PERFORMING ARTISTS

Performing Artist Application

CenterFest 2008 will feature 30 diverse performance groups with over 200 talented performers filling three stages with continuous music, dance and entertainment! Festival visitors will enjoy a lively mix of folk, rock, country, Americana, bluegrass, jazz, pop, blues, polka, and Latin from regional and local bands, singer/songwriters, jazz ensembles, dance groups, choirs, cultural groups and more. Each performing group is listed below:

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Fox 50, Mix 101.5, WRAL.com - North Stage
10:00 AM Adam Sampieri
12:00 PM Jazz Tones (featuring Alice Brower)
2:00 PM Carla Wilson & All American Country
4:00 PM TROSA Band 1

The Herald-Sun - South Stage
11:00 AM Durham Chorale Choraleers
1:00 PM Pratie Heads
3:00 PM Midtown Dickens
5:00 PM Durham Jazz

TAVA - Midway Stage
10:40 AM Bull City Gymnastics
11:40 AM Flamenco Carolina
12:40 PM Little River Cloggers
1:40 PM Bouncing Bulldogs
2:40 PM Barriskill Dance Theatre
3:40 PM Footnotes Tap Ensemble
4:40 PM Sunny Performing Arts Group

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Fox 50, Mix 101.5, WRAL.com - North Stage
12:00 PM Filmore Valley Boys
2:00 PM Sandbox
4:00 PM Polka Plus Band

The Herald-Sun - South Stage
1:00 PM Future Kings of Nowhere
3:00 PM Milagro Saints
5:00 PM Children of the Horn

TAVA - Midway Stage
12:40 PM Chinese Kung Fu Center
1:40 PM Encore Academy of Dance
2:40 PM Hoop Drum
3:40 PM Inis Cairde School of Irish Dance
4:40 PM Colorful Waves Bellydance Troupe

Adam Sampieri
Originally from Northern NJ, Adam Sampieri is a singer-songwriter who is now proud to call the Bull City his home for work and play. After years of fronting bands between NJ and NC, Adam has stripped down his songwriting to the bare essentials and its most raw and immediate form: his voice, a guitar, a few mics, and one high energy show! With a wide range of influences from Dylan to the Meters to Queen, his percussive and soulful style has always been an open playing field for what feels right, rather than what seems to be deemed right. The result is a performance that fits no prefab mold and tells no lies. In doing so, Sampieri attempts to depart from the all-to-common singer songwriter personae (the sensitive-but-jilted-lover, the elusive introspective, the rebel protest singer) and instead spends his time "waiting for my song to come back home," as he writes in Mexicali Blues Café. In essence, he is less concerned with what he thinks he has to say, and rather listens for what the songs have to say to him, and maybe some other folks too. Songs like Colorado Soul and Maggie and Reilly showcase his Americana and roots rock sensibility coupled with his balladeer's desire to tell the story that "shadows everyman's brow" as William Faulkner wrote. On tracks like Around the Room and Best Kept Secret, he finds a darker, sultrier sound and the themes to match. At the same time, never to lose his sense of humor, songs like Casin' the Joint, DC, and Simulcast take a playfully satirical look at American political and social life with sharpened wit and clever rhyme. Finally, he lands on native ground with Nantahala, Head/Heels, and Over the Plate which remind him, and us, that all music is all love, and love, in all its forms is all around us. A stalwart of the Durham music scene, Adam Sampieri has been the house musician at the James Joyce for well over a year of service and the Sirens Lounge before that, honing his craft and solidifying his unique approach to music while entertaining audiences weekly. As a result he has amassed a wealth of performance experience and an impressive repertoire of cover tunes in addition to his own songs and compositions which have been featured on stage, screen and radio. At home in front of five, five hundred, or five thousand, Adam has been a professional working artist in theater and music since the age of 12 and knows every chance to perform is a true privilege and joy. With that in mind, his commitment to building community has prompted him to donate his craft whenever possible to benefit concerts and projects. He holds those shows among his favorite and most important accomplishments.
www.myspace.com/sampieri

Barriskill Dance Theatre
Happiness is learning dance at Barriskill Dance Theatre School! Barriskill provides quality dance education for children and adults in a fun and nurturing environment.
www.BarriskillDance.com

