Introduction
In the fall of 2001 the Anchorage Youth Symphony received a grant from the Alaska Humanities Forum Rural-Urban Student Exchange Program to travel to Bethel in April 2002 to participate in the annual CAMAI Dance Festival. Alaska Airlines provided generous additional support for reduced fares and several free tickets, as well as special handling for the orchestra instruments.
Twenty-seven members of the Orchestra, accompanied by the Music Director and five parent chaperones, traveled to Bethel on Friday, April 5, returning to Anchorage on Sunday April 7, 2002. The Orchestra performed at the Festival on Saturday evening April 6 and Sunday afternoon April 7. In addition, members of the Orchestra participated in an “Up Front and Personal” session during which Festival visitors had the opportunity to see and play orchestra instruments.
This report describes the visit of the Orchestra to Bethel and the reactions of the orchestra members to this unique opportunity to visit rural Alaska and experience one of the most important cultural events of western Alaska.
The
CAMAI Dance Festival
The CAMAI dance festival, sponsored by the Bethel Council on the Arts, is an annual three-day event which draws dozens of performance groups from rural Alaska as well as some groups from urban Alaska and other states. Most of the Festival performance groups are Native Dancers performing traditional Yup’ik and Inupiat story dances.
The CAMAI festival lasts for three days and draws very large crowds, filling the Bethel High School gymnasium to overflowing with hundreds of Bethel residents as well as people who travel to Bethel for the festival from throughout southwest Alaska. More information about the CAMAI festival (with pictures of the 2002 Festival, including the Anchorage Youth Symphony) may be found at the Bethel Council on the Arts website (www.bethelarts.com).
Alaska
Humanities Forum Rural-Urban Exchange Grant
The Anchorage Youth Symphony has long wanted to tour in rural Alaska, both to share the orchestra’s music with a rural audience and to provide opportunities for the orchestra’s members—mostly high school students from the Anchorage bowl area—to experience something of Alaska’s rural culture.
AYS Board President Terry Reeve first suggested that the AYS participate in the CAMAI festival. Subsequently AYS parent Jane Angvik requested funding from the Humanities Forum for a rural-urban exchange under which (a) members of the Anchorage Youth Symphony would travel to Bethel to participate in the CAMAI Festival, and (b) members of a rural youth performance group would travel to Anchorage to perform with the Anchorage Youth Symphony in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.
The Trip to Bethel
Twenty-seven members of the Orchestra, accompanied by the Music Director and five parent chaperones, traveled to Bethel on Friday, April 5. For most of the orchestra members, this was their first trip to rural Alaska (off the road system) and their first experience in a predominantly Native community. Among the parent chaperones was Ann Riordan, an anthropologist who has undertaken extensive studies of Alaska Native cultures and who spoke to the group on several occasions about the Yup’ik culture.
Alaska Airlines provided special handling for the orchestra instruments, which were shipped in dedicated freight containers packed by the Music Director and a parent volunteer at the Alaska Airlines hangar. Two string basses were shipped in large special wooden carrying boxes.
Upon arrival in Bethel the group checked in to the Pacifica Hotel. After an early dinner, the group went to the Bethel High School, where they watched the Festival performances for the next several hours. The gymnasium packed with an enthusiastic audience of all ages, the continuous Native dance performances, and the craft fair in the school lobby all provided an eye-opening experience for the Youth Symphony members.
On Saturday morning the orchestra members rehearsed for about an hour and a half at the Pacifica Hotel. Subsequently they went on a tour of Bethel, riding the bus at times and walking at times. Parent chaperone Ann Riordan, an anthropologist who has studied Yup’ik culture, pointed out different features of the town, and told the students about its history. Highlights of the tour for the students included watching cars driving up and down the Kuskokwim River on the ice, and watching the start of a sprint dog sled race.
