National Heritage Fellowships

Southland dancer, choreographer and teacher Anjani Ambegaokar won one of the dozen $20,000 National Heritage Fellowships, scheduled to be announced today by the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C. Ambegaokar is a specialist in kathak, one of the ancient classical dance idioms of her native India. Other recipients this year include Charles T. "Chuck" Campbell, gospel steel guitar player (Rochester, N.Y.); Joe Derrane, Irish American button accordionist (Randolph, Mass.

George Na'ope, a guardian of native Hawaiian culture who taught traditional hula dance and chanting to generations of students and introduced the ancient art forms to new audiences, has died. He was 81. Na'ope, who in 2006 was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship award by the National Endowment for the Arts, died Oct. 26 at his home in Hilo, Hawaii, after battling cancer. His death was announced by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Na'ope (pronounced nah-OH-peh) co-founded the Merrie Monarch Festival, a celebration of hula held annually since the early 1960s in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Three California artists are among the dozen recipients of $20,000 National Heritage Fellowships, the nation's highest honor in folk and traditional arts, announced this week by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Three California artists are among the dozen recipients of $20,000 National Heritage Fellowships, the nation's highest honor in folk and traditional arts, announced this week by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Barry Bearak and David Lauter's three-part series regarding affirmative action (Nov. 3-5) was interesting and thought-provoking. Biases crept through at times, particularly with the use of the term "reverse discrimination." Discrimination exists--or it doesn't--in any particular occurrence. What is "reversed" at times is our ability to detect and label discrimination.

A Cuban drummer beats out rhythms with his hands at a bata religious ceremony honoring African spiritual forces. . . . * A Mexican woman makes coronas , or crowns, for young girls' coming-of-age parties by dipping folded paper into candle wax. . . . * A Greek musician blows into a tsabouna , a bagpipe-like instrument that is literally a beheaded goat turned inside out. . .

CHIMAYO, N.M. -- As a boy in a tiny village long known for its weaving, Irvin Trujillo remembers being surrounded by the traditional art -- and sometimes nearly smothered by it. He and his cousins would spend cold winter nights at the little adobe house of their grandmother huddled on a mattress on the floor. His aunt would head to a crib in the back room stacked full of heavy, hand-spun "frazadas" made by his grandparents, he recalls.

George Na'ope, a guardian of native Hawaiian culture who taught traditional hula dance and chanting to generations of students and introduced the ancient art forms to new audiences, has died. He was 81. Na'ope, who in 2006 was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship award by the National Endowment for the Arts, died Oct. 26 at his home in Hilo, Hawaii, after battling cancer. His death was announced by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Na'ope (pronounced nah-OH-peh) co-founded the Merrie Monarch Festival, a celebration of hula held annually since the early 1960s in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Honors for Folk Artists: Eleven individual folk artists and a husband-and-wife team named by the National Endowment for the Arts as 1990 recipients of National Heritage Fellowships will be honored in Washington today and Thursday. The honorees today will receive Master Traditional Artists certificates heralding them for "shaping our artistic traditions and preserving the cultural diversity of the United States."

--Just as she has done for decades, Queen Elizabeth II paraded on horseback before thousands in the annual Trooping of the Color to mark the monarch's birthday. Brushing aside calls that she ride in a bulletproof car because of the threat of a terrorist attack, the queen rode her black mare Burmese sidesaddle for the parade on The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace. Armed police watched from rooftops and two troopers on horseback flanked the queen as Prince Philip and Prince Charles followed.

CHIMAYO, N.M. -- As a boy in a tiny village long known for its weaving, Irvin Trujillo remembers being surrounded by the traditional art -- and sometimes nearly smothered by it. He and his cousins would spend cold winter nights at the little adobe house of their grandmother huddled on a mattress on the floor. His aunt would head to a crib in the back room stacked full of heavy, hand-spun "frazadas" made by his grandparents, he recalls.

Southland dancer, choreographer and teacher Anjani Ambegaokar won one of the dozen $20,000 National Heritage Fellowships, scheduled to be announced today by the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C. Ambegaokar is a specialist in kathak, one of the ancient classical dance idioms of her native India. Other recipients this year include Charles T. "Chuck" Campbell, gospel steel guitar player (Rochester, N.Y.); Joe Derrane, Irish American button accordionist (Randolph, Mass.

A Cuban drummer beats out rhythms with his hands at a bata religious ceremony honoring African spiritual forces. . . . * A Mexican woman makes coronas , or crowns, for young girls' coming-of-age parties by dipping folded paper into candle wax. . . . * A Greek musician blows into a tsabouna , a bagpipe-like instrument that is literally a beheaded goat turned inside out. . .

Barry Bearak and David Lauter's three-part series regarding affirmative action (Nov. 3-5) was interesting and thought-provoking. Biases crept through at times, particularly with the use of the term "reverse discrimination." Discrimination exists--or it doesn't--in any particular occurrence. What is "reversed" at times is our ability to detect and label discrimination.

HONOLULU - He's known as the Woody Guthrie of Hawaiian music, a virtuoso ukulele player who's helped to introduce new generations to music that might otherwise be lost. But on the autumn morning I met up with Eddie Kamae, few people seemed to recognize the octogenarian wearing Levis and a blue work shirt. It was just after 9 a.m., and Eddie was eating a bowl of vanilla ice cream at the Wailana Coffee House in Waikiki. He had risen before sunrise to pray, read the paper and watch the sky lighten from the nearby apartment building where he and his wife, Myrna, have lived for nearly half a century.

Bess Lomax Hawes, a musician and folklorist who tapped into the legacy of her influential family of archivists and became a prominent anthropologist at what is now Cal State Northridge, has died. She was 88. Hawes, who directed folk and traditional arts programs at the National Endowment for the Arts from 1977 to 1992, died of natural causes Friday in Portland, Ore., where she had been living the last two years, her daughter Naomi Bishop said. CSUN houses the Bess Lomax Hawes Student Folklore Archive, a collection of student research projects that Hawes oversaw.