Bouncing Bulldogs
The Bouncing Bulldogs Rope Skipping Team is currently comprised of over 100 boys and girls, ranging in age from 5 to 22, from the metropolitan triangle area of Chapel Hill, Durham and Hillsborough, North Carolina. Team members perform more than 400 synchronized tricks and maneuvers using a combination of single and double dutch ropes. Their innovative rope skipping style includes fancy footwork, flips and other acrobatic stunts. The jumpers choreograph their own routines and all team routines to music. The team currently has dozens of national and world championship titles in single rope and double dutch events. The Bouncing Bulldogs are proud to have won the USAJR Grand National Championships in Speed and Freestyle as well as the Overall Championship Title at the 2005, 2006, and 2007 U.S. National Jump Rope Championships held at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. The goal of the Bouncing Bulldogs program is to promote rope skipping as fun and fitness, as well as to help children grow physically, emotionally and socially. Each year, the team performs all over the world in front of thousands of spectators, including sports fans, health and fitness professionals, students, educators and the general public. The Bouncing Bulldogs are members of USA Jump Rope, the world's premier rope skipping association.
http://www.bouncingbulldogs.org/

Bull City Gymnastics
The Prep Optional Team is a competitive gymnastics team. They compete on bars, beams, floor, and vault. The Firecrackers is a developmental team who are working toward competing soon. In addition to the traditional gymnastics events, we also train in advanced strength and flexibility. For fun, we sometimes do "pyramids" or acrobatic stunts. We also have a coach in our gym who is a former circus performer. She has worked without teams on circus type stunts and skills as well.
http://www.bullcitygymnastics.com

Carla Wilson and All American Country
Melding the latest top 40 country hits and the contemporary roots of bluegrass, Carla Wilson, and her band All American Country, are veterans to the music scene. Carla has been involved with music for over 30 years, playing every type of venue from small churches and coffee houses, to the steps of the Capitol in Washington, DC. Carla's influences span every style of music from Contemporary Christian & Gospel to Top 40 Country. Her musical roots were developed at an early age when Carla was humming the tunes of country greats like Loretta Lynn and Emmy Lou Harris. Taking the advice of Nashville Producer Norro Wilson, Carla moved to the home of country music, Nashville, Tennessee and obtained an education alongside country great Tricia Yearwood at the state's premier music school, Belmont University. Carla ended up moving to the heart of Carolina to continue her career, assembling some of the finest musicians in the state to create an up-tempo, high-energy, family show that is sure to delight any audience. The members of All American Country have relentless drive and are each "musician's musicians" in their own right. Her Lead Guitarist has been a pillar in the local rock and roll scene for more than 30 years. Her bass player has been in every type of band from Contemporary Christian and Jazz to heavy metal and even Progressive Rock. Most recently she has joined with a Rhythm Guitar player who draws on experiences direct from the Virginia Mountains, and a country Drummer who has performed with stars such as Mickey Gilley and Tanya Tucker. Make no mistake this band is all country. What you will experience with All American Country is a refreshing road trip to the clean-cut country traditions America was founded on, and the combination of energy and talent to satisfy your toughest critique.
http://www.allamericancountry.com

Children of the Horn
Children of the Horn is an instrumental ensemble from Raleigh that has created a unique sound by combining influences from jazz, rhythm and blues, and world music. With a frontline of horns backed by a rhythm section, Children of the Horn takes the listener on a kaleidoscopic journey through original compositions that run the gamut from super-syncopated Latin-funk to swaggering New Orleans Second Line styles to classic Motown-inspired grooves. Audiences of all ages find Children of the Horn to be highly entertaining. Their tight arrangements and masterfully improvised solos have earned the band opportunities to share the stage with international stars such as Dirty Dozen Brass Band, P-Funk, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Children of the Horn are North Carolina Arts Council Touring Artists.
http://www.childrenofthehorn.com

Chinese Kungfu Center
Wushu, also known as modern wushu, or contemporary wushu, is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport, derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was created in the People's Republic of China after 1949 in an attempt to nationalize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts. Most of the modern competition forms (taolu) were formed from their parent arts by a government-appointed committee. Modern wushu is composed of two disciplines: taolu (forms) and sanda (sparring). The Chinese Kungfu Center will be performing several wushu forms as well as taichi and lion dance.
http://www.trianglekungfu.com/

Colorful Waves Bellydance Troupe
Colorful Waves bellydance troupe is a professional dance company based in Durham, NC, presenting high-quality, venue appropriate entertainment. Our styles and specialties include classical bellydance/Danse Orientale, Middle-Eastern folkloric/village style, American tribalesque, and Westernized club-style bellydance. Many of our dances include exciting dance props such as veils, finger cymbals, canes, swords, candles, fanveilzz, etc.
http://www.colorfulwaves.com

