common ground open mic series
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Our new logo was designed by the lovely Candace Kita.
Our community spotlight for tonight is the Vietnamese English Language Immerson project!
The Vietnamese English Language Immersion program seeks to bring Vietnamese and English language immersion classes to public schools throughout the Garden Grove Unified School District. These classes will teach standard subjects in public schools, such as math, science, language arts, history, etc., in both English and Vietnamese languages.
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Also, come support this Saturday!
Saturday, May 4, 2013
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Vietnamese Catholic Center
1538 N. Century Blvd.
Santa Ana, California 92703
For more information, please visit: www.iviet.org
Dual Language Immersion Program Goals
Bilingualism/Biliteracy — Develop high levels of proficiency in two languages
High levels of academic achievement — Perform at or above grade level in academic areas in both languages
Cross-cultural attitudes — Demonstrate positive cross-cultural attitudes and behaviors, and high levels of self-esteem
Sponsors: TAVIET-LCS, UVSA, Thanh Son Tofu, Step Up Tutoring, Vu Photography, New Hope Therapy Center, Varione, Q Document Solutions, Doan Thanh Nien Phan Boi Chau
Petition: https://t.co/ozWqlB6yaO
Next up, we have Mr. Hyphen 2013 himself, Sean Miura
According to an article on Hyphen Magazine,
On the first and third Tuesdays of every month from April to October, you can catch 24-year-old Sean Miura in action, either pitching in behind the scenes or performing onstage at the Tuesday Night Café in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles. The café is the flagship program of the Tuesday Night Project, a volunteer-run organization dedicated to the cultivation of the Asian American arts scene in L.A. Sean can also be found in Little Tokyo attending various community meetings and events during any other given night of the week.
Read the rest here: http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archive/2013/04/mr-hyphen-2013-finalist-meet-sean
And what is this “Powerpoint Dance Party” he has in store for us? Come find out.
Our visual artist tonight is Chau Thuy. You can check out more of his work on www.chauthuy.com
Another one of our spectacular features for tonight is the one and only, Mark Maza.
Mark Maza is a 27-year old spoken word artist/poet/full time daydreamer residing in Orange County. He was born in the Philippines and spent his first 12 years growing up between Tondo, Manila and Westminster, California. He got his first taste of poetry through reading Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays in high school. At UC Irvine, he joined Uncultivated Rabbits and helped establish a Spoken Word and Open Mic scene on campus. He has a Bachelor’s in Criminology and a knack for following his heart, he is a co-founder/member of forWord Spoken Word Collective (featured at various open mics throughout the OC/LA area), an organizer for The Definitive Soapbox Open Mic and Long Beach Poetry Slam 2013, and a fan of people that have stories to tell.
You do not want to miss out on tonight’s show!
As a former common ground organizer, but full-time supporter, you have probably seen her plenty of times emceeing, but have you ever seen her as a featured artist!?
Cara is an LA-based disorganized on-and-off organizer of multiple community spaces, an Angry Asian Intern ™, and a food eater/lover/bff. She also teaches ESL. She has a or some chapbooks depending on the moment in time in which this blurb is read. She spends her free time writing her ass off and thinks that both black coffee and your stories are amazing.
This show would not have been possible without all her help!
Please join us tonight with Cara Van Le at tonight’s “Reflections: Our Story” show!
Happy Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month! We’ve been on a hiatus but we’ve come out of the shadows to invite YOU to join us for an evening of hystory, smiles, laughs, and tears at our “Reflections: Our Story” show celebrating music, poetry, storytelling, art, and community love!
There will be yummy food, more delicious cucumber mint water, a photobooth, interactive hystorical timeline, and amazing artists and stories!
FEATURING:
Cara Van Le // Poetry & Storytelling
Sean Miura // Powerpoint Dance Party
Mark Maza // Poetry & Spoken Word
Chau Thuy // Visual Art
Vietnamese English Language Immersion // Community Spotlight
We ask for a $5 donation at the door, but no one will be turned down for lack of funds. However, doing so will enter you into our raffle for awesome organic goodies and useful services!
Doors open & Open mic sign-ups start at 6:30!
Show starts at 7:30pm!
There’s a well-known Vietnamese verse, “Âm nhạc là món ăn tinh thần”, music is the food for the spirit, the final spotlight for our show tomorrow is a very talented musician, Jason Sibucao. Jason shares with us what “Food for the Soul” means to him,
I believe food for soul is any facet that sustains your well being. Obviously this could be considered as literal food to sustain your life. However, as a musician, I feel that it can be anything that inspires one’s creativity. It can be an event that triggers the emotion to deeply think, and soon after, develop that thought into your art.
Listen to his band, From Cities to Oceans, and come support him tomorrow night!
A photo collage created by Võ Hải in honor of our theme “Food for the Soul”
Võ Hải is a storyteller, a poet and an organizer coming all the way from Oakland to our show this Thursday! Hai shares with us what our theme “Food for the Soul” means for him,
Food for the soul keeps me anew, fresh,and a l i v e. It may be physical, emotional, or otherwise. It may also be forever eternal or take place just for a brief moment.
To me, it can be actual food - substance that nourishes us, the Earth, and its ecosystems - like bún riêu (crab tomato noodle soup), cháo (rice porridge), hay (or) nước mám (fish sauce). These foods, ever so delicious and nutritious, are deeply connected to people and place - community and land. It is this interconnection between humans and the environment with the idea that we are one and not separate from each other - and all that connects them to (soil, water, air, seeds, and more) - that anews, freshens, and makes life. When we lose this connection so deeply engrained in our ancestry and our lineage, I believe we lose our souls and ourselves. It’s my life’s passions to help reconnect and grow food and soul.
In my lifetime, there have been and continues to be other experiences in addition to food that keeps me anew, fresh, and alive. Hiking trips, reading quotes that win over my heart, feeling humbled by elders’ stories, following my instincts, using all of my senses when I farm and cook, and a human smile and laughter - are just a few for me. These are more food for the soul - warming my heart, growing my mind, moving my body. These, too, are connected to people and place.
Our soul dives deep into our fullest selves - renewing, refreshing, and re-enlivening. I believe that the more we feed our souls more of what we want in life, the more of our fullest selves shines through.
You can follow Hai @nuocmamca: Facbook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram
Come support Hai at our show this week!
Common Ground is on Instagram! Follow us @commongroundoc to see photos from our shows. This is our March #foodforthesoul submission, juicy delicious mangoes with muoi ot (pepper salt), cut by @nuocmamca. Come to our show this week to try yummy treats!
