Boogie Down / Chow Down

The 37^th Annual Rochester World Festival held at Mayo High School this past weekend was one for the record books.  For those of you that were unable to attend, you’re in luck… the RCVB was kind enough to dispatch me to provide a first-hand account that is Rembrandt-esque (read: Gerhard Richter-esque) in its detail.

First up on the festival’s docket was the International Talent Show, which was held on Friday night.  The unpaid intern (read: wife) and I arrived at Mayo High School to find a packed house, so we quickly grabbed seats and waited for the Rochester Caledonian Pipe Band to get us out of the gate.  I was also pleasantly surprised that photography was allowed, as it enabled me to capture the whole spectrum of performances. 

The variety of the dances performed during the talent show was astounding! The Phil Am Society performed the “Tinikling Dance”, which is the most popular and well-known Philippine dance.  To quote the program, “it involves two people hitting poles on the ground and against each other in coordination with one or more dancers, who step over and in between the poles as a dance.”  In fact, in many ways it reminded me of double-dutch jump rope.

The Rochester Vietnamese Community performed a traditional Vietnamese dance where participants used their hats to create flowing waves.  Their ability to transition so smoothly into different motions kept the audience transfixed the entire time.

The program also contained three different dances from the Rochester Chinese School.  They were performed by children of all ages and were titled, “A Great Start”, “Fan Dance”, and “Happy Angel”. 

Zhen Ren, also from the Rochester Chinese School, played two songs on the Erhu, which is a two-stringed bowed instrument that is popular in China.  You probably don’t recognize it by name, but you’ll surely be familiar with its sound.

There were also performances of Brazilian sambas, Sudanese dance and wedding costumes, folk dancing from India, a Cambodian coconut dance, a Bosnian dance, and traditional Egyptian cane dancing.

Saturday’s program consisted of international displays, children’s activities, an international marketplace, community tables, and last, but certainly not least, international food.

I worked my way amongst the international displays, trying to soak up historical and statistical information as I ambled.  Certain displays also had children’s activities, which were packed with kids learning how to do fun things like use chopsticks, play a steel drum, or make maracas.

However, none were quite as packed as the activity put on by Rochester Arts and Sciences Academy (RASA) and El Gallo Mexican grocery.  Every half hour, they hung a piñata from one of the basketball hoops and let kids take turns whacking away at it.  As soon as it started, kids gathered around, three or four deep, waiting for that magical moment when it would break open and spill its treasure all over the gym floor.  And as soon as it did, the kids pounced!

At this point, it was now time for me to eat my way around the world.  And, trust me, I brought my “A” game.  Since the unpaid intern (read: wife) had a prior commitment for the Saturday portion, I had to recruit an unpaid culinary intern (read: mother-in-law) to help me with this task. 

As some of you may remember from my Rochesterfest post, I mentioned that there is no better background music for packing away large amounts of food than polka. There’s just something about it that feels right.  So, fast-forward to Saturday, and what’s the first thing I see upon entering the cafeteria?  You’re darn right… a polka band.  Game on!

Drum roll, please!

Poland: Stuffed cabbage with sauerkraut
South Korea: Kim chi and a vegetable pancake
Philippines: Pancit
North Sudan: Basbousa, taamia, pastry with feta cheese and vegetables
Malaysia: Turkey wontons, Chinese tea egg, milk butter bread bun

Thankfully, the unpaid culinary intern (read: mother-in-law) proved to be an amazing wingwoman!  There was no way I would have been able to handle all that food by myself, and she stepped up like a champ.  She was also kind enough to roll me out of the cafeteria and take me home!  I’m already looking forward to the 38^th Rochester World Festival!

Coming up in my next post: I’m not putting my passport away just yet!  It’s time to get another stamp on that baby when I head over to the Wehrenberg Theaters for the Rochester’s International Film Festival, which takes place from April 27 – May 3.  The first three films have been announced and are: “A Separation”, “Memorial Day”, and “Monsieur Lazhar”.  Visit the Festival’s website for more information.

Americana Showcase

Hey there! You have plans for April 25th? Frankly, it doesn’t matter. Go ahead and break off whatever you’ve got planned and head to the Rochester Civic Theater for April’s Americana Showcase, which “celebrates the rich musical heritage of the American Midwest by connecting artists with music lovers of all ages”.

As I mentioned in the teaser for this post at the end of my last post, which shouldn’t be confused for the teaser in this post that will discuss my next post, I had never been to an Americana Showcase despite hearing numerous wonderful things about them. Well, I’m pleased to announce that I have rectified this egregious mistake and am now imploring you to learn from my shortcomings!

March’s sold-out showcase was Six Mile Grove’s CD release concert for their new album “Secret Life in a Quiet Town”. It also featured two amazing opening acts in Danny Schmidt and Carrie Elkin.



Photos courtesy of www.dannyschmidt.com (photo credit: Mark Pickthall) and www.carrieelkin.com.



These two artists (who are also a couple) kept the crowd absolutely captivated for their entire performance and also told some hilarious stories that gave the crowd insight into the meaning and context of their songs.

Watch and listen to a few songs on their websites and you’ll see why it’s no wonder that Danny was named to the Chicago Tribune’s 50 Most Significant Songwriters in the Last 50 Years and Carrie was one of Texas Magazine’s “2011 Artists of the Year”.

After a short intermission and a highly spirited introduction by Rochester Civic Theater Executive Director Gregory Stavrou, Six Mile Grove took the stage and began playing their new album from start to finish. And since the show was sold-out, they also web-casted it so people could watch online (how awesome is that?!)

Photos courtesy of www.sixmilegrove.com

“Secret Life in a Quiet Town” is Six Mile Grove’s sixth album, and it is excellent. However, my trying to describe the depth and richness of its songs won’t do it justice. But… since the album can be streamed on their website let me pull together some of my humble opinions to break it down:

Into guitar solos? – click “Long Live the Queen”
Into vocal harmonies? – click “Sunshine in the Pouring Rain”
Into keyboard? - click “Girls Like You”
Into bass? – click “For Crying Out Loud”
Into drums? – click “Fight Like a Man”
Into pedal steel guitars? – click “Evangeline”*

*If there’s one thing I know about music, it’s that pedal steel guitars are like wrapping food in bacon… they instantly make everything better!

“For Crying out Loud”, the last track of the album, proved to be the perfect set ender. The band members stopped playing one-by-one and walked off the stage, leaving only Barry on keyboards to slowly fade it out. Then, with the crowd beckoning, they came out and performed their encore to close out the evening. It was a great show and I’ll plan on seeing all of you there at the Civic Theater in a couple weeks!

“Secret Life in a Quiet Town” can be purchased on Six Mile Grove’s website as either a CD or digital download. For more information, and to stream songs from the album, visit: http://sixmilegrove.com/music.

Coming up in my next post: The RCVB has kindly offered to send me on a trip around the world! However, they’ve politely asked if I could leave Puffy and Mase at home and fit the whole trip into one weekend. Luckily, I can! I’ll be grabbing my passport and heading over to Mayo High School for Rochester International Association’s World Festival 2012. The festival will have children’s activities and crafts, international community tables, a world market, and food vendors. For more information, visit: http://www.ria-minnesota.org/worldfestival/.