Durham Chorale Choraleers
Comprised of 18 to 20 members, the Choraleers are a subset of the Durham Chorale. Their musical repertoire includes swing, classical, pop and jazz selections. They are available to perform at private as well as community functions.
http://www.durhamchorale.org

Durham Jazz
Durham Jazz is a full eighteen-piece band including vocalist and is made up of musicians from many walks of life, students, teachers, scientists, businessmen, professionals, retirees, etc. Membership in the band is open to any musician who shares the love of jazz. Durham Jazz is a Community Band affiliated with the Durham Arts Council. As such, it is a non-profit organization and is funded by grants from the Arts Council as well as private donations. No members of the Band receive any form of compensation and all grants and donations are used to defray Band expenses. Durham Jazz performs for community events such as concerts in the park, community festivals and street fairs. It also participates in community outreach with concerts held at senior centers and other venues designed to reach a diverse audience. It collaborates with local schools to participate in the development of budding young musicians. The Band is also available for private concerts such as shopping mall promotions, church socials, business and private parties, etc. Donations from private functions provide most of the revenue for band expenditures.

Encore Academy of Dance
Encore Academy of Dance has built a reputation for excellence in dance education. But, Encore Academy of Dance goes beyond just great dancing! Our dancers go beyond learning wonderful technique and poise to develop important life skills, learning to be respectful, confident and conscientious young people Encore Academy of Dance offers a variety of dance styles, including ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip hop, musical theatre and acrobatics. In addition to year-round classes, Encore offers dance camps, master classes, birthday parties, and many performance opportunities to our many dancers who range in age from 2 ½ years old all the way through tour senior citizens.
http://www.encoreacademyofdance.com

Filmore Valley Boys
The Filmore Valley Boys started in July, 2001 on a front porch on Filmore Street in Raleigh, North Carolina. They have entertained folks in the downtown area with their diverse mix of old and new tunes from the past two centuries. The band has played at coffee shops, clubs, cafés, bars, country clubs and Christmas parties. They have also performed at several outdoor neighborhood events for Glenwood-Brooklyn, Boylan Heights, Mordecai, and Raleigh Parks and Recreation.
Members of the band include:
Bob Batura - Vocals, harmonica and guitar
Jon Hardee - Vocals and guitar
Anne Shamp - Fiddle
Barrett Panton - Mandolin
John Fried - Bass, fiddle and clawhammer banjo
http://www.filmorevalleyboys.com

Flamenco Carolina
Come experience the rhythm and universal spirit of Flamenco Carolina! This dance company, under the direction of artistic director Carlota Santana, based in Durham and New York, is composed of a core group of advanced local students from various ethnic backgrounds. They perform a fascinating number of dances which portray a range of emotions, speak on the fascinating history of flamenco and invite the audience to try a few rhythms. All the dances include lively footwork and the use of castanets, fans or shawls. Ole!

Footnotes Tap Ensemble
Footnotes Tap Ensemble is a non-profit professional tap company that was founded in July 2002. The Ensemble's mission is to promote, educate, and perform this truly unique American dance art through annual ensemble concerts, community concerts for the underserved, and dance workshops. Footnotes has over 5,000 annual audience members and performs once a month at a broad variety of venues both locally and nationally. Highlights from previous seasons include a performance with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at the Carolina Theater in Durham and Bantapaba, a concert produced by Footnotes with guest artists the African American Dance Ensemble and glorydive. In August 2006, Footnotes performed in Chicago for the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. In 2006-7, Footnotes performed with the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble in a collaborative historic concert, Rhythm in Time, which performed as part of the first annual ArtsCenter on December 10, 2006, and was performed as part of the first annual Roxboro Jazz Festival in April 2007. In 2007-8, The Ensemble performed a concert series called Live Rhythms, which took place in September in Chapel Hill and in March in Durham. Live Rhythms featured a four piece jazz band and singers. The company makes multiple appearances throughout the year in the Chapel Hill and Durham communities at a variety of venues. Footnotes is an all-adult dance company fueled by dancers who love to tap and push themselves both physically and artistically through dance. The Ensemble also performs and teaches to share skills and love of dance with others. Currently, the company is made up of fourteen dancers and two guest dancers. The dancers are racially and ethnically diverse individuals who enjoy partnering with live musicians and other dance groups. As part of the educational mission, Footnotes passes on historic choreography to the community and educates the audience about the history of the great tap artists from the 1930s to the present. Workshops taught across North Carolina, called Classics Day, act to educate the community and preserve our rich heritage by teaching such classic tap dances as the Shim Sham by Leonard Reed and Laura by Buster Brown. Ensemble concerts include an historic section that educates our audience about classic tap dances and the choreographers who invented the steps. The Ensemble is the only professional, non-profit, repertory adult tap dance companies in North Carolina. Footnotes dances on average once a month in the community, mostly for the underserved. There are very few adult tap companies in the United States that have been continually active and have a full repertory of performance material. Footnotes has been performing regularly for over five years and has continually maintained and updated a full performance repertory. The collaboration with other dance styles and music, including African dance, modern dance, jazz bands, rock bands, and drums, also serves to make the company unique.
http://www.footnotestapensemble.org

