WE’RE BRINGING IT BACK!

THIS WEDNESDAY | FEB 16 7:30 PM

El Libro de Aanka is composed of four young artists from the Greater Hartford area in Connecticut. They all attend The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts where they study different art forms; Sasha Stringer, who is a junior, majors in musical theatre with a concentration in dance, Ananda Vargas and Brittney Melvin are both seniors and in the Music department where Ananda is a guitar major and Brittney is a voice major, and Naina Syed, also a junior majors in creative writing.

The four of them met through a summer acting program called Looking In Theatre. As they became close friends, they shared their art and experiences with each other. They found great support from one another and decided to perform together. They have all overcome challenges that are not shown on the surface which have made them strong, young women with a story. They call themselves El Libro de Aanka. The name means The Book of the Phoenix (the bird that rises from the ashes) which symbolizes the stories of resilience these artists have to share. Together they collaborate in making music and poetry that represents struggle, triumph and love.

Sathya Sridharan is a first generation Indian-American actor and poet born and raised in St. Louis, MO, living in Somerville. He has been performing his entire life, from playing Buddha in sunday school to Hamlet his senior year at Washington University in St. Louis, where he graduated in 2009. He is better known to the BPAC community as THE SOUTHSTAR, one half of the performance poetry duo, BROWNSTAR, which ignites a conversation on what it means to be brown in America. They recently finished up a run of their world debut show, FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF WHITE, at the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival. His own poetry is still daringly personal but a little quieter. Sathya does not consider himself a “slam poet” nor does he know what that means. He has only slammed once and did so poorly. (He once slammed against the NORTHSTAR, and somehow, they both lost.) Sometime next year, Sathya will release a chapbook of his poems, entitled “The Details Of Our Hands”. After that, he will either retire onto a farm somewhere in Idaho or perform Shakespeare around Boston for disinterested high schoolers with Shakespeare Now. Big ups to Walt Whitman, Mos Def, and other artists in that same category.

Andy Kim is a senior at Brown University who recently made the decision to pursue a career in music as a singer-songwriter, although he has no idea how that’s going to take shape. First things first, he has been brainstorming stage names, since another musician named Andy Kim (he wrote the 1974 hit song “Rock Me Gently”) might pose problems for Andy later down the road. Unfortunately, Andy has frequently run into this same problem at school, as dozens of emails intended for him have been sent to one of the two other Andy Kim’s on campus. Despite facing this name crisis, he’s confident that persistence, patience, and his deep love of music will guide him through it all. Andy is excited to feature at BPAC with his own flavor of “Acoustic Soul” and he would love to see you there!

Kai Huang is the son of first generation Chinese immigrants. He has been writing and performing poetry for about five years, and he represented Providence at the 2010 National Poetry Slam in St. Paul, MN. He enjoys raspberry iced tea, A Tribe Called Quest, and equitable health policy.

Franny Choi is a second-generation Korean American from Atlanta, Georgia. She was the champion of the first Seoul Poetry Slam in 2010, and her play, Mask Dances, will be produced as part of Providence’s Writing is Live Festival in February 2011. She recently made her first successful bulgogi.

Kai and Franny are both seniors at Brown University and members of a great community of writers called WORD!

Shiuan is a 31 year-old Chinese American writer who daydreams about surfing in Hawai’i while at her dayjob at a feminist speakers’ agency in New York City. A graduate of Belmont High School and UMass Boston, she returns to her hometown today to share her life lessons and experiences on feminism, sexism, and putting yourself first as an Asian female.

Her website: www.ShiuanButler.com

Link to her new book, Manifesto for Young Asian Women: http://www.shiuanbutler.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Manifesto-for-Young-Asian-Women.pdf

(flier designed by Jennifer Huei-Fen Lin)

Alisa Le

Alisa loves photography and art.

Sheila Nguyen

Sheila spends her time doing what is dear to her, which is writing.  She uses this method to express her individuality and way of thinking.  “I feel great when I am able to present my work, because I feel like I can give a piece of myself to others.”

Dan Chu

Dan Chu grew up in Vault 101.  At the age of 18, he left this nuclear fallout shelter to become an MIT graduate with a Ph.D.  When aliens invaded, he became a hero among the human ranks.  Later, after finishing a tour as a space marine, he became a writer.

Just kidding, Dan Chu is an ordinary 15 year old and a writer.

Evy Tran

Evy is sixteen years old and a senior at Everett High School.  “I love to play videogames.  My current addiction is Starcraft II.  If I could have any job in the world, I’d like to be a food critic.  Food is the love of my life.  It makes me happy.  My goal in life is to motivate others.  I want to help anyone who needs help.  I hope that someday there should be no more violence in this world but I know that would be difficult to achieve.  But at the very least I try to spread awareness and help those who seek help.” 

“There’s more than meets the eye.”

John Pham

John Pham was born in Dorchester, MA.  He attends Boston Latin School and wishes to become more involved in anti-violence.  He likes raps and poems and is inspired to write more of both.  But the thing he wants to do the most is open people’s eyes to the racism, sexism, inequality and injustice in the world.

John Truong

John Truong is a martial artist who kicks, punches, and flips from the art of Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo.  “Blue Eyes,” no not the Yu Gi Oh card Blue Eyes White Dragon, but rather the Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo’s lion dance of Massachusetts, is what he trains day by day.

Sozi Nguyen

Sozi is currently a senior at Boston Arts Academy.  She loves music and photography.  She’s funny and always makes everyone laugh.