natural and industrial sounds as a primary source of inspiration and sonic material.

Tapas menu will be available.

General admission is $10, $5 for students, at the door.
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Jose Promis (photo courtesy of the artist)

Thu. Aug. 26, 6:00 – 11:00pm -

Cabaret night with world troubador Jose Promis and 80s power metal lounge lizzard Kate Gibbens

Chilean-born singer-songwriter Jose Promis is inspired by the international styles of old world troubadours, yet sets his music firmly in the 21st century. He began in the cabarets and independent theaters of Los Angeles in the mid-2000s and has also played throughout Europe (www.myspace.com/promis).

Classically trained and seasoned voice-belter Kate Gibbens delivers a lounge act filled with hair metal, touching ballads, and punk irony. The wild redhead covers metal favorites from Lita Ford, Journey, Van Halen, and Prince.

A la carte items from Master Sushi Chef Kenny Yamada will be available.
No door cover charge.
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Soul Sisters LIVE (photo courtesy of the artists)

Wed. Sept. 1, 6:00 – 11:00pm -

Cabaret night with Soul Sisters LIVE

Soul Sisters LIVE are singing female/character illusionists.

The duo stars the humorous and uplifting Lady Red Couture (www.myspace.com/ladyredcouture)
and
the alluring and vivacious Roxy Wood (www.myspace.com/roxywood).

www.myspace.com/bootylicous77

A la carte items from Master Sushi Chef Kenny Yamada will be available.

No door cover charge.

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The Kandinsky Effect (photo: Florence Grimmeisen)

Fri. Sept. 3, 8:00 – 10:00pm -

Modern jazz with The Kandinsky Effect

The Kandinsky Effect is a 3-peice modern jazz ensemble searching for new ways to improvise within the jazz idiom.  Saxophonist Warren Walker, bassist Gael Petrina, and drummer Gauthier Garrigue can be found lurking along the borders of jazz, rock, electronica, hip hop, and experimental sounds searching for freedom of expression.

www.facebook.com/TheKandinskyEffect

Tapas menu will be available.

General admission is $10
$5 for students,  at the door
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Theo Bleckmann (photo: Susie Knoll)

Wed. Sept. 15, 8:30 – 10:30pm -

Jazz and rock with the Theo Bleckmann & Ben Monder Duo

An eclectic jazz singer and new music composer, Grammy-nominated Theo Bleckmann makes music that is accessibly sophisticated, unsentimentally emotional, and seriously playful.  In addition to his work as a soloist, Bleckmann loves to mix it up with other musicians. He maintains an ongoing creative relationship with guitar phenomenon Ben Monder, generating a series of performances and a pair of albums that wreak beautiful havoc with standard expectations of jazz and rock.

www.theobleckmann.com

Tapas menu will be available.
General admission is $20, $10 for students, at the door.

Purchase tickets at: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/124070
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For the Love of God, Laugh (2007) by Damien Hirst

Thu. Sept. 23, 8:00pm – 1:00am -

The Warholian Exhibition Opening Party

To celebrate Warholian, an exhibit of photos, film, portraits and objects inspired by Andy Warhol, Royal/T will kick off the show with a Factory-inspired opening extravaganza, which promises to be the see-and-be-seen event of the season.  Party features DJ sets by the iconic DJ Diabetic (aka Shepard Fairey) and David J (Bauhaus / Love & Rockets) who will be spinning a special Warholcentric DJ set.  The exhibit features a variety of recent Warhol-inspired pieces by artists such as Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst, celebrating the great pop artist’s deep influence on contemporary art. Curated by Eric Shiner, The Milton Fine Curator of Art at The Andy Warhol Museum, the exhibit also features some of Warhol’s most recognizable original artwork including “Marilyn” (1967), “Electric Chair” (1971), “Dollar Sign” (1981) and many more from the Alan Finkelstein Collection.

The Warholian exhibit is free and open to the public 10:00am to 6:00pm daily from Sept. 24, 2010 through Jan. 31, 2011.
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Myra Melford (photo: Valerie Trucchia)

Mon. Oct. 4, 7:00 – 11:00pm -

Angel City Jazz Festival

This benefit for Angel City Arts features an ensemble led by pianist Myra Melford, with Mark Dresser, Stomu Takeishi and Alex Cline, acclaimed Japanese Butoh dancer Oguri, and Chef Paul Canales of Oliveto Restaurant. Guests are invited to enjoy food inspired by the music, which is simultaneously interpreted in dance.

