Bronitsky and Associates Blog

Sometimes it does seem as if I’m in the midst of almost too many things.  Right now, I’m waiting to find out if I’m accompanying Mariachi Imperial de America to Albania and Macedonia in March.  Will the Alianait Festival in Nunavut obtain funding from the US embassy in Canada to bring the Chinle Valley Singers and myself to Iqaluit in May?

I’m also in the midst of finalizing the US tour for Sami rights pioneer Magne Ove Varsi in April.  That’s going to be quite a trip.  You can visit the tour schedule elsewhere on the website, and I hope you can join us.  But what to pack?  April in Honolulu and April in Cloquet, Minnesota are going to be VERY different!

And Wednesday, off I go to Israel to see my new grandniece, Lihi–my sister’s first grandchild.  I am so ready!  I’m also using this as an opportunity to introduce venues, organizations, potential audiences and the staffs of several embassies about the power and diversity of Indigenous performing and visual artists from around the world–stay tuned!

The end of the old year, the start of the new year, both approaching fast! 2009 was quite a year. I initiated and produced an international Indigenous theater festival in London in May–ORIGINS™ (www.originsfestival.com), something I’ve been dreaming about since 1998. What an incredible experience! And I toured Sami playwright Harriet Nordlund from Sweden to the US and Apache playwright David Velarde from New Mexico to Sweden.

2010 promises to be even larger, bolder, and more exciting:

• touring Mariachi Imperial de America to Albania and Macedonia under the auspices of the US embassies there, and meeting with Albanians about coproducing an Albanian performing arts festival to bring the best Albanian performers to the world
• touring Sami rights pioneer Magne Ove Varsi from Norway to the US in April–including Hawaii! University of Minnesota is also one of the stops, so it will be interesting figuring out what to pack for tropical Hawaii and, shall I say, less than tropical Minneapolis
• speaking of cold weather, the Chinle Valley Singers have been invited to perform in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada in May, pending funding, and I’ll be accompanying them to speak to people there about creating a Nunavut performing arts event. I’ll definitely have to take a sweater!
• funding permitting, though, I’ll be able to warm up in June, going with the Chinle Valley Singers to the San Juan Fiesta in Lima, Peru, and meeting with Ashaninka and Yanesha performers and artists
• there may even be another tropical jaunt, with Mariachi Imperial de America in July to the Dominican Republic, as they’ve been invited to perform at a formal reception at the home of the US ambassador there
• maybe I’ll even produce an event in Santa Fe, as Bruce Bernstein, the director of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), has invited me to produce a throatsinging concert in Santa Fe during Indian market with Lois Suluk and Maria Illungiayok from Nunavut and a throatsinger from Mongolia. I’ve toured Lois and Maria to Ireland and Mexico and enjoyed working with them–but I haven’t met them yet. This could be my big chance!

There will be more coming in the year ahead, but that should give some idea of what’s going on.

And now that I’ve turned 60 and been doing this for 15 years, I’ve been thinking about where I want to go next–not geographically, but professionally. But you’ll have to wait til my next blog entry!

As the late Gilda Radner always said, in her incarnation as Rosanne Rosannadanna, it’s always something!  I just got word that the British Columbia Ministry of Culture won’t fund the United States American Indian performing artists that I had proposed for participation in the Vancouver Olympiad in February – the Chinle Valley Singers (http://bronitskyandassociates.com/chinle.htm), the Plateros (the hottest band in the Navajo Nation) and the Cherokee Nation Youth Choir.  Sigh!

But on the same day, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington notified me that they will fund my proposal for the domestic travel of Sami rights pioneer Magne Ove Varsi for his tour in April.  And so it goes!

I just received word of the passing of Elizabeth Davis, the matriarch, founder and heart of the Chinle Valley Singers and all her relatives.  I have many wonderful memories of her from tours with the group – the two of us jamming into a tiny rickshaw to tour a market in Manila, laughing when she realized that the blonde Estonian we had dressed up in traditional Navajo clothes wasn’t one of her daughters, and so many more.  And I was privileged to see her face in all of her relatives whom she shaped and inspired – children and grandchildren.  May her memory be a blessing to all who knew her.

I just got back from Chinle, Arizona, to join in the celebrations for Bo Teller, one of the Chinle Valley Singers, who has just graduated with an AA degree and is now moving on for more studies at Northern Arizona University.  We really hadn’t seen each other since the tour of Dubai in 2007 so it was a great pleasure to get together again and catch up on everybody’s news. 

Bo and icing, 5-25-09B

She’s toured with the Singers to Italy, England, Latvia and Dubai so it’s no surprise to me that her major field of study at NAU will be interdisciplinary studies with a concentration on international diplomacy.  Bravo! It was especially touching when the Singers sang to Elizabeth Davis, their mother and grandmother, who founded the group and taught everyone her songs.  I toured her with the group to Estonia and Manila and have so many wonderful memories of her–including prying her away from the casino in Manila!  And now she’s elderly and frail and still very much loved.  Sigh. 

Chinle Valley Singers, singing for their mother 5-25-09

I also visited Canyon de Chelley National Monument, the loveliest place on earth I know.  I’ve been there many times before, in every season, but this was the first time I’ve seen the Canyon in the rain.  For about twenty minutes, this arid desert canyon became the Land of 10,000 Waterfalls.  It was like seeing it for the first time.  What a wonderful experience!

Click on any of the images below to view a larger version:

Canyon de Chelley in the rain, 5-25-09

Canyon de Chelley in the rain, 5-25-09, by White House Ruin