From Partners
Palestinian Hip Hop Group DAM Takes on "Honor Killings"
- Published on Tuesday, 20 November 2012 00:00
- Category: Featured Partner: Levantine Cultural Center
"Before she was murdered, she wasn't alive. We'll tell her story backwards from her murder to her birth..." begin the Arabic rap lyrics, soon interlaced with a mournful chorus from the renowned Palestinian soloist Amal Murkus.
On Rita, Israel, Iran, and Identity Politics
- Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 02:49
- Category: Featured Partner: Levantine Cultural Center
You could be forgiven for suggesting that my comments to NPR journalist Avishay Artsy in his recent report on Israeli-Iranian singer Rita Jahanforuz—who sang at Royce Hall on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012—took the discussion in a political direction (listen here). "It's a political act for Rita to be speaking in her native tongue, after all Farsi is her native tongue, her first language," I told Artsy. "In fact it's a political act if you're an Israeli Jew and you choose to speak Arabic in public, because the Arab culture is seen as the enemy culture. And now Iran is the enemy."
Vertical Road Reviewed
- Published on Wednesday, 17 October 2012 04:24
- Category: Featured Partner: Levantine Cultural Center
The celebrated choreographer Akram Khan (London-born, Bangladeshi-bred) brought his penultimate production, Vertical Road, to UCLA's Royce Hall in October. Featuring eight dancers and extremely minimal production design, the piece is inspired by Rumi's worldview, particularly the following passage (which appears in the press materials):
Jasmine and Fire: A Bittersweet Year in Beirut
- Published on Monday, 08 October 2012 03:39
- Category: Featured Partner: Levantine Cultural Center
The motif of home and more specifically "the Return" (Al-Awda in Arabic) recurs throughout world literature. Home as a place (as opposed to a state of mind or of being) comprises the central conflict in Salma Abdelnour's memoir, Jasmine and Fire, a Bittersweet Year in Beirut. Abdelnour was born in the United States of Lebanese parents, but returned to Lebanon when she was two, the summer before the 15-year Lebanese civil war ignited. After six years of war, the family decided to move back to America. However, Abdelnour's conscious memories of childhood, her sense of home, remained in Beirut.
Deconstructing "Arab Rage"
- Published on Thursday, 04 October 2012 05:11
- Category: Featured Partner: Levantine Cultural Center
During a two-hour talk in Paris last week, internationally acclaimed writer and Islam scholar Reza Aslan challenged the way we view violent protests against the "Innocence of Muslims" film in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere in the MENA. Aslan spoke at the Center for Political Research or Cevipof as part of a short tour hosted by the British Council, the European Policy Center and the Parliament in Brussels to talk about current affairs, namely the recent media exposure of "Innocence of Muslims" and the satirical cartoons then appearing in France.
Mohsen Namjoo at the Orpheum Fuses East, West
- Published on Thursday, 14 June 2012 06:36
- Category: Featured Partner: Levantine Cultural Center
L.A's Orpheum theater was buzzing with anticipation on the evening of May 20th, 2012, as the inimitable Iranian composer-musician Mohsen Namjoo came to town to present his latest (and as yet unreleased) pieces under the collective title thirteen/eight. From the moment the curtain went up it was clear something marvelous was afoot: the instruments accompanying Mr. Namjoo's setar included an upright bass, a full drum kit, and a pair of synthesizers; and the band took no time to get jamming on these. Two hours later, the buzz had turned from anticipation to awe, amazement, and satisfaction at having witnessed another extraordinary performance.