The students returned to Bethel High School and the Camai Festival for Saturday afternoon and evening. For about an hour and a half in the middle of Saturday afternoon, the Orchestra members participated in an “Up Front and Personal” exchange. This is a regular feature of the CAMAI festival, in which members of the audience—in particular children—have an opportunity to meet with members of a group in one of the high school classrooms. The AYS’ “Up Front and Personal” exchange attracted dozens of Festival audience members who were delighted at the opportunity to try out orchestra instruments and to talk to the AYS musicians.
On Saturday evening from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.—“prime time” for the CAMAI festival—the AYS group performed in the High School auditorium for a packed audience of approximately 900. The AYS performed again on Sunday afternoon from 3:30 to 4:00.
As explained by Music Director Linn Weeda,
“we wanted to go to the Camai Festival so that the musicians in our orchestra might experience Yup’ik culture first hand while playing music that perhaps is not heard much in the Bush. Because the Camai festival is principally a dance festival and a celebration of native culture, we chose music principally along the lines of dance. We performed works that either were originally dances (a minuet from an Haydn symphony, a set of old French dances), and a work that involved fiddle tunes (Hoedown from Copland's “Rodeo”). The latter turned out to be the hit of our show--not only is it a rousing piece, but it also perhaps connected with the Athabaskan fiddlers in the audience.”
Both performances were very warmly received. In particular, as described in the attached Anchorage Daily News article the Sunday afternoon crowd was delighted when Music Director Linn Weeda used dance fans to conduct “Rodeo.” An adult woman in the audience, thanking one of the parent chaperones, said “we are really glad you came. We never get to hear music like this in Bethel.”
The group was warmly received by everyone we dealt with in Bethel. The bus driver put in many extra hours on all three days of the visit to make sure that students were transported as needed between the airport, the hotel, and the school. The students were impressed on Sunday morning that the manager of the local bowling alley, having heard that some of the students were interested in bowling, opened the bowling alley for them.
Anchorage
Youth Symphony Members Reactions to their Bethel Trip
After the trip, the student
participants wrote short essays that described their experience. Here are
some of the points that were made in the essays, as summarized by Music
Director Linn Weeda (copies of all of the essays are included with the attachments
to this report):
· A few mentioned that they now know how it feels to be in the minority - while they had no bad experiences that I know of, it was eye opening.
· Many spoke of eating the native food - especially seal meat. As one mother said to me when we arrived at the airport: ”My daughter ate seal meat - the trip must have been good!”
· Most of the students mentioned the tremendous audience and their response to our performance
· One or two talked of being stopped in a store to complement them on their performance - something that doesn’t often happen here in Anchorage.
· Most spoke of the experience as being completely different than what they expected-in a positive way.
· Almost everyone spoke of the warm reception and warm people.
· Several spoke of the lovely crafts that they saw
· The following adjectives were used: awesome, amazing, life changing, great, fun, eye-opening, and so on.
Return Exchange
In our original proposal to the Alaska Humanities Forum, we stated that we hoped to host a return visit from a Bethel-area youth dance group. We were unable to arrange a visit in time for our May 2002 concert. However, for our December 2002 concert in the Discovery Theatre at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, the Anchorage Youth Symphony has invited a group of dancers from southwest Alaska villages studying at the UAF Bethel campus (the KuC Dancers). In Anchorage, the dancers will stay in the homes of Anchorage Youth Symphony members. We plan to request funding from the Anchorage Humanities Forum to help support the travel of this group.
Financial Report
The Alaska Humanities Forum provided a grant of $9,000 to the Anchorage Youth Symphony. The funds were used for air fare, programs, and ground transportation and other expenses in Bethel, as shown below:
Air Fare 8,710.73
T-shirts 495.00
Van rental 200.55
Programs 40.39
TOTAL $9,446.67
Alaska Airlines provided generous support for reduced fares and several free tickets, as well as special handling for the orchestra instruments. Additional funds were provided by parents and community donations, a contribution from the Soroptimists International of Cook Inlet and operating support through a grant from the Municipality of Anchorage.
Assistance is currently being requested to support the travel expenses of Bethel students to Anchorage in December 2002.
