ABOUT THE ARTISTS in POEMA DEL DIA

ADRIAN ARIAS
a Peruvian prize-winning poet, visual artist, curator and cultural promoter, working in San Francisco, CA since 2000. His four published books of poetry include: “Habits” (1984),“Dreams & Paranoia” (1996), “Divine Punishment” (1999), and “26-10-2028” (2000), as well as a collection of limited special editions from all his poetry readings.
His poetry appears in anthologies in Peru, Spain and the US. Arias publishes a poem daily on his blog Poemadeldia2008.blogspot.com, and an English version, translated by Nina Serrano poemoftheday2007.blogspot.com.
His visual art, like his poetry, explores the absurd, the sensuality of elements, and the connection between reality and dreams. He uses found objects, boxes, clothes, doors, drawings, photography and writing poetry on canvas. He also creates video installations. Arias has participated in international exhibitions in individual and collective shows in Japan, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Peru and the US.

LA TANIA
a world renowned performer and master teacher. She grew up in "Andalucía", southern Spain, in the heart of the flamenco culture where she began to learn this art form at a very young age. By the age of 17 she was performing professionally. She made Madrid her base and performed in many "Tablaos" as a featured dancer such as “Corral de la Morería", "Zambra" and toured internationally with many companies including Mario Maya, Paco Peńa etc. She began her own company in 1991 and performed in the US for the first time in 1993. Since then she has toured with her company Nationally and Internationally winning many awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship, the California Arts Council Fellowship, the National Endowments for the Arts Fellowship, the James Irvine Fellowship in Dance and the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Artistic Excellence in the category of Individual Performance. Currently she is based in San Francisco where she teaches and performs regularly.
www.latania-flamenco.org

NINA SERRANO
is the official English language translator for Adrian Arias’ poetry, beginning in early 2003 during the anti-Iraq war protests. She spontaneously interpreted his poems at the first event and on route to the next, they co-authored a poem.
Since then, she has translated many of Arias’ works including his unpublished book of dramatic poems, “Silencio Acumlado/Accumulated Silence” which deals with femicide and the disappeared women of Juarez. She also produced and aired the English version for radio (KPFA-fm).
Serrano’s translations of Arias’ poetry appear in the peace anthologies edited by Alameda poet-laureate Mary Rudge, “Farewell to Armaments”, “Flaunt Peace in the Face of War”, and “For You World Peace IMAGINE”.
Most recently she translated twenty poems from his 365-poem blog series “Poema- del-Dia 2007”, which they read at a bilingual reading and chapbook publication release at Red Hill Books in San Francisco in February 2008.

MAMACOATL
From Blues to Son, to Funk to Poetry, MamaCoAtl has
worked the stage from San Francisco to Cusco, from Performance Art and Installation to Butoh, Ritual and Spoken Song. As a multidisciplinary Artivist she has curated ceremonies to heal the Amazonic River Mother of God, concerts for peace on places desecrated by femicide in Mexicos highways and has organized blessing days in city corners and public plazas. BroderCrossingDiosa is a fusion of musical traditions originated in the Spirit of Emancipation, it’s a reARTiculation of la cancion de protesta that migrates from North to South to North and tells the stories of a border crossing creature metabolizing culture, conjuring new paradigms.


MEKLIT HADERO
singer, musician, arts organizer and Director & Resident Artist at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco. Born in Ethiopia, Meklit has since lived in twelve cities, on three continents, and brings her international, inter-cultural experience to all her creative work. As a solo artist writing original compositions, Meklit draws on her folk, blues, and Ethiopian roots to create her songs. Lyrically focused with intimate, spare arrangements, her music imparts a kind of tenderness towards life, a sweetness that soars. Meklit has been commissioned to write music by the San Francisco Foundation Fund for Artists, as well as by the Brava Theater. In December of 2007, she released a limited edition pressing of her first EP titled, "Eight Songs." Meklit has been profiled twice by the San Francisco Chronicle (with a third article set to come out this spring), once by the quarterly arts journal Hoboeye, and has interviewed/performed on the KPFA morning show. In mid 2009, Meklit will be a resident artist at the De Young Museum.

