Cultural Voice

C ountry of Origin:  Jamaica U ltra excited about this art form :   World Music ​L oves to travel to:  Seychelles, Africa & Haiti T rend you love:  Travelling U nderground artist to watch:  Samuele Vivian (Guitarist) R isk averse, Risk Tolerant or Risk Taker:  Risk Taker A rtistic Side:  Producing Shows L ife Motto:  Positive, Creative Energy V ery good at:  Interacting w/ People O utspoken about:  Social Justice & Environment Awareness I nspired by:  Achievement Against Odds C ultural Icon:  Picasso E veryone should try this once:  Kingston on the Edge         

Profile #9 MyCulturalVoice C ountry of Origin:  Belize, Central America U ltra excited about this art form :   Glass blowing ​ L oves to travel to:  These days, through Latin America T rend you love:  This but first, selfie business. U nderground artists to watch:  Ricardo A. Galvez R isk averse, Risk Tolerant or Risk Taker:  Risk assessor, ha. A rtistic Side: ... L ife Motto:   O well (in response to any monumental, and not so monumental, disappointment). V ery good at:  Putting people at ease .  O utspoken about:  Good food and local crafts I nspired by:  Musicians, lately Natalia Lafourcade   C ultural Icon:  Gabriel García Márquez E veryone should try this once:  A Spanish immersion course! What's Your Cultural Voice?? #MyCulturalVoice on   Facebook  /  Twitter  /  Instagram  @culturalvoice Promoting # Intercultural-dialogue 9 Days...

C ountry of Origin: Spain U ltra excited about this art form : Cinema ​ L oves to travel to: Remote lighthouses in remote places T rend you love: The capacity of trends to be replaced by new ones U nderground artists to watch: Movie makers filming with a smartphone R isk averse, Risk Tolerant or Risk Taker: Risk taker  A rtistic Side: Getting emotional about a piece of music L ife Motto: Life is short;   Enjoy and leave a trace   V ery good at: Advocacy of causes I believe in.  O utspoken about: Hypocrisy, dual lives.  I nspired by: Honesty, lives moved by passion.  C ultural Icon: Johan Sebastian Bach E veryone should try this once: Reach a mountain summit after days of effort What's Your Cultural Voice?? #MyCulturalVoice on   Facebook  /  Twitter  / Instagram @culturalvoice Promoting # Intercultural-dialogue 10 Days to the Launch of CV's First Issue of 2014!!  Abou...

Article published in the Jamaica Gleaner The passing of Eduardo Rivero-Walker, the adopted Jamaican dancer, legendary Afro-centric modern dance choreographer and artistic director of Cuba's leading modern dance company Compañía Teatro Dela Danza Del Caribe de Santiago, has left the dance community in shock. Rivero-Walker's passing has also left a void among members of the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) and the Stella Maris Dance Ensemble. In fact, the Stella Maris Dance Ensemble's 19th Season of Dance - which is scheduled to run at the Little Theatre from November this weekend - will be paying tribute to Rivero-Walker's work as choreographer and teacher.   "His passing has given heightened significance to his entrusting to us his choreographic work Toromato ," said Dr MoniKa Lawrence, artistic director and founder of the Stella Maris Dance Ensemble. Lawrence worked closely with Rivero-Walker - first as a dancer with the N...

Born in Calcutta, India, Dr. Michele Lobo migrated to Australia in the year of the Sydney Olympics, 2000, after quite a random conversation with her Brother-in- Law who lived in Australia at the time. She describes the Christmas scene, with family and friends in Eastern India: “There was lots of food, drinks, and merriment,” typical of celebrations at that time of the year for her family. Her brother-in law called from Australia and said that he was watching TV, a shocking revelation  for an Indian at Christmas Time. On further prodding, he explained, that it was because of the lack of family members nearby to celebrate with and asked “why don’t you guys move here?” The rest, as we say, is history! Dr. Lobo is a 2012 recipient of the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (Decra), and an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Lobo describes Calcutta as...