Hoop Drum
Julia Hartsell, hoop dancer, crafter & teacher, has been performing for over 7 years. She teaches hooping at universities, schools, workshops, conferences, and festivals, as well as private lessons, nation-wide and even abroad. Her mystical movements and water-like flow entrance and inspire audiences. Scott Crews, musician and teacher, has been performing for over 10 years, and teaching for more than 5. He has worked with children & adults in dozens of environments including a variety of schools and classrooms, both indoor and out, as well as festivals, learning centers, and in-home private lessons. While we have been working independently for many years, the union of the hoop and the drum has brought our art to new heights. It has allowed us to broaden our audiences and participants at arts events, workshops, summer camps, after school programs, weddings, concerts and celebrations of all kinds.
http://www.hoopdrum.com

Inis Cairde School of Irish Dance
The Inis Cairde School of Irish Dance in Raleigh, NC, has been dedicated to promoting and cultivating a love of traditional Irish dancing, music and culture since 1999. Classes are offered for children ages 4 and up, and adults in Irish solo dancing and figure dancing in Raleigh and in Durham. Dancers from Inis Cairde perform year-round at multicultural festivals, schools, and private functions. Our dancers have also been featured onstage in concert with such traditional Irish musicians as the Chieftains (at Alltel Pavillion), Cherish the Ladies, Lunasa, Natalie MacMaster, and Eileen Ivers (at NC State's Stewart Theatre and the Cary Amphitheater at Regency Park), to name a few. Irish dancing is actually a competitive artistic sport, not unlike gymnastics or figure skating. Inis Cairde dancers compete locally each year, and have won multiple accolades at the regional, North American and World level, the most prestigious of which was a North American Championship title in 2002 and a 3rd place finish at the World Championships in Killarney, Ireland, in 2003.
http://www.iniscairde.com

The JazzTones
The JazzTones sextet plays mainstream jazz in the styles of the 50's and 60's. Behind the sultry vocals of Alice Brower, the Jazztones cover tunes ranging from standards, to swing, blues, latin and bebop. Its' members come from the greater Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina area.
http://www.myspace.com/thejazztones

Little River Cloggers
The Little River Cloggers, a traditional clogging team from Bahama, North Carolina, was formed in 1996 and consists of youth 5 to 19 years old. Even though the group performs some contemporary dances, the focus of the group is on the traditional big circle dance forms. Over the years, the group has participated in many events including North Carolina Tourism Day, Duke Homestead Herb and Craft Festival, Heritage Day at Jordan Lake, Angels Among Us Walk for Brain Tumor Research, and the Heart of Cary Winterfest Celebration. The group has participated and won numerous awards at the North Carolina State Fair, including the Annette Pulley Trophy for outstanding overall performance in 2005, and the Ruth Jewell Trophy for best traditional freestyle team in 2003. The group is community service minded, and has performed at many nursing homes and fundraisers. For anyone interested in joining the group in our adult class, lessons are given periodically at no cost, and there is no membership fee.

