Segerstrom Center for the Arts is proud to present the first event in a new series on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza with Bridges: Connecting Cultures “From South Korea to Puerto Rico with Art, Music, Food and Fun.”

Saturday, November 17, 2018

2:00 – 6:00 p.m.

FREE on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza

The series will be an annual event designed to help build cross-cultural bridges. Each year will feature customs and traditions, food, music, music visual and performing arts that represent the diversity present in Orange County. This first event will be on Saturday, November 17 from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Bridges: Connecting Cultures vividly represents the Center’s commitment to creating opportunities for the many wonderful cultures and communities to discover, appreciate and enjoy Orange County’s unique diversity. Orange County is home to the second-largest Korean population in the United States. During this first event, From South Korea to Puerto Rico, the Center will highlight South Korea and the profound influence Korean culture has in our local community and celebrate Puerto Rico’s multi-cultural heritage and its resilience and resolve in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

The day’s festivities include live performances from Korean American Youth Performing Artists, Korean Classical Music and Dance Company, OC Kpop Academy, Oskar Cartaya and The Ricannection, a bomba and drumming demonstration from Taller Bula and the OC Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center, as well as a collaborative finale where both cultures take the stage and create music together! Also joining the day is the National Conference of Puerto Rican Women (NACOPRW), a non-profit organization that promotes the equal participation of Puerto Rican and all other Hispanic women in the educational, social, economic and political life in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. NACOPRW will have a resource booth throughout the day and will host children’s activities alongside the Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center. All can enjoy the family photo booth as well as hands-on fun for all ages with a Korean calligraphy station and Puerto Rican arts and crafts. Food trucks will be on hand to offer samples of each culture’s cuisine, with the Bulgogi Truck serving Korean style fusion and the Triple Threat Truck serving authentic Puerto Rican street food.

Live Performance Schedule:

* Schedule and performers are subject to change. Please check SCFTA.org for further updates

2:00 – 2:15 Opening remarks

2:15 – 2:45 Korean American Youth Performing Artists

3:00 – 3:20 OC Kpop Academy

3:35 – 3:45 Taller Bula & OC Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center bomba and drumming demonstration

4:00 – 4:40 Oskar Cartaya and The Ricannection

5:00 – 5:20 OC Kpop Academy

5:30 – 5:50 Oskar Cartaya and The Ricannection & Korean Classical Music and Dance collaborative finale

Korean American Youth Performing Artists, shares Korea’s traditional culture with not only Korean Americans, but all races and nationalities. KAYPA is a non-profit organization directed by JaeEun Park Lee, located in Buena Park and Chino. It provides Korean-American youth with the opportunity to educate themselves about their Korean heritage through various types of dance, to share their cultural experience throughout the community with volunteer performances, acquire leadership through service-learning experiences, and to educate others about the importance of their roots.

OC Kpop Academy is a dance, performance and fitness studio in Buena Park that offers fun, energetic and habit-forming classes for all ages and levels. A full array of group classes and private sessions are available for Kpop, hip-hop, jazz, ballroom, special event dances as well as group fitness classes for aerobics, yoga, martial arts and line dance.

Taller Bula is a popular Puerto Rican folkloric group – or bomba group. The company will present a short demonstration of dance and drumming with the kids they’ve been teaching at the Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center. Drummers beat the goatskin covers of barrels (traditionally rum barrels) while accompanied by singers and dancers.

Oskar Cartaya is a Latin Grammy^®-nominated artist who has soaked up the influences of his homes in Puerto Rico, New York and Los Angeles to create his very unique style. He plays bass, composes, arranges and has been a musical director for an amazing array of artists, including Spyro Gyra, Herb Alpert, Jennifer Lopez, Celia Cruz, Rubén Blades and Tito Puente among others. He and his nine-piece band, The Ricannection, bring a self-described blend of “jazz and funk, Afro-Caribbean percussion and urban street soul attitude.”

Korean Classical Music & Dance Company under the direction of Don Kim, performs the ceremonial and social dances that are an integral part of Korean culture. This splendidly costumed ensemble boasts a rich and varied repertoire of exciting dances that are presented with the grace and elegance characteristic of this ancient traditional dance form. Performances feature traditional music played on authentic Far Eastern instruments. An intricate, stylized fan dance in the finest tradition of the Korean court and a thrilling drum dance featuring unison drumming on suspended drums are just two of the offerings that grace the rich and varied repertoire of this exquisitely costumed ensemble.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds its corporate partners including Kia Motors America, Official Automotive Partner; and United Airlines, Official Airline.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is committed to supporting artistic excellence, offering unsurpassed experiences and to engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring arts-based education and community engagement programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center is Orange County’s largest non-profit arts organization. The Center presents a broad range of programming for audiences of all ages, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming and free performances on the Center’s Julianne and George Argyros Plaza, including free movie screenings, live performances, special holiday events and festivals to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of the county.

Segerstrom Center is a leader among the nation’s performing arts centers for providing education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. These reach hundreds of thousands of students each year in five Southern California counties. Community engagement programs developed through the Center for Dance and Innovation and Center Without Boundaries also connect the Center more comprehensively with Orange County’s many diverse communities. The CDI supports flagship artistic programming and a wide range of projects that celebrate innovation, nurture creativity and engage audiences of the future. It is home to the American Ballet William J. Gillespie School and the School of Dance and Music for Children with Disabilities. The Center Without Boundaries develops partnerships with non-cultural organizations to help them in their own efforts to respond to the ever-changing needs of the community.

scfta.org