We're going to be exposing you to what's happening with some of your fav Cultural Icons from around the Globe... 50 Icons, in celebration of Jamaica's 50th year since independence... but don't worry the focus is still Global :) CULTURAL ICON # 50: 'El Général' He is a Tunisian born rapper who is not afriad to speak out. Now with a permanent place in history... we're anxious to see where this goes. 'When I became a rapper, I wasn't looking for love. I was looking to rap for the good of the people.' He took to facebook and the 22 year old Hamada Ben Amor performed the tune “President, Your People Are Dying,”. In the clip originally in Arabic, the rapper speaks firmly and directly to now-former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali about the unemployment and hunger ravaging the country while Ben Ali’s family lived in excess. This was a brave step for the young rapper, and became fundamental to many of the movements that evolved last year. T...

Cynthia "Cinti" Salandy There's lots to talk about when you have the opportunity to sit with Cynthia Salandy! We caught up with Cynthia while on location in Trinidad and Tobago for 2012's Carnival! Certainly something Cultural Voice recommends as a must-do for all our readers! Something Positive on Stage. Photo by Zoe Mocker Something Positive in the Studio. Photo by Zoe Mocker "Cinti" is the Associate Director of "Something Positive" Cynthia, affectionately known as "Cinti" is the Associate Director of Something Positive, a dance company based in NYC, started dancing at age 17 in Diego Martin, Trinidad. Her career started through the community based programme called "Best Village" and all the different communities in and around Trinidad would compete for bragging rights and a trophy. Best Village "The programme seeks to preserve, protect, and build on our Folk Traditions, and to facilitate the gr...

Source: Jamaica Gleaner Celine Dion certainly received a fantastic welcome to Jamrock on Friday evening. Over 30,000 patrons swelled the Multi Purpose Stadium, Jamaica on Friday night, travelling from Negril Point to Portland and beyond to have a chance to experience Celine Dion perform live. The Team From Artistic Expressions with Celine After the Show Celine Dion lived up to expectations! She left her heart onstage and performed as if she was building a career. Onstage and off, Celine was professional, down to earth, appreciative of her fans and an excellent example for all Artists. On meeting Celine, it was evident that she cared deeply for others, and took time to talk to the Jamaican staff and crew attending to her needs, even wishing the AE Team safe travels as we tackled the post show traffic. We were impressed! Source: Jamaica Observer "Out in the streets, they call it MUUUURRRDER!" - Jr. Gong Marley Damian Jr. Gong Marley murdere...

Pablo Picasso's Guernica "What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who only has eyes if he's a painter, ears if he's a musician, or a lyre in every chamber of his heart if he's a poet – or even, if he's a boxer, only some muscles? Quite the contrary, he is at the same time a political being constantly alert to the horrifying, passionate or pleasing events in the world, shaping himself completely in their image. How is it possible to be uninterested in other men and by virtue of what cold nonchalance can you detach yourself from the life that they supply so copiously? No, painting is not made to decorate apartments. It's an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy."   - Pablo Picasso As artists we must recognise that we influence society. Art has always been used to transmit messages whether or not it is the intention of the artist. It is this ability for art to transcend (through poetry, music, dance, theatre, painting) realities, m...

Patrick O'Neill, dancer with the NYC based, Contemporary Ballet Company Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance took time out to share his opinions on a few things. Cultural Voice will feature every week short profiles on different artists. (When asking the questions we encourage the artistes not to think too much and to give a spur of the moment answer so we know what they really think.) Patrick in Performance Picture by Sagitarii Photography, Cultural Fusion, 2011 Patrick was born and raised in Rochester, NY and is currently living in Brooklyn, NY. Life Philosophy? His philosophy on life is... "life only throws at you what it thinks you can handle. nothing less. nothing more. good things happen and bad things happen and its how you adapt and learn and thrive that makes life worth living." When Asked about his Cultural Icons.... "hmmm cultural icons... well the gay man in me would have to say Beyonce! hahahaha! she has a vision of what she wants and then she goe...

There are people throughout time who have managed to eclipse the ordinary, inspiring hundreds, thousands sometimes even millions of devout disciples. He/She has often done this through shifting cultural paradigms, and creatively changing the way we imagine the world. I asked Summathi, Elvis & Honore to name the Cultural Icon who most inspires...... Sumathi Shanmugam, India Swami Vivekenanda He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Hindu philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the "Western" World, mainly in America and Europe and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the end of the 19th century C.E. Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America", through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Relig...