Next Friday, Colored Pencils Art and Culture Council is partnering with the Portland Art Museum and the Iraqi Society of Oregon for the October 26 Colored Pencils Art and Culture Night, to be held at the Portland Art Museum. Visual and performance artists from various ethnic backgrounds will present song, dance, and poetry against the backdrop of eclectic paintings, photography and drawings by some of the region’s most exciting artists.
I had the chance to speak with Surapee "Cindy" Poonyagariyagorn, founder of the Thai Association of Oregon, who also serves as the lead Thai dance instructor for the group. Her students will present a traditional Thai "greeting dance" on the Colored Pencils stage.
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Ms. Cindy has been teaching classical Thai dance to young men and women since 1996. Growing up in Bangkok, Thailand, Ms. Cindy trained for years in the art of Thai dance. Here in Oregon, she works with her students every weekend to impart what she knows about Thailand's art and culture. The group has been invited to perform at a number of fund-raising events throughout Oregon.
In the clip below, Ms. Cindy talks about what audiences can expect at the Colored Pencils event, and shares her experience leading the group.
In addition to the Thai Association performance, Colored Pencils also presents Portland’s "choreopoet" Chisao Hata, who will perform her interactive piece "Remember My Face," which combines poetry, dance, and music to remind our audiences of the profoundly human costs of nuclear war. Hata’s performance will be accompanied by musicians Yukiko Vossen on the koto and Peter Zisa on guitar.After the break to celebrate October birthday celebrants and to honor our elders, Portland’s very own Polish’s dance group, Agnieszka Laska Dancers, will deliver an original contemporary dance performance from their latest production about human trafficking.
The program will end with Minh Tran, Vietnamese-American renowned dancer, choreographer and associate professor at Reed College, who will perform fusion traditional Asian and contemporary western performance about his life coming to America as political refugee. Emily Pittman Newberry, the author of "Butterfly A Rose," a book of poetry about the life of a transgendered woman and the challenges of living as spiritual beings in a human world, will recite her powerful poetry.
Hope to see you next Friday at the Colored Pencils event! Social hour and artist reception begins at 5:30pm. Artists will take the stage and talk about their work at 6:15pm.Song, dance and poetry performances will start at 6:30pm. Share the event with your FaceBook network.
I had the chance to speak with Surapee "Cindy" Poonyagariyagorn, founder of the Thai Association of Oregon, who also serves as the lead Thai dance instructor for the group. Her students will present a traditional Thai "greeting dance" on the Colored Pencils stage.
.jpg)
Ms. Cindy has been teaching classical Thai dance to young men and women since 1996. Growing up in Bangkok, Thailand, Ms. Cindy trained for years in the art of Thai dance. Here in Oregon, she works with her students every weekend to impart what she knows about Thailand's art and culture. The group has been invited to perform at a number of fund-raising events throughout Oregon.
In the clip below, Ms. Cindy talks about what audiences can expect at the Colored Pencils event, and shares her experience leading the group.
In addition to the Thai Association performance, Colored Pencils also presents Portland’s "choreopoet" Chisao Hata, who will perform her interactive piece "Remember My Face," which combines poetry, dance, and music to remind our audiences of the profoundly human costs of nuclear war. Hata’s performance will be accompanied by musicians Yukiko Vossen on the koto and Peter Zisa on guitar.After the break to celebrate October birthday celebrants and to honor our elders, Portland’s very own Polish’s dance group, Agnieszka Laska Dancers, will deliver an original contemporary dance performance from their latest production about human trafficking.
The program will end with Minh Tran, Vietnamese-American renowned dancer, choreographer and associate professor at Reed College, who will perform fusion traditional Asian and contemporary western performance about his life coming to America as political refugee. Emily Pittman Newberry, the author of "Butterfly A Rose," a book of poetry about the life of a transgendered woman and the challenges of living as spiritual beings in a human world, will recite her powerful poetry.
Hope to see you next Friday at the Colored Pencils event! Social hour and artist reception begins at 5:30pm. Artists will take the stage and talk about their work at 6:15pm.Song, dance and poetry performances will start at 6:30pm. Share the event with your FaceBook network.