Sunday, August 21, 2011

Pictures of the Festival: Sunday August 21, 2011

Today was the last day of the 2011 Midwest Folklife Festival. We had many wonderful artists come this year and we look forward to next years Festival! Here are some photos of today's festivities!







We had many wonderful artists grace our main stage with lively music and heartfelt songs!









We had an opportunity to learn from our artists in workshops and demonstrations!











And see their artwork up close and personal at their booths!


The Festival was a wonderful event and we look forward to it next year! Be sure to check back for next year's location and updates!


Sunday at the Midwest Folklife Festival

The day began with an opening ceremony by Elliott Funmaker who sang a traditional Ho Chunk song to start off the Festival, and then Irish and Scottish songs played and sang by Laura MacKenzie and Ross Sutter. The Wi Dells Singers and Dancers performed traditional Ho Chunk songs and dances at Farwell Hall, then I went to see some amazing African drumming at the main stage before a short walk to Plum Grove Church for a moving talk about Songs and Music of Irish Immigration. Then the Monroe Swiss Singers took the stage to sing some traditional Swiss songs, I then stopped to listen to some Hmong stories and right now I'm listening to some polka played by the Tuba Dan Band. Next up? Southern Indiana band Grease Gravy takes the stage!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Pictures of the Festival: Saturday August 20, 2011

Today was the first day of the 2011 Midwest Folklife Festival at Folklore Village in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. The Festival continues tomorrow Sunday August 21st and is FREE! We have artists coming from all over the Midwest to share their stories, heritage and traditions with us. Here are some photos from today's happenings!










We had many wonderful artists come to sing, play and dance for the Festival...








We also had artists come to demonstrate their artwork...



And even had delicious food ways demonstrations!


It was a lovely day at Folklore Village! The sun was shining and we had incredible artists come to share their art with us! A short rain shower happened upon us at the end of the Festival and gave us a double rainbow right above Folklore Village!

Saturday at the Midwest Folklife Festival

The first day of the Festival began with sunshine, Los Pichardo and Irish tin whistle lessons. Next came immigration stories and a tune by Southern Wisconsin Old Time Fiddlers. After that I listened to some Klezmer music by Yid Vicious and a stopped for a quick bite of Ethiopian Injera. I swung by Plum Grove Church to get a lesson on fiddle making and then popped by Farwell Hall for delicious Ho Chunk food traditions. I then stopped and listened to the beautiful voice of Mai Zong Vue and am now listening to the smooth south sounds of Grease Gravy. I think next I'll stop and learn some Italian traditional food ways...

Friday, August 19, 2011

What to expect at the Midwest Folklife Festival

The Festival will be beginning on Saturday August 20th rain or shine! Feel free to bring chairs, a blanket and maybe even a picnic basket! Food and drink will be available for purchase along with a tent with benches to eat at. On Saturday a day-long workshop for K-12 teachers will be taking place as well as a UW-Madison class whose students will be observing, documenting and volunteering at the festival. Families are invited to the Family Learning Tent where they can take part in cultural activities and special hands-on sessions with festival artists! Explore the cultural life of Wisconsin at the Connection through Traditions Exhibit and take part in the Traditional Arts Indiana Exhibit!

The Festival begins this Saturday August 20th and continues through Sunday August 21st. Come to Folklore Village in Dodgeville Wisconsin and experience song, dance and traditional foodways of the Midwest!

Check out our website for more details!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Folklore Village: Passing It On

 
In 1966 Folklore Village was created and directed by Jane Farwell in Dodgeville Wisconsin. Folklore Villages was first designed with the slogan “Connecting the generations with a world of traditions” and this is something that it still continues to do today! Folklore Village is a nationally recognized folk arts and culture center and has been a place for people of all ages to gather and learn traditional folkways. Folklore Village has been host to potlucks, social dances, classes, workshops, exhibits and historic preservation projects. Set within the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin, Folklore Village sits upon 94 beautiful acres which includes the Tall Grass Prairie Restoration Project, rustic bunkhouses, Plum Grove Church, Wakefield School, the 1848 Wisconsin home of Aslak Olsen Lie and Farwell Hall. Come to Dodgeville Wisconsin to experience the wonder of Folklore Village!