Midtown Dickens
We are a multi-tasking, DIY, folk punk-grass trio that's been fitting itself into nonsensical categories since 1982. We're honest, energetic, raw and awake. Our hearts stay rooted in the post-tobacco blues/bluegrass town of Durham, NC as we travel, happily gathering orphaned instruments and wandering folks along the way. We're armed with energy, tambourines, horns, a banjo, a musical saw, guitars, drums, glockenspiel, an accordion and a fake rooster. We're having a blast, and we want you to, too.
http://www.myspace.com/midtowndickens

Milagro Saints
This rootsy "soulfolk" band (think of The Band, Indigo Girls, Rusted Root) is as original as they come, and remains a standby in North Carolina as well as up the East Coast to New England. 2007 was a time for developing new material, along with side projects into jazz (for Joyce) and side trips to Nicaragua (for Stephen, where he recorded a CD of Nicaraguan folk songs for distribution in connection with the Fair Trade coffee movement), but also included new headline performances at festivals (Five County Ribfest, Millstock festival) and club venues like Chapel Hill's Local 506 and Durham's Jo and Joe's, plus returns to favorite haunts including the Dreamaway Lodge in the Berkshires, and Raleigh's Pourhouse. Over this summer and fall, the band will be playing the newly reopened Bynum General Store, The Lowell, MA Summer Series (opening for 10,000 Maniacs), the Weaver Street Afterhours series, the Moonlight Music and Dance Series at Shakori Hills and Carrboro Music Festival. The Milagro Saints are Englishman Stephen Ineson, who originally came to the US for a national tour with TVT recording artists The Jack Rubies; Joyce Bowden (also a solo artist as "Jolei" in her jazz and solo career), who in the past was a member of Jerry Harrison's Casual Gods, recorded with David Byrne and toured internationally with the Tom Tom Club; keys maestro Lee Kirby and legendary Raleigh drummer Ed Root. The band performs n and records with Stephen and Joyce writing and leaving vocals, harmonies and guitar, Lee on organ, piano and harmonica, and Ed on the drums and extra harmonies, with guest appearances by Joyce's fiddle-playing brother Richard (Maines Bros. Austin Lounge Lizards).
http://www.milagrosaints.com

Polka Plus Band
Polka Plus Band was formed in 1991 as a hobby band. The makeup of the band are musicians from all walks of life, retired military, computer engineer, medical personnel, business consultant, who have a love of polka music.
1. Band Leader, Trumpet - Dallas Foster from Pittsburgh, PA
2. Accordion - Dennis Bongiorni from Pittsburgh, PA
3. Accordion - Bob Gottlieb from Cleveland, OH
4. Keyboard - Debbie Lompa from Milwaukee, WI
5. Bass - Erika Linsdell, Salzburg, AS
6. Drums - Ed Galloway, Rochester, NY
The band plays a variety of music from polka/waltz, rock and roll, swing, and ballads, whatever the listeners want to hear. All members of the band sing. Members grew up hearing and playing polka music, which is what drew the group together. Here in the South the demand for polka music is not that great, which makes out style of playing unique. The Polka Plus Band is the only true polka band in NC that plays a variety of polka music. The band has performed at Raleigh's International Fest, Triangle Polish Fest, St. Stanislaus Polish Fest, St. Michael's International Fest, and at CenterFest 2006 and 2007. In addition, the band has performed at senior retirement homes, Heritage Raleigh, Forest at Duke, Durham VA hospital and other private events.
http://home.bellsouth.net/P/PWP-polkaplusband

Pratie Heads
Jane Peppler and Bob Vasile, recently playing together again as the Pratie Heads, perform Irish, Scottish, English, and early American songs and dance tunes, and more. Their new recording, "Rag Faire," was released in December 2006. They played for festivals, arts councils, schools and community concerts through the 1980s as part of the North Carolina Touring program. The group made four recordings - the last, "Heritage," was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Their St. Patrick's performance for the Smithsonian Institution (Associate Artist Series at the Baird Auditorium in Washington DC) was broadcast over Voice of America in countries including Greece and Albania. Jane Peppler plays with the world music band Mappamundi, directs the Triangle Jewish Chorale, and owns "Skylark Productions," a recording company. She variously taught beginning and ensemble singing and led a Celtic "Slow Jam" for the Duke University Short Course program for over twenty years. She instituted the "Solstice Extravaganza," a Christmas Revels type event, in Durham in the late 1980s and produced it annually for seven years; as part of that gigantic project, she created the 16-voice a cappella group called the "Solstice Assembly," which made three recordings, was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition, and played at Piccolo Spoleto. She was an arranger, transcriber, and singer for the a cappella women's Balkan group, "Laduvane," in Cambridge MA in the 1970s. In college, she sang, arranged, and transcribed for the Yale Slavic Chorus and played in the Yale Symphony Orchestra and the Yale School of Music Orchestra. Bob Vasile played with Freyda Epstein and Ralph Gordon (both formerly of Trapezoid) 1989-1995 in the group Acoustic Atta-tude. Their Red House recording Midnight at Cabell Hall was recognized as one of the three best folk recordings of the year by NAIRD (INDIE Award); they opened for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and shared the stage with Tony Rice, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall and Mark O'Conner at Mountain Stage. One of Bob's guitar composition was featured in the Jan 2004 issue of Fingerstyle Guitar magazine; another has been featured on All Things Considered and Minnesota Public Radio's The Morning Show. He won a signed Wayne Henderson guitar at the 1996 Wayne Henderson Music Festival and guitar competition and was featured in the Tenth Annual Wayne Henderson Guitar Competition In June 2004, with the nine previous winners for another Wayne Henderson Guitar. Bob taught guitar at the Augusta Heritage Schools "Irish Week," the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the Black Mountain Music Festival; he has shared the stage and recordinged with Seamus Eagan, Mick Maloney, Zan Mcleod, and Riverdance's Tommy Hayes. He learned traditional Irish style while traveling in Ireland, where he met and performed with Irish folk artists and played at the Willy Clancy Festival in Milton Malbay.
http://www.pratieheads.com