A four-course meal will be served during the performance. There will also be an art auction with proceeds donated to Angel City Arts.

More info at www.angelcityjazz.com.

Tickets $65 per person, available at: www.brownpapertickets.com/producerevent/121612?prod_id=22581
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MTKJ Quartet (photo: Paul Kikuchi)

Tue. Nov. 2, 8:00 – 10:30pm -

Jazz performance by MTKJ Quartet

MTKJ Quartet is Jason Mears on saxophones/clarinet, Kris Tiner on trumpets/flugelhorn, Paul Kikuchi on drums/percussion, and Ivan Johnson on contrabass.

www.emptycagequartet.com

Tapas menu will be available.

General admission is $10

$5 for students
at the door

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For Nighttime at Royal/T calendar of events, see: www.royal-t.org/about/news/.

Menu
Tapas: For most evening events, when a guest chef is not reigning in the kitchen, Royal/T will feature the tapas menu.  Along with signature soju cocktails, specialty mimosas, wine, sake, and craft beer selections, Nighttime at Royal/T diners in the back lounge can choose from a selection of French-Japanese fusion tapas. Among the choices are Crispy Spicy Tuna topped with micro wasabi, Kobe Beef Sliders served three ways (Quail egg up, tomato chutney, and blue cheese & caramelized onions); Kurobuta Pork Belly with puréed taro and spicy rice noodles; and Sweet Potato Fries. Plate prices range from $4 to $10.

Sushi Pop Art Series: On Wednesdays and Thursdays, from Aug. 26 to Sept. 9, 6:00 – 10:00pm, the Royal/T café is hosting a special Sushi Pop Art series, a pop up dinner series featuring creations by artistic sushi luminary Chef Kenny Yamada (Hell’s Kitchen, Katsuya).  The Royal/T café will feature two prix fixe menus by reservation only ($45 and $90) during the series.  On these evenings, during Yamada’s tenure, the Nighttime at Royal/ T lounge menu will feature an à la carte selection from his Sushi Pop Art dishes for walk-in diners in the lounge.  For additional details on the Sushi Pop Art series and café reservations, see http://kennyyamada.com. Reservations are not required in the lounge.

About Royal/T
Located in Culver City’s Art District, Royal/T is a playful blending of café, concept shop, and art exhibition space. The 10,000-square-foot space reflects the interior realm of fantasy that strongly influences the artists included in owner Susan Hancock’s contemporary art collection. Royal/T’s café is inspired by the meido kissa (maid café) phenomena of Akihabara, Tokyo’s electronic district. Re-contextualizing the underground culture of Japan that celebrates “cosplay” (costume play), waitresses dress in maid uniforms with a Lolita-esque touch, while serving an amalgam of French and Japanese cuisine with local California style. The art space showcases curated exhibitions with a focus on Japanese contemporary art; and an inventive concept store emulates the collection’s sophistication, a seamless merging of Japanese pop culture and high-end design. Currently on display at Royal/T is the The Never Ending Story with works by an international group of artists working with the theme fairytales, and its contemporary expression, fantasy.  Starting Sept. 24, the Warholian exhibit features photos, film, portraits and objects by and inspired by Andy Warhol.

Susan Hancock, Owner
Susan Hancock opened Royal/T in the gallery district of Culver City in April 2008.  A philanthropist and avid art collector, Hancock is a member of the Director’s Circle at LACMA and serves as a member of MOCA Partners at LA’s MOCA Contemporary. Outside Los Angeles, Hancock serves as a member of the International Collector’s Circle at MOCA Miami and serves on the Producer’s Council at New York’s New Museum. She has previously served on the International Director’s Council for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and on the Board of Trustees at the Independent Curators International. For five years, she has served on the Acquisition Committee for Painting and Sculpture at the Whitney, and has supported various museum shows such as “Little Boy” curated by Murakami at the Japan Society in New York.