CHUS ALONSO
was born in Spain. During his childhood he played guitar, Spanish lute, piano, and sang in folkloric groups. At age 18 he moved to Madrid to study flute and percussion in the Conservatory. Looking for an alternative education he studied with Pedro Iturralde, the first Spanish musician who explored the fusion between flamenco and jazz. Later, in Barcelona, Alonso continued learning from jazz composers such as That Jones and Chuck Israels. In 1984 Alonso moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where he has been active in both the flamenco and Latin artistic communities. He played with numerous flamenco companies and Latin music ensembles. Since 1996 Alonso has played flute with Orquesta La Moderna Tradición, an 12- piece band dedicated to Cuban Danzón , Chachachá , and Guaracha. The ensemble has played extensively throughout the United States. Since 1992 Alonso is the musical director of Potaje, an ensemble that creates new music rooted in flamenco, Latin music and jazz.

MARK TAYLOR
was a professional classical guitarist when he first began traveling to Spain in 1987. He has studied flamenco in Madrid, Granada, Sevilla and Jerez de la Frontera. He returned to the United States to form the Aire Flamenco Dance Company and The Mark Taylor Flamenco Quartet. He has four recordings to his credit all consisting of Spanish music from flamenco to classical guitar selections. Taylor has been interviewed by Jose Maria Velasquez on Spanish National Radio in Madrid and Michael Krazny on KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. His music has also been featured on the Discovery Channel program “Bizarre Foods” Spain and Morocco episodes, available on DVD. Videos and sound samples can be found at his website: www.marktaylorflamenco.com

RUPA MARYA
Rupa is an Indian woman who grew up in the Bay Area, France and India. Rupa's music is a whimsical magic carpet ride through time and place, mixing sounds from the Far East, Europe, Latin America & the US. Rupa works as a physician at UCSF and her experiences moving between cultures and being close to people at varied stages of life and death bring a unique flavor to her music and a depth to her voice which is both celebratory and poignant. She plays solo and with her vibrant band, Rupa & the April Fishes. In the past year, she and her band have headlined at several of San Francisco's top venues. They have opened for Michael Franti, Spearhead, Aterciopelados, Susana Baca, Rodrigo y Gabriela. They have worked with jazz master Marcus Shelby who appears on their debut CD "Extraordinary Rendition." The band has toured successfully in Europe where they played to capacity crowds in Switzerland, France and Mexico.Rupa's band was recently awarded the 2007 MASTERMIND grant to artists who are changing the cultural landscape of San Francisco.

PAWEL WALEROWSKI
originally from Poland, was formally trained in his native country and graduated from the Conservatory in Poznan in Cello Performance. During his formative years, he played in various ensembles, touring Europe, served as the principal cellist in Jeuesse Musicales Youth String Orchestra in Slovenia and recorded for radio and television. 

Pawel came to the United States on a scholarship to the University of Arizona and subsequently toured the Americas on a boat before winds blew him to the San Francisco Bay Area. He has quickly become part of the bohemian Bay Area music scene while developing his unique style of playing cello and singing. Pawel plays a beautiful, one of a kind avant-garde cello made in Tatra Mountains by a prominent Polish luthier Stanislaw Mardula.

SAGE BAGGOTT
is a third-generation drummer who was raised in Berkeley, California and Austin, Texas, and grew up listening to Wille Nelson, Muddy Waters, The Beatles, and Perez Prado. He has a diverse musical education. Having studied classical percussion from an early age, today he plays many different styles, including Afro-Cuban, Flamenco, Jazz and Mexican music. He performs with Los Cenzontles, which plays traditional Mexican music combined with rock and other styles; Orquesta La Moderna Tradicion, a group dedicated to the performance and preservation of traditional Cuban dance music; and plays drumset and percussion with various Bay Area bands.

RACHAEL BOUCH-DIMONDSTEIN
has been teaching and performing for the past ten years. Multi-percussionist, she plays drum set, congas, timbales and cajón and is well versed in various musical styles. She has studied extensively in Cuba and Spain, specializing in Cuban Son/Salsa and Flamenco. She has performed and led workshops throughout the United States, as well as in Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Spain and Austria. Certified in Orff Schulwerk (an integrated method for teaching the creative arts to children), she currently teaches music in schools, as well as private lessons, to students of all levels and ages. She resides in Berkeley, California.

EZRA GALE is the bassist and founder of Aphrodesia, the Bay Area's internationally acclaimed 11-piece afrobeat ensemble. He is also the leader of his own innovative Latin jazz group, The Ezra Gale Trio, and can also be seen with local groups Mas Cabeza, Carne Cruda and many others.