Want to see more before the Festival this weekend? Check out their website at folklorevillage.org

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Artists from Illinois: Los Pichardo & Ricardo Salazar



Los Pichardo is an Oak Park family group led by Víctor Pichardo, a two times Grammy nominee Mexican folk musician, with over thirty years of experience. Victor has passed his tradition to his children Yahví, Zacbé and Gabriella since they were little. They specialize in Mexican SON, a style of music that represents all of the regions of Mexico as it blends components of its Indigenous, European and African heritage. 

Ricardo Salazar
Follow this link to his video!

Artists from Indiana: Grease Gravy & Larry Hopkins


Southern Indiana string band Grease Gravy got its start as a group in the 1990s.  The band formed based on close, longstanding relationships with one another and with the musical life of the region where they live. Their music is driven by an appreciation for cultural heritage and commitment to community involvement.  The band emerges from and continues to contribute to a vibrant roots music culture in the Orange County area, where they commonly gather with neighbors to share music and fellowship.

As an instrument builder, musician, folk artist, and music organizer, Larry Hopkins is a man of many talents. Larry first learned to fiddle from his uncles and grandfathers and now continues to promote music within his community by organizing jam sessions, fiddle contest and donating instruments. Larry’s instruments are built for players by a player. He’s less concerned with appearance than with sound quality, and his top goal is for his instruments to be pleasing and enjoyable to the ear.

Artists from Minnesota: Shakun Maheshari, Ross Sutter & Laura MacKenzie


Shakun Maheshari demonstrates the traditional art of sandpainting, or rangoli, which she learned from her mother and grandmother in Rajasthan, India. Intricate rangoli designs may decorate the floors of houses, temples, and entryways. People make rangoli freehand by applying colors in a dry form or as a paste. The designs are said to bring good luck, peace, prosperity, and happiness into the home.

Ross Sutter & Laura MacKenzie present the musical traditions of Ireland and Scotland for audiences of all ages. Well known for his exceptional baritone voice, Ross Sutter plays an impressive collection of instruments including the Irish bodhran. Laura MacKenzie is also a fine singer, and her duet vocals with Ross are especially captivating. Laura MacKenzie performs on a dazzling array of wind-powered instruments (flutes, whistles, pipes, concertina).


Fixing Flatbread: Mulusew Yayehyirad

 Mulusew Yayehyirad of Waunakee makes the Ethiopian fermented flatbread, injera, as an essential element in the traditional dinners she serves her family.  When she married and moved to the US in 1993 from the Amhera Region of Ethiopia, she had to learn how to make it. Her mother coached her by phone, but available ingredients led to discouraging results.  Mulu persevered, adapting tools and perfecting ingredients, continuing her traditions of family meals, hospitality, and Orthodox Christian fasting menus. She and her family gather three times a year for celebrations with fellow Ethiopians in the Madison area, and Mulu teaches injera-making to families with adopted Ethiopian children.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Tune of the Tuba: Tuba Dan Jerabek


Tuba Dan Jerabek started his polka affection at the age of 12, helping the Len-Ray Orchestra from Tisch Mills, Wisconsin. After several years with several notable bands, Tuba Dan formed his own eight-piece Bohemian-style orchestra. Eventually the band was down-sized to a six-piece band, one that eventually performed at the 1995 Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. and was extended an invitation by the Czech Republic to perform there each year on tour. Since then, the Tuba Dan Band has traveled many miles.
Tuba Dan Jerabek is also the President of The Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame and is one of its most recent LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS. Come to the Midwest Folklife Festival, dance the polka and hear the Tuba Dan Band for yourself!

Caribbean Fish Traps: Philip Simeon


Philip Simeon is a Madison, Wisconsin artist from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia who weaves wonderful fish traps. Normally made from natural materials found in the Caribbean, Philip makes his traps by weaving together plastic strips used for binding lumber. His great grandfather was a fisherman and much of what Philip has learned has been through elder fishermen of his island. Visit Folklore Village during the Midwest Folklife Festival to witness the weaving practices of Philip Simeon!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Family Foods: Chuck and Vickie Dahl


Chuck and Vickie Dahl live in Mineral Point, Wisconsin where they grew up helping their mother Pascalena Galle Dahl, cultivate a large vegetable garden to raise ingredients for family meals that celebrated her parents’ Calabrian heritage. Both Chuck and Vickie live in their grandparents’ Italian neighborhood near the former Zinc Works where Italians followed Cornish and Irish into mining.  They keep gardens with heirloom vegetables and prepare the family’s mix of Italian-American and local cooking, including raising pigs for a distinctive peppery smoked sausage. Come to Folklore Village to experience the culinary delight that mixes family heritages with food way traditions!