Attachments
The following attachments provide additional information about the Anchorage Youth Symphony participation in the Bethel Camai Dance Festival in April 2002:
· Letter to the Anchorage Youth Symphony Board from Linn Weeda, Anchorage Youth Symphony Music Director
· Camai Dance Festival Schedule (from the Bethel Council on the Arts website)
· Selected Pictures from the Anchorage Youth Symphony Visit to the 2002 Camai Dance Festival
· “Yup’ik ‘Hoe-Down’: Conductor delights Bethel crowd with nontraditional direction,” Anchorage Daily News, May 5, 2002
· Copies of Student Essays about the Exchange
Letter to the Anchorage Youth Symphony Board
from Linn Weeda, Anchorage Youth Symphony Music Director
June 4, 2002
Dear Anchorage Youth Symphony Board,
I am moved to provide a report on the Anchorage Youth Symphony’s recent tour. As you well know, a contingent of twenty seven members of the orchestra, five chaperones and I traveled to Bethel on April 7, 2002 and returned to Anchorage on April 9. We traveled at the invitation of, and to perform in, the Camai Festival. This tour was made possible by a grant given by the Alaska Humanities Forum, as well as support from Alaska Airlines.
As part of the Humanities Forum grant, the participants wrote short essays
that described their experience. Here are a few points:
A few mentioned that they now know how it feels to be in the minority - while they had no bad experiences that I know of, it was eye opening.
- Many spoke of eating the native food - especially seal meat. As one mother said to me when we arrived at the airport: ”My daughter ate seal meat - the trip must have been good!”
- Most of the students mentioned the tremendous audience and their response to our performance
- One or two talked of being stopped in a store to complement them on their performance - something that doesn’t often happen here in Anchorage.
- Most spoke of the experience as being completely different than what they expected-in a positive way.
- Almost everyone spoke of the warm reception and warm people.
- Several spoke of the lovely crafts that they saw
- The following adjectives were used: awesome, amazing, life changing, great, fun, eye-opening, and so on.
From my perspective, I agree with the images, impressions and experiences
described in the essays . Further, the reaction of the audience at Camai
was gratifying . I was amazed at our musicians: they were flexible, full
of humor and helpful. Each of their personalities and talents were
evident, and I got to know them all just a little better. The chaperones
were very helpful: Ann and Dick Riordan, Gunnar Knapp, Terry Reeve, and
Mia Lee. Special thanks go to AYS Board President Terry Reeve who was
invaluable: dealing with the instruments and finances, working on logistics,
and solving problems as they occurred. While she was unable to go, Jane
Angvik deserves special thanks for her work on the grant from the Humanities
Forum.
Besides the obvious cultural exchange and incredible concert experience, what I observed was how the members of the orchestra bonded. I overheard someone say how, after only two days, she was feeling a bit of separation anxiety as we flew back to Anchorage. This is was touring is about: not only about sightseeing , but about the warmth of human contact and deepening of relationships. Orchestra tours are not only about visiting a new locale and its people, but about visiting each other. This most assuredly happened on this trip.
The ‘Urban/Rural Divide’ has now become a cliche, but like most cliches it succinctly expresses the major problem in our state. Did this trip open the eyes of our members? In a small but important way it did. After a little over two days we did not become experts on the problem. Before, they thought of rural issues perhaps only superficially, but now there are real faces, real scenes, real emotions on which to draw. More than simply observing in the rural culture, the orchestra shared some of the best of the urban culture - and the response was wonderful. I believe that members of the orchestra will remember these things for years to come: the excitement at the concert and the genuine sharing of traditions and cultures.
As for myself, I have toured to world with orchestras. But the most memorable tour I ever took was as a young man to Gambell. I played a concert during a raging fall storm, participated in a Inupiaq dance after the concert, and as dawn broke walked a bit over the tundra. The affect on me shook me to my bones.
I had many of the same feelings on this trip as I had those many years
ago. I hope that it somehow opened our member’s minds and eyes as much as
that early trip did for me. Ultimately we provide memories:
memories that are vivid and positive, the better to make the world more
beautiful.
