Spring 2011
Artists Embassy International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting intercultural understanding and peace through the universal language of the arts. Founded by Althya Youngman in 1951, AEI has continuously promoted individual and group artists working in many media, offered venues, publication opportunities, poetry contest, prizes, festivals, conferences, classes, exhibitions and many other opportunities for the promotion of artists and their work throughout the United States and the world. Membership dues, $30 per year, include quarterly newsletters, advertisements of events, opportunities and contacts for international events and reports on your personal artistic work. Subscription only to the quarterly Newsletter, $10 per year. Send dues, subscription, newsletter articles and information to AEI for inclusion in the next publication. For more information about AEI, please visit www.dancingpoetry.com
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Dancing Poetry Contest
We search the world to find poets to be awarded cash prizes, certificates, and to be honored by reading at the glorious podium of an exquisite theater in a prestigious art museum in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Contest deadline:
May 15 of each year
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| Natica Angilly's Poetic Dance Theater Company hosts the Dancing Poetry Festival |
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| Dancing Poetry Festival
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Noon to 4:00 p.m.
3 Grand Prize winning poems
10 or more International poetry/dance acts
Poets of 51 prize winning poems invited to read
at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor’s
Florence Gould Theater
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Our Newsletter is Back!
After a year of putting our information on the web, we have found that the impact and satisfaction level for our members and participants is not the same as having our newsletter to hold in their hand. So, by popular demand, our Newsletter is back! Thank you for the vote of confidence you gave us in trying to enter the e-age and save money. Although many people enjoy our website, it is not the same as having a paper publication in hand to read, enjoy, and show friends your name and photo in print. We will continue to use our website as our primary, colorful, exciting, extended communications tool. But we will also have our quarterly newsletter to announce our upcoming events and to express pride in our glorious achievements.
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| Art for all ages is presented by AEI artists each January at the Alameda Historic and Art Museum in Alameda, CA. We also have a Meet the Artists Reception with poetry, dance and an afternoon of socializing and eating an artistic array of snacks. |
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| AEI participates in Rakkasah’s 3 annual Middle Eastern events: Rakkasah West, held in March in the Richmond, CA,; Rakkasah East held each May in Somerset, NJ; and Winter Moon held in February in Pinole, CA. AEI has a sales booth for the Rakkasah Bazaar. Natica teaches classes in dance. |
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| AEI co-sponsors the Multi-Cultural Poetry Reading and Pot Luck Lunch each August in Santa Rosa, CA. Cosponsors are the Redwood Empire Chinese Association and Poets of the Vineyard. Over the years, we have had poetry read in over 15 languages, each with English translations, descriptions and/or discussions. |
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Annual Dancing Poetry Contest and Festival
Our 18th Annual Dancing Poetry Contest is drawing to a close. Don’t miss the deadline date to have your poetry entries postmarked by May 15. Dance proposals should be in since slots are nearly filled already. This is probably the most glorious venue you will find to have your poetry presented. From the entries, 3 Grand Prize Winners will be danced. Poets of all Grand Prizes, 1st , 2nd, and 3rd prizes (51 in all) will be invited to read their prize winning poem at the podium of the elegant, white pillared, maroon velvet curtained stage of the gold sconced Florence Gould Theater of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. In addition to the presentation of the Dancing Poetry Contest Prize winners, our host dance troupe, Natica Angilly’s Poetic Dance Theater Company, will perform along with a wide variety of additional solos and companies combining poetry and dance as a unified art form. For contest rules and to purchase advanced tickets, please visit our website at www.dancingpoetry.com.
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| The luxurious Florence Gould Theater in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a fabulous place to meet poets before, after and during intermission. You may also visit the exhibits in this world class art museum. |
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| Poet Pat Tompkins, San Mateo, CA, (Center) takes her on-stage bow with Natica Angilly’s Poetic Dance Theater Company at the end of the performance of her Grand Prize Winning Poem, Labyrinth in the Garden. Richard Angilly (L) read the poem for the dance, after it was read at the podium by the author, Pat Tompkins. Please read the poem in its entirety on our website, www.dancingpoetry.com. |
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Natica and Richard Angilly, The Dancer and The Poet, are the creators of the Dancing Poetry Contest and Festival. They are also the founders of Natica Angilly’s Poetic Dance Theater Company plus the president and treasurer for Artists Embassy International.
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Many local and international dance troupes perform to poetry. The Redwood Empire Chinese Association performed a dance to the poem of Li Qing of Hong Kong, For the Beauty of Yeliu. We expect to see our friend, Li Qing at the World Congress of Poets in Larissa, Greece in early July, 2011. Dancers of the Pharoahs are also frequently featured. They thrill us with everything from sword dances to jazz tap dances with their Middle Eastern Fusion creativity.