Seed to the Plate: Rhonda Funmaker


A lifelong resident of Wisconsin, Rhonda Funmaker continues the practice of traditional food ways. Born into the Ho-chunk and Anishinabe Nations, Rhonda learned traditional food ways and art-skills from both of her grandparents. Her practices do not only include preparing traditional foods but also everything from saving seeds, farming, soil and land conservation, respect for the water, harvesting, drying, canning and food storage. Her artwork is also an important reflection of her teachings-artwork made from items people normally discard. By teaching these important traditional practices Rhonda has been able to share her cultural pride and awareness with those around her. Come and visit with Rhonda Funmaker at the Midwest Folklife Festival and experience her traditional art and food ways for yourself!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Teaching Our Traditions: Djam Vivie


Continuing the practice of traditional wood carvers, Djam Vivie returns to the Midwest Folklife Festival to share his love of woodworking. Not only does Djam Vivie build furniture and create artwork but he also carves musical instruments such as the balafone and drums. Thanks to Djam the tradition of West African woodcarving will continue to be taught and passed on. Originally from Ghana, Djam teaches drumming and dance through workshops and apprenticeships and is also a member of Atimevu, a Ghanian folklore drumming and dance group and the Afro-pop group Timbu Kali. Come to Folklore Village to learn and experience a West African tradition!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The Quilting Connection: Ethel White


Since 2003 Milwaukee resident Ethel White has been expressing her voice through classic quilt designs. Her traditional yet distinctive quilts have led this award-winning artist to multiple exhibits, articles of mention and a national two-page feature in Quilt Magazine. She also has been a guest lecturer, a featured artist and teaches quilting to young artists. Identified as a Master Folk Artist by the Wisconsin Arts Board, Ethel continues to express traditional quilting practices to those around her. Be sure to come and experience her quilts for yourself at the Midwest Folklife Festival!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Vessel of Music: Yid Vicious


Once again the celebrated musicians of Yid Vicious take the stage at Folklore Village! Started in 1995 the seven members of Yid Vicious came together in Madison Wisconsin to create a group that continues to share the musical tradition of Klezmer music. This musical genre is formed largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces and is a musical tradition of the Askenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Klezmer developed as Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants brought the music to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was influenced by swing and early jazz. Come take part in the living tradition that is Klezmer and join Yid Vicious as they create an infusion of traditional secular Yiddish music along with new musical ideas!

Friday, August 5, 2011

The Language of Beads: Karen Ann Hoffman

A bead work student of Samuel Thomas and Lorna Hill, Karen Ann Hoffman creates beaded art that speaks, embodies, preserves and expresses the Iroquois worldview. Iroquois raised bead work is an art form of the peoples of the Eastern Great Lakes Region and its forms and designs reach back over ten thousand years. This art form was first executed with bone and shell, later with moose hair and hide and now with glass beads and velvet. A member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and identified as a Master Folk Artist by the Wisconsin Arts Board Karen Ann Hoffman’s award winning bead work has been displayed at the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, The Eiteljorg Museum, Wisconsin Arts Board’s Lobby Exhibit and is also part of the permanent collection of the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Come to the Midwest Folklife Festival and meet Karen Ann Hoffman as she shares her bead work with us!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Fond of the Fiddle: Southern Wisconsin Old Time Fiddlers


The Southern Wisconsin Old Time Fiddlers return once again to Folklore Village to share their love of the fiddle! Beginning in 1989 this group grew from the beginning players of Al Hund, Walter Launderud and the Alsmo Brothers to a multitude of family, friends and fellow fiddle enthusiasts. Throughout the years the Fiddlers have been joined by banjos, guitars, accordions and an assortment of other well loved instruments. The group specializes in playing “old time” music such as Golden Slippers, Raggedy Ann and Last Fiddler’s Waltz. Join The Southern Wisconsin Old Time Fiddlers in a celebration of old time music, traditional musical talent and maybe even participate in a dance or two!