Best Regards
Linn Weeda,
Music Director,
Anchorage
|
CAMAI Dance Festival 2002 |
||
|
Saturday Evening |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4:00 |
* Native
Foods Dinner starts for Elders at Cafeteria * |
|
|
5:00 |
* Dinner
starts for Dancers at Cafeteria * |
|
|
6:00-7:00 |
* Dinner
served for the General Audience * |
|
|
5:30-6:00 |
Kuskokwim
Campus Dancers |
|
|
6:00 -6:30 |
Dillingham
Carayiit Dancers |
|
|
6:30-7:00 |
Northern
Lights Dancers, Kotzebue |
|
|
7:00-7:20 |
Qaspeq
Parade |
|
|
7:20-7:30 |
Saami
Singer - Ande Somby |
|
|
7:30-8:00 |
Anchorage
Youth Symphony Tengtengaatulit |
|
|
8:00-8:45 |
Upallret
Dancers with Maryann Sundown |
|
|
8:45-9:15 |
Yurartet,
YKD Dancers |
|
|
9:15-10:00 |
Pamyua
Groove |
|
|
10:00-10:30 |
Nightmute
Dancers |
|
|
10:30-11:00 |
Motion
Monks, Break Dancers, San Francisco |
|
|
11:00-11:30 |
Naparyarmiut
Qiinguliarita Yurartait |
|
|
11:30 |
Young
Eagle, Blackfeet Dancers, Montana |
|
Sunday |
|
|
|
|
12:30 p.m. |
Doors Open |
|
|
1:00 |
Relighting
the Flame |
|
|
1:05-1:35 |
Yurartet,
YKD Dancers |
|
|
1:35-2:00 |
Newtok
Dancers |
|
|
2:00-2:25 |
Maharlika
Dancers, Filipino |
|
|
2:25-2:50 |
(CHANGE)Young Eagle, Blackfeet Dancers,
Montana |
|
|
2:50-3:15 |
(CHANGE)Terikaniat Yurartet |
|
|
3:15-3:30 |
(CHANGE)Tundra Center Dancers |
|
|
3:30-4:00 |
Anchorage
Youth Symphony |
|
|
4:00-4:25 |
Motion
Monks, Break Dancers |
|
|
4:50-5:00 |
Miss &
Mr CAMAI Winners Announced |
|
|
5:00-5:30 |
(CHANGE)Nightmute Dancers |
|
|
5:30-6:00 |
Bethel
Traditional Dancers |
|
|
6:00-6:30 |
Nunaniq
Dancers - Bethel Alternative Boarding Sch. & Bethel H.S. |
|
|
6:30-7:00 |
Naparyarmiut
Qiinguliarita Yurartait |
|
|
7:00 |
Honoring
Our Living Treasures: |
|
|
|
James Gump
and Natalia Smith, Hooper Bay |
|
|
7:05-7:30 |
Hooper Bay
Traditional Dancers |
|
|
7:30-8:00 |
Kotlik
Eskimo Dancers |
|
|
8:00-8:30 |
Northern
Lights Dancers, Kotzebue |
|
|
8:30-9:00 |
Kuskokwim
Campus Dancers |
|
|
9:00-9:30 |
(CHANGE)Dillingham Carayiit Dancers |
|
|
9:30-10:00 |
Closing:
Upallret Dancers with Maryann Sundown |
Selected
Pictures from the Anchorage Youth Symphony Visit
to
the 2002 Camai Dance Festival
Members of the Orchestra waiting for the flight to Bethel in the Anchorage Airport
Native Dancers performing traditional Yup’ik and Inupiat story dances at the Camai Festival.
At the AYS “Up Front and Personal” exchange, a Bethel youth tries out a cello, with the help of AYS cellist Nick Riordan and AYS Music Director Linn Weeda.
A Bethel youth playing an AYS violin at the AYS “Up Front and Personal exchange.
Anchorage Youth Symphony members performing Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown”.
The AnchorageYouth Symphony members had special t-shirts with the Yup’ik word “Tengtengaatulit” which means “Singing Strings.” Several members also borrowed Qaspecs for the Sunday performance.