Let's get
going
4
•* •,
“Let’s Get Going" is the theme this spring,
as Wallflower Order, the internationally-
acclaimed women’s dance troupe, takes to
the road with Grupo Raiz, the popular Chilean
music ensemble, for a joint tour of 25 North
and Southwestern cities.
Fresh from their fall tour of the East coast
and Midwest, Wallflower Order and Grupo
Raiz combine their talents in a final encore
performance of “Vamos a Andar’’ — Let’s
Get Going. A blend of feminist choreography
and Andean rhythms, Vamos A Andar ex
plores the ethnic roots of North and South
America, uncovering cultural and social links
between the two continents.
From the Cherokee Indians who perished
on a bitter winter march along the Trail of
Tears, to the African people brought in chains
by slave traders to a "new world," to women
freedom fighters in Latin America, the sub
jects come alive through dance and music,
expressing the universal desire of all people
for peace and freedom.
Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike
from Denmark to Nicaragua, the five-women
Wallflower Order Dance-Theatre Collective
originated in Eugene, Oregon in 1975. The
name "wallflower" embodies the group’s
challenge to women everywhere to stop wait
ing on the sidelines to be asked to dance and
assume their power today. An eclectic blend
of dance, theatre, humor, song, sign language
and martial arts. Wallflower’s message is both
personal and universal, dedicated to
empower people everywhere.
Grupo Raiz, as the name implies, is "a
gathering of roots" in a hybrid sound of An
dean flutes, guitars, percussion instruments,
and lyrics. An offshoot of the New Latin
American Song Movement, which draws on
Andean, Chilean, Cuban, and Caribbean
musical influences, Grupo Raiz was bom at
La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley, Califor
nia in 1980. All seasoned musicians in their
own right, five of Grupo Raiz’ six members
are from Chile, several in political exile by the
country’s junta.
Grupo Raiz combines traditional and con
temporary music, together with original
compositions in songs about the Chilean in-
dians, the daily toil of workers and peasants,
and the beauty of the Andes. The group has
toured throughout the United States,
Canada. Latin America, and Europe, and has
two recordings: “(Jn Solo Camino," and
“Amaneceres." Their third album, “Por
America Del Centro” will be released this
spring.
Wallflower Order and Grupo Raiz are per
forming together on Friday. March 9. at 8
p.m. at the Eastside Performance Center
(formerly Washington High) at S.E. 14th and
Stark.
Love Novellas:
an art
performance
by Jerri Allyn
“Love Novellas," by Jerri Allen will be per
formed on Wednesday, March 7th at 8 p.m. at
the Berg-Swann Auditorium of the Portland
Art Museum, 1219 SW Fhrk Ave. Tickets will
be available at the door for $4.00.
“Love Novellas" is a performance art read
ing created by Jerri Allyn. Allyn speaks live
while a multi-layered audio tape of other
voices and music plays in accompaniment to
her voice. Wendy Perron of the New York
Native writes of Allyn’s work: " . . . you enter
one person’s world of dangerous places,
strong-willed friends, and clashing ideas.
People listening are intensely involved, as
though gossiping on the phone___partly
because Allyn’s voice is so familiar, unpre
tentious, and excited that you feel you could
join in the conversation if only she would take
a breath.
Love Novellas’ contain different narratives
about people or phenomena In Allyn’s life,
told in a non-stop barrage of details. Her
voice is agitated, outraged, and loving; the
tone is a combination of quick-witted conver
sation. sensual poetry, and a high-pitched
New Jersey whine. Allyn is an assertive Alice
in Wonderland — curious, ironic, and con
cerned — who both learns from and enjoys
bizarre situations. Her material is sometimes
very funny and also powerful stuff." (Wendy
Perron, N ew York Native)
Jerri Allyn is a feminist artist living in New
York City. Allyn was a founding member of
the performance art groups, "The Waitres
ses’ and “Sisters of Survival," as well as a
founder of the L A Women’s Video Center.
Her work has been reviewed in Artforum,
ArtWeek, The Soho News, Village Voice,
and other publications. Ms. Allyn was a 1982
recipient of a Performance and Conceptual
Art Fellowship of the National Endowment
for the Arts, and has recently received an
Artist in Residence Grant from The Women's
Graphic Center in Los Angeles, where she will
be in residence the last two weeks in March
1984. She is currently a member of Interac
tion Arts in New York City, a multi-disciplinary
performing arts group.
This performance is part of a west-coast
tour which includes performances and lec
tures in Vancouver B.C., Seattle, San
Francisco and Los Angeles.
Janna MacAuslen and Kristen Aspen
Musica Femina
atPSU
To kick off the beginning of a four month
national concert tour, Musica Femina, a Port
land based flute-guitar duo, (Kristan Aspen,
flute: Janna MacAuslan, classical guitar) will
present a concert/informance on Sunday,
March 4 ,3 p.m., at 75 Lincoln Hall, Portland
State University. The program, which features
works by women composers from 1700 to
1980, is sponsored by the Portland State
W om en’s Union and W omen’s Studies
Departm ent as part of their Women’s History
Week celebration.
Because so many of women’s valuable
contributions to music history and repertorie
have been lost Musica Femina has chosen to
deviate from the traditional classical concert
format to place the composers in an histori-
cal/cultural context by sharing information
as well as the music itself. O f the duo’s
concert/informance, LC . Hansen, KBOO
radio producer, says, "Leave at the door of
the concert hall any assumptions you may
have about classical performances being
elitist and inaccessible. Musica Femina en
gages and entertains the audience with new
possibilities."
The program on March 4 will include works
by Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, harpsi
chordist at the court of Louis XIV of France,
Emilia Giuliani, widely acclaimed virtuoso
guitarist of the 19th century, Yvonne
Desportes, 1932 winner of the Gran Prix de
Rome international composition award, and
Ivana Loudova, a Czech composer who in
1961 was the first woman composition stu
dent at the Prague Academy of Arts.
Kristan Apen has been musically active in
Portland for the past 10 years, performing
first in a duo with Naomi Littlebear Morena,
then with the Ursa Minor Choir. From 1976-
1980 she was a member of the Izquierda
Ensemble, a Portland acoustic music quartet
whose unique style of original women's music
brought the group national recognition and
led to the release of an Ip album in 1979.
Since 1980 Kristan has returned to classical
music and to studying the flute, first with Jane
Bowers, then with Marilyn Shotola. Aspen is
currently president of the Greater Portland
Flute Society.
Janna MacAuslan is an accomplished
classical guitarist who has toured extensively
in the Southwest, Mexico and Germany. She
studied guitar performance at the University
of Texas, and more recently has done grad
uate work at Lewis and Clark College, study
ing guitar with Ian Mitchell and baroque lute
with Terrell Stone. As a part of her ongoing
research for works by women composers,
MacAuslan is assembling a catalog of wo
m en’s compositions for guitar alone and
guitar with other instruments. Janna has been
teaching and performing in Portland for three
years. Currently she is an instructor of guitar
for the Community Music Center, and for
Portland Community College.
During the course of their 1984 tour,
Musica Femina will perform at colleges and
universities, conferences, festivals and
coffeehouses across the United States. They
will also attend the Third International Con
gress on Women in Music in Mexico City. To
document the research they have done, and
to increase general access to music by wo
men, Musica Femina has recorded a high
quality cassette tape of selected works from
their women composers informance.
Cassettes will be on sale March 4. Childcare is
available at the concert, and tickets ($2.50
student/ $3.50 general) may be purchased at
the door.
Just Out, March 2-March 16
I