Event: First Friday at Ong King Arts Center
Time and Place: Ong King Arts Center, 184 N. King St., Friday, July 6th, 5pm-2am
Art gallery opening 5pm-9pm, Performance 9pm-2am
Cost: 10$ (art opening free)
Who Can Attend: All Ages!
More Info: www.ongking.com see@ongking.com,
ong king: 306-7823, see’s #: 428-3233
…..GRaFFITI ARTIST….FINE ART…NATIONAL BELLEYDANCER…..NATIONAL TOURING POET BRIDGET GRAY&BYronn BAIN…CELTIC MUSIC…CIRQUE HAWAII’S TJ….BUTOH…QUADROPHONIX……Hip-hOP tHEATre…
FIRST FRIDAY: JULY 6th at Ong King Arts Center
The 6th of July, reveals a celebration of poetry, art, dance, and theatre from diverse talents. Kahalu’u’s Maria Steel exhibits original fine art, Graffiti artist Row brings it in doors with a fantastic mural, World Renown Classical Odissi Bellydancer Colleena arrives from India, Performance Poet Briget Gray, Irish Music by Doolin’ Rakes, Dance by Giinko Maraschino, Cirque Hawaii’s newest member TJ performs glow in the dark juggling, Quadraphonix (with a special guest), DJ JOULZ, and hip-HOp theatre by HUTC. OH yes, oNG kING invites you to the heart of birthing creativity.
Visual ART
Featured Artist: Maria Steele was raised in the mountains of Kahalu’u on the Windward side of Oahu, she achieved a BFA in Printmaking in Portland Oregon in 1997. Over the last 10 years she has been featured in several shows working with, earth works, slide show presentations, fabric art, oil painting, acrylic painting, and various printmaking techniques. Her inspiration flows from nature and from her Kundalini yoga practice.
“For me, art is like yoga; it is a journey you take within. Ever focusing and fine-tuning. Each element builds, one after the other, taking you deeper into new levels of expression.”
Maria’s current work is a combination of collage, printmaking and acrylic painting. She writes in her Artist Statement:
“The materials I use are simply tools to communicate visions I see in my minds eye. The work is being channeled through me. I use abstract shapes to evoke a feeling of breaking through boundaries, or unveiling new dimensions. Through meditation I am able to shift my point of focus, become receptive and clearly perceive the process of physical manifestation emerging from the ever present cosmic void, or creative consciousness. This is what I seek to communicate in my art. I am also interested in the Universal Elements- Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Ether- and how these forces create the synergetic dance of life.” Maria Steele
Emerging Artist: ROW, Graffiti Art, Row, got busted doing graffiti in 3rd grade. His early inspiration came from cartoons, gradually his focus shifted to letter writing. He was arrested for defacing public property in 2005. Since then he has sought new outlets including canvas painting. What drives his work is getting to the end. “its about finishing, a spot, a wall, a ditch anything can lead to completion.” ROW
PERformance ART
CLASSICAL Odissi Bellydancer: Colleena devoted her life completely to dance upon arriving in India in 2001 when she meet her Odissi Guru, Padma Cheran Dehuri and settled in India at Bhubaneswar, Orissa- the capital of Odissi dance.
“the process of learning Odissi dance is a complete tearing apart of the ego….It is here in your moments of utter exhaustion, utter confusion, utter gracelessness, utter loss of ego; you arrive at the conclusion that ‘you’ are nothing. The only way you can stand up again and raise yourself off the floor is if you invite the divine into your heart. Here you begin to feel pure power and the dance comes alive in your body.” Colleena
Colleena
In 2004, Colleena founded Shakti School of Dance within a historical Vishnu temple in the holy town of Pushkar, Rajasthan. Colleena’s dream of creating a sacred dance space for all dance forms has included having her
Khalbleia ‘Gypsy’ sisters teach classes in their dance style, which offers them a chance to feel respected for their art form and make a fair wage.
Briget Gray
Performance Poet: Bridget Gray, 2001 marked the release of Bridget’s 1st cd “Shades of Gray” which has now sold over 15,000 copies independently. She has been a featured poet on ABC’s “Eye On L.A.”, BET’s “Lyric Cafe” and brought the house down receiving an extended standing ovation at her taping of HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam”. Her dynamic stage presence and thought inducing lyrics have led her to become a highly sought after speaker on the college circuit. She has lectured and performed at over a dozen university’s and colleges including. Her, 2005 release, 2nd cd “Self Love” with tracks produced by Grammy nominated Spontaneous, and industry veteran Rochad Holiday, was received with open arms reaching new audiences around the world.
Byronn BAin
Bryonn Bain is Brooklyn’s own spoken word champion and hip hop poet. Interweaving social justice themes and spirituality with intricate wordplay and soaring stage presence, Bain was wrongfully imprisoned by the NYPD during his second year at Harvard law school. Bryonn sued the City of New York, was interviewed by Mike Wallace on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” and wrote the Village Voice cover story – “Walking While Black: The Bill of Rights for Black America” – which drew the largest response in the history of the nation’s most widely-read progressive newspaper.
Described by Cornel West as “…a poet who speaks his truth with a power we desperately need to hear,” Bain has lectured and performed at over 100 colleges and universities worldwide, and shared stages with The Last Poets, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Run DMC, and Dead Prez. For the past five years, Bain has organized workshops and performances in prisons across the country with his grassroots organization’s award-winning “Lyrics on Lockdown Tour.” Currently teaching courses exploring hip hop, spoken word poetry and the prison industrial complex at Columbia University, Bain also hosts BET-J’s leading talk show “My Two Cents” on air each week in 27 million homes
nationwide.
Crowned the Nuyorican Grand Slam Poetry Champion in 2000, Bain’s acclaimed debut album “Problem Child: The Philosophy and Opinions…” fuses hip hop with spoken word and the world music he grew up with as the son of African and Indian parents who immigrated from Trinidad to Brooklyn. Sold out on CD Baby.com, in New York state prisons, at colleges throughout the nation, as well as on two european tours, you can now sample tracks and purchase your own copy of this future-classic album online at: www.BryonnBain.com. The groundbreaking music video – “Ancestors Watching” – executive produced by Warrington Hudlin (of “House Party,” “Boomerang” and “Posse” fame) is available online as well.
Doolin Rakes
MUSIC CONCERT: Doolin Rakes, the Rockin Irish bands set list flows from Africa to the Midwest, to Ireland. They perform an interactive show that asks the crowd sing, dance and even tell stories. Lead singer James McCarthy states “It’s Celtic with an African flavor. But we also do some zydeco and several electric, jazzed-up takes on old Appalachian tunes—what we call ‘hip-alachian.’” The band also includes fiddle player Lesley Kline, electric guitarist Jamie Winpenny, bassist Geoff Red and percussionist Jason Tabosa.
Quadraphonix has several new tunes in the mix, as they bring up special guests. The best groove band in Hawaii keeps innovating with percussionist/composer Jonathan Heroux, electric sitar player Shree Sagopan, conga player Eli Clemens, and new bass player Tino.
DJ JouLZ brings pumping beats, and hip moving funk into the mix.
giinko Marachino
MODERN DANCE: Giinko Maraschino, director Malia Oliver brings a new composition to the stage. This beautiful combination of avant-garde music, spectacular costumes, and Japanese Butoh is an audience favorite.
JuGGLING: Ong King is so happy that long time performer TJ is now the newest member of Cirque Hawaii. Despite his recent success he continues to perform his most amazing glow in the dark juggling routine. TAH DAH!
THEatre/HUTC: Hip-HOP Theatre, Writer-Director SEE, has begun a new production entitled hip-hOPAlypse, this will be the first reading of this MC driven mythical play including MC INTRepID.