The Susan Hancock Collection
Susan Hancock’s collection of contemporary Japanese art includes works by Chiho Aoshima, Chinatsu Ban, Yayoi Deki, Mitsuhiro Ikeda, Izumi Kato, Hideaki Kawashima, Mahomi Kunikata, Yayoi Kusama, Mr., Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Mitsuhiro Okamoto, Aya Takano, Yuken Teruya, and Keisuke Yamamoto. Other artists represented in her collection include Ghada Amer, Stephan Balkenhol, Louise Bourgeois, Cecily Brown, Tracy Emin, Tom Friedman, Mark Grotjahn, Jim Hodges, Mike Kelley, Chris Ofili, Elizabeth Peyton, Richard Prince, Wilhelm Sasnal, Fred Tomaselli, Piotr Uklanski, and Lisa Yuskavage.

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For more information, photos, or to arrange an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Hasty at 213-840-1201 and lynn@greengalactic.com.

Royal/T piano painted by Kenny Scharf (photo credit: Amanda Brooks)

Nonlife Zoo Photo Courtesy Royal/T

Angelenos are invited to dress like their favorite zoo animals and explore their wild sides at Royal/T‘s A Night in the Jungle on Friday, August 6, 2010 from 8:00pm to 1:00am in celebration of The Nonlife Zoo‘s pop-up space residency – an imaginary visual of animal existence on earth. A Night in the Jungle will feature international music maestro DJ Daedelus spinning in the back space as partygoers dance the night away and enjoy Royal/T’s signature soju cocktails, beer, wine, and new vegetarian tapas. If any guest needs a break from dancing, owner Susan Hancock will provide animal card energy readings and rides throughout the space will be available courtesy of artist Kenny Scharf‘s Cartz Royale. The Nonlife Zoo residency, presented by Royal/T in conjunction with MollaSpace, raises awareness and funds for animal preservation.

The Nonlife Zoo (photo courtesy of Royal/T)

For Immediate Release
August 2, 2010

Royal/T and MollaSpace Present
A Night in the Jungle
Featuring DJ Daedelus
Celebrating The Nonlife Zoo’s Pop-Up Space Residency
At Royal/T in Culver City, CA

~ Raising Awareness & Funds for Animal Preservation ~

A Night in the Jungle Party – Friday, August 6, 2010
The Nonlife Zoo Pop-Up Store – Runs Through August 23, 2010

CULVER CITY, CA  Angelenos are invited to dress like their favorite zoo animals and explore their wild sides at Royal/T‘s A Night in the Jungle on Friday, August 6, 2010 from 8:00pm to 1:00am in celebration of The Nonlife Zoo’s pop-up space residency – an imaginary visual of animal existence on earth. A Night in the Jungle will feature international music maestro DJ Daedelus spinning in the back space as partygoers dance the night away and enjoy Royal/T’s signature soju cocktails, beer, wine, and new vegetarian tapas. If any guest needs a break from dancing, owner Susan Hancock will provide animal card energy readings and rides throughout the space will be available courtesy of artist Kenny Scharf’s Cartz Royale. The Nonlife Zoo residency, presented by Royal/T in conjunction with MollaSpace, raises awareness and funds for animal preservation. Tickets are available online for $10 at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122038 and at the door for $15 (space permitting). A portion of store proceeds go to charity. No one under 21 years old will be admitted. Royal/T (www.royal-t.org, 310.559.6300) is at 8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.

Daedelus (photo credit: Laura Darling)

Menu:
To further celebrate The Nonlife Zoo’s residency, Royal/T has created a special menu of animal-friendly vegetarian tapas ($5-7), available through August 23, including:

Beet & Spinach Salad ($5)
Vegetable Gyoza ($6)
Basil-Infused Vegetable Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce ($6)
Cold Soba Sesame Salad ($6)
Portobello Sliders with Roasted Bell Pepper and Shiso Pesto Aioli ($7)

In addition to the vegetarian specials, adults can also enjoy a selection of beer and wine alongside a “Pink Iguana” cocktail—a specialty martini made with fresh watermelon juice, cilantro, lime juice, and soju ($7).

