Ozya a lively look at cultural richness
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| Ozya a lively look at cultural richness | |
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by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid -
SGN A&E Writer Ozya: An Urban Journey October 25 Rainier Cultural Center Even with gentrification changing the various neighborhoods that make up the Rainier Beach and Central District areas, there is still a rich mix of cultures and experiences that add to the ambiance of these locations. These topics, both the immigration of a gumbo of people from different countries, including the Phillipines, East and West Africa, Viet Nam, Korea, and recently Eastern Europe, were given a youthful treatment by a very talented group of young people who workshopped the program Ozya: An Urban Journey. The performance was spiced with music by live band Big World Breaks and interspersed with comments by the "griot," Ozya, a giant puppet provided by Thistle Theatre which was one of the highlights of the show. Other infinitely entertaining moments of Ozya were the bombastic, spontaneous dances by the group, which served to illustrate a number of issues facing the young generation of these immigrant groups. And serving as introductory and closing chorus, a group of four African Americn women, Sankofa, kept the audience involved in this enlightening and delightful show. After the show, audience members got to talk more about what they'd like to see in a more finished version of this show (which will have another viewing four months from now) and enjoy delicious Eritrean food from Hidmos Restaurant (which also hosts the Ladies First event every first Saturday of the month). For more information on November and December Arts Gumbo events, go to www.seedseattle.org/events.html, or listen to KBCS radio, 91.3 FM. |
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