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Gifted with an expressive and powerful voice, Mariza is inarguably the genre’s best-known global representative for the 21st century. Mariza’s approach to singing fado (a traditional Portuguese genre full of exquisite contradictions) embraces the new while never forsaking the old. Her early recordings of classic fados, such as “Primavera,” mixed new and traditional instrumentation in support of soaring, emotionally searing vocals.
Though her work remains within the Portuguese tradition’s boundaries, she has distinguished herself by gradually incorporating elements from other folk and popular traditions into her music. These include sounds from Mozambique where she was born and Portugal where she grew up, Brazilian samba and MPB, Cape Verdean mornas, R&B, and soul music.
With the release of her six-time-platinum debut album, Fado em Mim, her reputation reached beyond Portugal and spread internationally with greater success than ever, with an array of multi-platinum album releases, and appearances on some of the most important stages in the world.
Mariza has received dozens of awards including her most cherished: Best Artist from the Amália Rodrigues Foundation. Mariza is a humanitarian who also serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
In the nearly five years since CocoRosie released their last album, sisters Bianca and Sierra Casady have been far from idle. In addition to composing for theater pieces, collaborating with legendary theater director Robert Wilson, performing with the Kronos Quartet, and, more recently, popping up on Chance the Rapper’s The Big Day, they have been heavily engaged in the messy business of life. Created in fits and starts over the course of four years, amidst the backdrop of death, divorce, mental illness, falling in love, and copious amounts of healing, CocoRosie’s seventh album — the aptly titled Put The Shine On — is a study in extremes, balancing some of the freshest and most adroit pop songs the band has ever crafted, while simultaneously exploring the most extreme states of human feeling and being — resulting in an album that is both pristine and, at times, harrowing.
Nearly two decades deep into a career marked by experimentation and bucking convention, the duo has made what is arguably the most well-considered, emotionally complicated, and sonically adventurous record of their career.
“CocoRosie is still supremely subverting the mainstream, but that hasn’t stopped the world from listening.” – V Magazine
Special guest: Miss Ginger
Miss Ginger is a multi-disciplinary artist, project producer, and community organizer who collaborates with artists and grassroots organizations globally to inspire human connection and intersectionality while activating restorative justice and practices of witnessing. Dunnill has organized numerous exhibitions, social engagement projects, and cultural programs around the world, supporting mindful direct actions and carving out brave spaces for narratives that center QTNB+BIPOC+Women & Femme communities and their voices, as told on their terms.
Legendary actress Isabella Rossellini returns to the Luckman stage for two evenings with her new one-woman show, Darwin’s Smile, which reconciles two worlds that are often at opposite ends: art and science. Reading Charles Darwin’s book “The Expression of Emotions on Man and Animals” revealed to her that the continuity between humans and animals can also be detected in the expression of emotions. Isabella explores how empathy, which is the base of acting, is also necessary for the studies of animal behavior (ethology).
The Luckman Fine Arts Complex will present the world premiere of Seeds of Rain by choreographer Raiford Rogers, with musical compositions by Philip Glass and Zbyněk Matějů — featuring organist Mark Alan Hilt and pianist Helena Suchárová-Weiser. The performance will feature guest dancers Tetyana Matyanova (Ukraine) and Tigran Mkrtchyan (Armenia).
The music for Seeds of Rain (part 1) is a special arrangement of Philip Glass’ masterwork Mad Rush performed by Los Angeles organist Mark Alan Hilt and recorded at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica.
Seeds of Rain (part 2) is set to Czech composer Zbyněk Matějů’s Three Stones Concerto featuring pianist Helena Suchárová-Weiser with the Hradec Kralové Philharmonic Orchestra — recorded specifically for this ballet collaboration.
The title for the ballet-diptych Seeds of Rain is a line from the D.H. Lawrence poem Autumn Rain about hope and renewal.
The artwork by painter Mike Nava is projected animations showing the chronologic evolution of a series of paintings each photographed layer by layer. The hundreds of stages of the painting’s development slowly fade from one to the next without a static moment providing a living environment for the dancers and visual embodiment of the music.
Praised as “the soul of the Spanish guitar”, Pablo Sáinz Villegas has become a worldwide sensation known as this generation’s great guitarist. With his “virtuosic playing characterized by irresistible exuberance” as described by The New York Times, his interpretations conjure the passion, playfulness, and drama of Rioja, his homeland’s rich musical heritage. He is known for his passionate, emotive and open-hearted playing, whether he is performing at intimate recital halls, or playing with Plácido Domingo to an audience of over 85,000 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, where maestro Domingo hailed him as “the master of the guitar”.
n 2022, Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández celebrates its 70th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the company returns to the Luckman for three evenings featuring renewed performances of their most celebrated classic choreography.
Founded in 1994 by C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika! is the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Under Mr. Williams’ leadership, stepping has evolved into one of America’s cultural exports, touring more than 60 countries across the globe, and the Company now ranks as one of the top ten African-American dance companies in the United States.
Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities; traditional African dances; and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience. Performances are much more than dance shows; they integrate songs, storytelling, humor and audience participation. The blend of technique, agility, and pure energy makes each performance unique and leaves the audience with their hearts pounding.
Step Afrika! promotes stepping as an educational tool for young people, focusing on teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding. The Company reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year through a 50-city tour of colleges and theaters and performs globally as Washington, DC’s one and only Cultural Ambassador.
Step Afrika! has earned Mayor’s Arts Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education, Innovation in the Arts, Excellence in an Artistic Discipline and headlined President Barack Obama’s Black History Month Reception at The White House. The Company is featured prominently at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History & Culture with the world’s first stepping interactive exhibit.
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández make their highly anticipated return with an acclaimed repertory that brings together the music, dance, and costume of Mexican folklore from pre-Columbian civilizations through the modern era. Their repertory includes more than 40 ballets of exquisite choreography that pay homage to local dance traditions from over 60 regions of Mexico. Amalia Hernández founded the Ballet Folklórico de México in 1952, having embarked at a very early age on a quest to preserve the dancing traditions of her beloved country. More than six decades later, the company is admired as the best of its kind in the world.
The Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State LA presents a virtual performance of Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet’s Joshua Tree Symphony set to original music by by Czech composer Zbynek Mateju.
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