Performing Families: An Evening of Music, Dance and Conversation

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR.
Doors open 45 minutes prior to performance.

Celebrate the bonds of music and dance with four family ensembles as they perform and discuss the meaning of kinship, tradition and the arts. The event features indigenous Aztec dancers Grupo Atl-Tlachinolli, Benin family band Jomion and the Uklos, South Indian classical dancer Nalini Rau and her Natya Anubhava Academy, and mother-daughter Korean music-dance trio Heejung, Zena and Jaylyn Han.

About the artists: 

Jomion & The Uklos is a family band from Benin, West Africa, led by Samuel “Jomion” Gnonlonfoun, founder of the internationally renowned Gangbé Brass Band. With his brothers JB, Mathieu and his daughter Rose, Jomion combines traditional rhythms and songs from Vodoun culture with reggae, salsa and jazz to create vibrant and relaxing dance music.  

Dr. Nalini Rau is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of Bharata Natyam. Her choreography is known for using traditional styles and techniques to explore themes of womanhood, society, human emotion, mythology, and more. She has trained over 200 students at Natya Anubhava, her dance academy in Yorktown. IACAW honored Nalini Rau as artist of the year (2018) for preserving and maintaining excellence in traditional Indian performing arts.

Hee Jung Han, a professional haegeum (two stringed fiddle) player, has performed as principle member of two traditional orchestras in Korea, the Youth Korean Traditional Music Orchestra and the Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Music Orchestra. She graduated from Chu-Gye University of Art where she received  training under celebrated haegeum performers Jung Lim Kim and Kyung-Sook Yang. Upon arriving to the U.S. in 2005, Han joined Sounds of Korea with whom she has performed at Lincoln Center and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As a soloist, she has appeared at the Korea Society, The Korean Consulate General, and at CUNY Graduate Center.

Performing Families is part of ArtsWestchester’s Folk Arts Program, made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts.