ARTISTS EMBASSY INTERNATIONAL
a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all volunteer arts organization
“Furthering inter-cultural understanding and peace through the universal language of the arts”
founded 1951 by Althya Youngman
Althya Youngman's autobiography, Journey to Wisdom: Memoir of Althya Clark Youngman, edited by Alisha Rodregues and Natica Angilly, may be purchased on Amazon.com.
HEADQUARTERS: Richmond, California
Natica Angilly: President naticaaei@aol.com Website: www.dancingpoetry.com
Artist Embassy International was created in 1951 by Althya Youngman. She believed that the arts transcend cultures. She had toured the world as a singer/pianist and saw that the arts bring people together in harmony. Part of her epiphany came about while studying with Mahatma Gandhi in India.
As an example, In 1985, Dr. Kenneth Kuanling Fan brought a contingency of poets from Taiwan to San Francisco and Artists Embassy International hosted them at a special event. At that time, Taiwan and China were not on good terms. Performing would be a concert pianist from China that Althya was mentoring. The pianist was reluctant to perform. He said he would not be welcomed by the poets from Taiwan. When he came to the piano, the audience was not very responsive. We were all tense. Then he started to play. The energy in the room changed. When he was finished, the Taiwan poets all went up to congratulate him and shake his hand. Harmony had been created for that evening. The Taiwan poets and the pianist from China went home with positive thoughts of one another. This type of friendly interchange has happened many times around the world since 1951.
Althya was speaking with Father Alfred Boeddeker one afternoon in the early 1980's. He said, "The arts are the oil in the machinery of mankind, for man cannot live by bread alone, but must have beauty to feed the soul".
With this in mind, and with first-hand knowledge that the arts bring people together, Althya knew creating and developing AEI was on the correct path she was destined to take.
Artists Embassy International is solely supported by donations. The community of art lovers and those that believe in our ideals and enjoy our productions/exhibits, have been very generous.
The Poetic Dance Theater Company grew from the idea of promoting harmony by using poetry fused with dance as a unified art form, Natica and Richard Angilly brought together dancers from a variety of dance styles to form The Poetic Dance Theater Company. Dancing to poetry is an ancient art form brought up to date by choreographer Natica Angilly and her poet husband, Richard Angilly, International Poet Laureate Man of Letters. Since its early days, the company has traveled worldwide performing by invitation across the USA as well as in Marrakesh, Morocco; Madrid, and Toledo, Spain; Beijing, and TaiAn, China; Taipei, Taiwan; High Wycombe, England; Rome and Assisi, Italy; Budapest, Hungary; Osaka, Japan; Larissa, Greece; and Bangkok, Thailand. Natica has created a special dance language for poetic dance. Her choreographic instincts are beautiful and unusual. Each dance has its own choreography, costumes, and props. This makes for an exciting performance. The dance company is solely dedicated to the performance of poetry.
Artists Embassy International and Natica and Richard Angilly's Poetic Dance Theater Company are interlinked with various other artistic organizations through mutual members and activities. Some of the interlinked organizations that provide networking opportunities include the following:
United Poets Laureate International: Invites Poetic Dance to perform at their World Congresses of Poets which take place around the world approximately every two years. Also, Many UPLI board members are also AEI members. Please visit their website at www.upli-wcp.org.
Poets of the Vineyard: POV, AEI and the Redwood Empire Chinese Association annually cosponsor the Multicultural Poetry Reading and Potluck Lunch. Also, POV advertises most of the AEI and Dancing Poetry events in their monthly Newsletter. Many members have overlapping memberships.
Alameda Island Poets: Promotes High School Poet Laureate programs. Selected students are honored at the Dancing Poetry Festivals for their interest and talent in creating poetry. AIP also promotes AEI members through booking them for poetry readings and poetry workshops. Many members of AIP are also members of AEI.
Rakkasah International Dance Festival and Bazaar: Poetic Dance has been part of this organization for its entire life. The founder of Rakkasah was a prominent member of Poetic Dance. Poetic Dancers were prominent members of Dancers of the Pharaohs, the host group for Rakkasah. Most of the Poetic Dancers were also on staff and/or had sales booths at each of their four annual dance events: Rakkasah West, Rakkasah East, Winter Moon, and Summer Caravan. Please visit them at www.rakkasah.com.
Redwood Empire Chinese Association: has less membership overlap, but does host, with AEI and POV, the annual Multicultural Poetry Reading and Potluck Lunch at their Center for over 20 years. They also present their Annual Chinese New Year Celebration and Fundraiser which is formally attended by an AEI contingency every year. RECA embodies the ideals of AEI of promoting peace through the arts and cultural understanding through interaction. Please visit them at www.recacenter.org.