All Events
An Evening of Azerbaijan Folk and Classical Music: Azeri Band
MCC Theater
With countless successful concerts, more than 15 albums in 15 years, and a group of highly talented musicians, it is an honor to present Rahim (garmon & vocals), Armen (piano), Leva (keyboard), Garnik (clarinet), and Gaik (Nagara) as they play the beautiful tunes of Azerbaijan live! Azeri music is a harmonious folk tradition that reaches back to nearly 1,000 years. Come and be dazzled by a performance that will always remain in your heart.
*Purchase tickets online: $5 for UCSB students and youth under 12; $15 for general admission.
Race Matters Series
“Hablando con Todxs”: Articulations of Gender and Sexuality in Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba
MCC Theater
Employing the Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition of bomba, this presentation focuses on discourses of sexuality and gender in relation to race and coloniality among contemporary practitioners with particular attention to musicians and dancers of the bomba diaspora in the United States. Invoking the communitarian context out of which bomba has developed this presentation interrogates the point of entry of female practitioners who challenge gendered and racialized positionalities with regard to drumming and dancing. Focusing on the critical interventions of these practitioners, Micaela J. Díaz-Sánchez (UCSB Chicano/a Studies) explores contemporary performances of bomba in the diaspora as a tradition in which feminist and queer sociopolitical histories and aesthetic practices thrive.
Cup of Culture
Hidden Figures
MCC Theater
The incredible untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson - brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation's confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big. (English, 2016, 127 min)
Watch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8xHq6dfAo
SyrianamericanA: Damascus to Harlem (Presented by Hip-Hop Artist Omar Offendum)
MCC Theater
From the jasmine tree-lined courtyards of Nizar Qabbani’s Damascene homes, to the flooded riverbanks of Langston Hughes’ poems, this event is a performance, presentation, and conversation. With an artistic journey that has paralleled the rise of social media and borne witness to major socio-political shifts in his ancestral home, Omar Offendum,a Syrian hip-hop artist, poet, and peace activist, discusses how he has been able to develop a special blend of Hip-Hop & Arabic poetry to bridge cultural divides.