About The Nonlife Zoo:
The Nonlife Zoo is an imaginary visual of our planet created to raise awareness of animal preservation in hopes of improving our social responsibility to the environment. The Nonlife Zoo series was inspired to reflect on our behavior and the impact on the intricate balance between nature and life on earth. All animals are designed with human-like standing forms and unified expressions to remind us of their coexistence on this planet. They all have cuddly and colorful appearances, yet with conflicting emotionless expressions, as if they are silently expressing their call for help. A portion of all the proceeds from The Nonlife Zoo pop-up store purchases at Royal/T will go to help save threatened species. The Nonlife Zoo exhibit is designed by 28 biaugust and is presented in conjunction with MollaSpace, whose mission is to advocate, advance, and create the art of living in its own way as a platform for designers worldwide to showcase their talent and provide designer products to consumers. Celebrating its 3-year anniversary in 2010, MollaSpace’s expanding range of products includes lighting, home, office, and personal accessories, electric home appliances, decorative art, and furniture. For more information about MollaSpace, please visit www.mollaspace.com.

About DJ Daedelus:
Alfred Darlington is your musical maestro hailing from the City of Angels. With an eye for early Victorian Dandyism, an ear towards handmade / played electronic music, his is a very individual ‘bespoke’ outlook. Having numerous international releases and tours to his credit he has shared the stage and albums with a diverse list of luminaries from Madlib to Daniel Johnston, from MF DOOM to Jean Jacques Perrey, from Diplo to … well this listing game could go on for quite a while. Daedelus has releases with labels Ninja Tune, Warp, Brainfeeder, Stones Throw, and many more.  www.myspace.com/daedelusdarling

About Royal/T:
Located in Culver City, Royal/T is a playful blending of café, concept shop, and art exhibition space. The 10,000-square-foot space reflects the interior realm of fantasy that strongly influences the artists included in owner Susan Hancock’s art collection. Royal/T’s café is inspired by the meido kissa (maid café) phenomena of Akihabara, Tokyo’s electronic district. Re-contextualizing the underground culture of Japan that celebrates “cosplay” (costume play), waitresses dress in maid uniforms with a Lolita-esque touch, while serving an amalgam of French and Japanese cuisine with local California style. The art space showcases curated exhibitions with a focus on Japanese contemporary art and an inventive concept store that emulates the collection’s sophistication, a seamless merging of Japanese pop culture and high-end design. Royal/T café is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily from 10:00am to 5:00pm. The concept store and space are open from 10:00am – 6:00pm daily as well as in the evening during A Night in the Jungle on August 6.

Also Coming Soon to Royal/T:
On Saturday, August 7, from noon to 4:00pm, families can enjoy A Day at the Zoo, with kid-centric activities, such as face painting, vegetarian small plates, and a refreshing watermelon drink. Children can also sample cupcakes from the Animal Cupcake Corner, including giraffe, zebra, and tiger-themed varieties ($3), in addition to a costumed tiger character who will give young guests rides in the Cartz Royale. Families are invited to enjoy The Nonlife Zoo and reflect on the coexistence of humans and animals in nature.  Event is free and open to the public.

An evening of live experimental electronic music featuring Vibration Institute Orchestra and Evidence is set for Wednesday, August 25, 2010 from 8:00pm to 11:00pm at Royal/T. Evidence (www.ecnedive.com) is a collaboration between sound artists Stephan Moore and Scott Smallwood, who have developed a distinctive language of deeply layered sound, using field recordings of natural and industrial sounds as a primary source of inspiration and sonic material. Vibration Institute Orchestra (http://vibrationinstitutemusic.com/music), with Matt Piper and Laura Escudé, is an ambient improvisation group led by bassist/dj/composer John von Seggern. General admission is $10, $5 for students, at the door.

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For more information, photos, or to arrange an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Hasty at 213.840.1201 and lynn@greengalactic.com.

Royal/T (photo courtesy of Royal/T)

A Night in the Jungle
Celebrating The Nonlife Zoo’s Pop-Up Space Residency
Featuring DJ Daedelus

WHEN: Friday, August 6, 2010 | 8:00pm to 1:00am

WHERE: Royal/T 8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
310.559.6300, www.royal-t.org

COST: Tickets available for $10 at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122038
and at the door for $15 (space permitting)

WHY: To have fun while raising awareness for endangered species.
As of January 1, 2010, 8,811 species were categorized as threatened.

Please join us to party for a cause.