The 6th Palenke Arts Festival is coming back in person to Laguna Grande Park in Seaside! We are planning again a wonderful FREE event full of student and professional performances, children's art activities, live art demos by Paul Richmond, the Wheelie Mobile, food vendors and community booths. Our featured performers are Orquesta Rumba Café, a wonderful band directed by Hugo Barragán that will get us all dancing cumbia, salsa and merengue, Calpulli Tonalehqueh (Aztec dancers), and Congolese singer songwriter Elie Mabanza.
Of course, we will also feature our Afro Caribbean drumming program directed by Javier Muniz, , Danza Folklórica Nueva Estampa, Palenke Arts Dance Crew and Chorus, the Latin Jazz Combo directed by Paul Contos. Our masters of ceremonies will be non other than Garland Thomson and Claudia Meléndez.
This festival is sponsored by the Arts Council of Monterey County (presenting sponsor), Central Coast Community Energy (Silver sponsor), Monterey Bay Aquarium, Whites for Racial Equity, the City of Seaside, Sustainable Seaside, Mackey & Mackey Insurance Agency, Monterey Salinas Transit, Golden Memorial Insurance Agency and Art Vash Construction, Inc.
Don’t miss it! It will be lots of fun!!!
Calpulli Tonalehqueh’s work is founded on the concepts of WISDOM | HARMONY | CULTURE
Wisdom involves seeking, obtaining, sharing indigenous knowledge and traditions. Harmony involves striving for harmony with self, mother earth, the creator, and others. Culture refers to walking the Red
Road, which includes: native arts, cultural productions, and a native worldview.
Tonalehqueh is a multilayered metaphorical term. It means “Those who accompany the sun along its journey.” It refers to those who individually and collectively strive to meet their full potential on
earth, and who take the characteristics of the sun as their goals for personal growth and existence. Like the Sun itself, we seek to be resplendent, strong, steady, life-giving, balanced, humble, virtuous, and creative.
Calpulli Tonalehqueh hosts the largest Azteca Mexica New Year Ceremony & Celebration in the nation. It is free to the community located in Eastside San Jose, CA.
The music of Elie Mabanza originates from his roots in Congo Brazzaville, Africa. It is largely influenced by his love of rhythm and harmony, as well as a need to tell his stories through song. Elie picked up guitar at age ten after playing percussion in his church from age eight. His brother taught him the basics and Elie took it from there, developing his own chords and rhythmic style. Music consumed him; he practiced relentlessly and is almost entirely self-taught. Painting pictures of both joy and pain with music and his beautiful, haunting voice, Elie sings stories of his life in Africa, as well as the universal truths of human existence. Many are sung in the Lari and Lingala languages of Congo, as well as French and English.
Elie’s goal is to bring music to the world so people can feel happiness and understand that, “life is life and people are people everywhere, even in the midst of terrible suffering.” Elie is a survivor and he feels deep gratitude for his life and his music. Elie plays solo gigs, duets and with his band Mokili Wa. He currently resides in Marina, California.
https://www.eliemabanza.com/