Sandbox
Sandbox is a five-piece Raleigh/ Durham/ Chapel Hill band specializing in twangy, upbeat children's music. We are well known for our exceptionally fun, interactive performances and strong vocal presence. We play children's songs, but our music appeals to folks of all ages. Our approach is to play familiar classics like "Old McDonald" and "Bingo" that everyone recognizes and loves. And now, with our second album, "Are We There Yet?", Sandbox delivers unique and entertaining original songs that span a wide breadth of musical styles. The new songs carry the unmistakable Sandbox sound, adding further dynamics and musical textures with the addition of mandolin, dobro, and steel guitar. Multiple song-writers and vocal leads add variety that will keep the entire family singing along! Audiences are consistently surprised at how entertaining a Sandbox performance is for every age group. With all members contributing vocally, we are able to bring pleasant harmonies and unique approaches to timeless children's classics. Because most band members have children ourselves, we are pros at getting kids involved with our act. We are huge music fans ourselves and like to keep the pace and presentation entertaining for adults as well.
http://www.sandbox-band.com

Sunny Performing Arts Group, Inc.
Chinese Folk Dance - "Pretty Huadan" In Chinese opera, the term "Huadan" refers to the role of a maiden or young female character. Emphasis for the Huadan is usually placed on acting, recitation and/or dance. The Huadan possesses many different characteristics. She is beautiful, intelligent, vivacious, and at times, mischievous. It is important to note this one central character is depicted by many female dancers on a single stage. A clever combination of Chinese local opera and modern dance, Pretty Huadan holds many of its roots in local Chinese culture. Its biggest innovation is the adoption of plumes, used to reflect traditions of Sichuan opera. The dancers in Pretty Huadan sweep (swing) their long plumes in strikingly dramatic movements, similar to the hair swing found in traditional Sichuan opera. Dressed in short sleeve shirts with embroidered flowers and long trousers with colorful stripes; these pretty young girls wear their curved, long plumes on jeweled headdresses. The atmosphere of the opera, as depicted by the dancers' wardrobe, is one of lively action, strong emotion and festivity. With the supple, graceful shapes of its female cast, in combination with agile dance movements, Pretty Huadan fully represents the elegant, heavenly, and mischievous Huadan characteristics of traditional Sichuan opera.
http://www.sunnync.org

The Future Kings of Nowhere
Brimming with wit and energy, The Future Kings of Nowhere play acoustic pop-punk antifolk with an occasional bit of country twang. They call it acousticore. High speed acoustic guitars, double-time drumming, lush harmonies, and a slew of auxiliary instruments create a frantic backdrop for these songs of love, death, and modern-day alienation. They sing with a disarming honesty that draws you in and a beat that keeps you moving. The hooks sink deep and the energy is unforgettable. One listen to their debut CD, released on 307 Knox Records, and you will be humming these tunes for weeks. This is cut off all your hair, bounce around the room, sing along at the top of your lungs music.
http://www.thefuturekings.com

TROSA Band
The TROSA Band consists of staff and residents of the Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers program. TROSA is a non-profit two-year program. The band has been playing community oriented events in the Triangle for 10 years.
http://www.trosainc.org