Just a few of our Prize Winning Poets Who Read at the 2010 Dancing Poetry Festival
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| Maxine Williams of Sebastopol, CA, receives her award from AEI VP, Judy Hardin Cheung. In her mid 90’s she is our oldest frequent winner. |
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| Ruth Hill, Chatwynd, BC, Canada, was a first time winner in 2010. She came from the boarder of the Yukon to attend our festival. |
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| Claire J. Baker, Pinole, CA, 1st DPF Contest Chair, twice GP winner and frequent 1st ,2nd ,or 3rd prize winner, read her 2010 prize winning poem at the podium. |
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| Prize Winner, Garrett Murphy, is a local political humorist who is stepping into the realm of notable poet of the San Francisco Bay Area. |
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| Bill Schwartz read for his brother, Art, from New York. Art couldn’t make it to read his Grand Prize Winning poem, Getting To Your House, about increasing forgetfulness. |
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Alameda Art Museum, January
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| With a backdrop of oils, masks and artistic Poetry Bytes, Natica Angilly’s Poetic Dance Theater Company presented Duet by Ana Eisner of San Francisco, a 2010 Grand Prize winner in the Dancing Poetry Festival. Dancers of the Pharoahs, Banat al Hogar and Alegra Silberstein, newly appointed Poet Laureate of Davis, also performed dances for this afternoon extravaganza. |
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| Two High School Poet Laureates of Alameda were honored during the festivities of the afternoon. Mary Rudge, Poet Laureate of Alameda (far L) initiated the program for high schools to elect an annual poet laureate. This year, two Alameda high schools offered the honors. Natica helped Mary with the crowning and recognition ceremonies which included parents and teachers as well as the student Poet Laureates. |
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Rakkasah Middle Eastern Dance Festival and Bazaar
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| Rakkasah events offer fund raising opportunities for AEI. Natica teaches dance techniques during many of the events. Her classes specialize in ethnic techniques for the tambourine, developing facial expressions, stage dynamics, and increasing audience enthusiasm. Natica and her Poetic Dance Theater Company dance during the weekend festivals. AEI has a sales booth selling Natica’s Dancing Tambourines, Judy’s earrings made from photographs of dancers, Natica’s books on poetic dance, and many other items of interest to a dance oriented audience. Thousands of dancers and the public attend each annual event held in Richmond, CA, in March; Somerset, NJ in October; and Pinole, CA, in February. |
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Multi-Cultural Poetry Reading
The Multi-ultural Poetry Reading and Poet Luck Lunch offers a for AEI to join with the Redwood Empire Chinese Association and Poets of the Vineyard Chapter of the California Federation of Chaparral Poets to present the Multi-Cultural Poetry Reading and Poet Luck Lunch created and produced by Judy Hardin Cheung, AEI VP. Alameda Island Poets have been our special guests each year, bringing a contingency of poets to enhance the multi-ethnic. During the past 10 years, we have had poems read in over 15 languages, each with an English translation or description. Participants have included visiting poets from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, and Germany. This is a venue where people can share the poems of the language of their birth or the language of their parents with understanding and a broadening of experience
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| The unique feature of the Multi-Cultural Poetry Reading is the Pick-A-Partner read-around. Poets, chooses a poem in English and another language, then finds a partner to read a bilingual duet. The second read-around usually is solo readings of the poets’ own works, or favorite poems. Ken Peterson and Elena Hsi read a Chinese poem in English and Mandarin, then fielded questions about meaning, nuances, form, and philosophy. |
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World Congress of Poets
June 29-July 3, 2011, Larissa, Greece
Many AEI members are also members of United Poets Laureate International, the parent organization for the World Congress of Poets. In 2009, the Congress was held in Managua, Nicaragua. In the tradition set by Althya Youngman, founder of AEI, the World Congress of Poets visited a school in the small town of Diriamba, Nicaragua to exchange poetry and dance. The formal meetings were held in a banquet room of the El Camino Real Hotel in Managua. This summer, the Congress will be held in Larissa, Greece. As usual for the Congresses, Natica Angilly’s Poetic Dance Theater Company will be featured as guest international dance troupe and will share the stage with various local performers.
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| AEI members are also very active in UPLI. Judy Cheung, far left, is VP of AEI, and Secretary/treasurer of UPLI. Natica Angilly, far right, is AEI president, and UPLI VP. Ben Yuzon, President of UPLI, standing, is an active member of AE, as is his wife, Pilar, beside him.I. This table is the head table of United Poets Laureate International at the formal awards ceremony in Managua, Nicaragua in 2009. |
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Selected upcoming events presented or participated in by AEI
for RSVP and information on any listed event, contact AEI at richardaei@aol.com or 510-235-0361
and visit www.dancingpoetry.com
Ongoing: Natica Angilly shows poetic masks and enhanced tambourines at Cafe Arrivederci, 11 G Street, San Rafael, CA.
March 14-June 18: Poetry and art exhibit by Judy Cheung at Ristorante Aurora, 8 Commercial Blvd., Novato, CA
April 8-May 20: Natica Angilly displays masks and tambourines in the entry hall of Café Arrivederci, 11 G Street, San Rafael
May 14-June 18: Judy Cheung displays poetry and photo art in the big dining room at Café Arrivederci.
June 29-July 3, 2011: The World Congress of Poets will be held in Larissa, Greece. The official invitation, information, registration rates, etc. are posted on www.upli-wcp.org. We expect many of our world-wide members and friends to be there.
August 13: Noon to 4 pm: Multi-Cultural Poetry Reading and Pot Luck Lunch at the Redwood Empire Chinese Association Center, Santa Rosa, CA. Call for information or visit www.dancingpoetry.com or www.recacenter.org.
October: Rakkasah East, Somerset, New Jersey, Middle Eastern Dance Festival and Bazaar.
December TBA: Board Meeting and Christmas Party. All members are welcome.
January: All month: Artists Embassy International produces a group exhibit at the Alameda Historical and Art Museum, Alameda Ave., Alameda, CA. One Saturday will be the Meet-the-Artists Reception with art, poetry, dance and refreshments.
February : Rakkasah’s Winter Moon Middle Eastern Dance Classes, Bazaar and Dance Festival, Temple Beth Hilell, Pinole, CA, for more information, please call AEI or visit www.rakkasah.com
February, 5:00-9:00, last Saturday of Feb. Redwood Empire Chinese Association Chinese New Year Festival, Santa Rosa Vets Memorial Building, Santa Rosa, CA. For more information, please call AEI or visit www.recacenter.org
March: Rakkasa’s Spring Festival, Richmond Auditorium, Richmond, CA. For more information, please call AEI or visit www.rakkasah.com
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