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giveabeat · 7 years ago

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Give a Beat Launches Mentoring Program with Graphic Design Workshop

Give a Beat, in partnership with Project Kinship, lauched the first phase of their mentoring program with a music inspired graphic design course

Group picture on Give a Beat’s final day of the workshop.

By Julia Bistriceanu

In October, Give a Beat launched our music inspired mentoring program with a seven week graphic design course for youth impacted by incarceration. The course, in partnership with gang intervention org Project Kinship, provided eight students with an introduction to Adobe Illustrator, basic computer skills, careers in the music industry, and logo making. At the end of the course students received a certificate and their own laptop.

Kathryn and Lauren awarding Christian his certificate!

Part of Give a Beat’s core mission is use our community to create avenues for underserved youth that help them grow personally and professionally. Too often, youth that have been through the juvenile justice system are not given the same chances as others. With narrowed windows for opportunities, many youth end up in patterns of recidivism. Our program goal is to give students an avenue for their personal expression and tools to help them reach their goals. By calling upon on our community, we can show these young adults that there are tangible opportunities available to them in the creative industries. The guest speakers we welcomed to join us throughout the weeks of the program shared their personals stories about how they reached their goals. The unifying message was that students should follow their passions.

Students exploring Adobe Illustrator.

Our first guest, Ben Annand, was given a mock interview by Lauren Segal so that the students could learn more about the “client” for whom they would be designing a logo. A long time friend of Give a Beat, Ben Annand’s Tropical events have raised thousands of dollars for nonprofit organizations. After years of DJing and promoting, Ben decided to use his platform to make a difference in his community by giving back the money raised at his events. Giving back shows that the dance music scene is not just about partying, but that the dance music values of love, compassion, and inclusivity actually manifest in meaningful ways. Jamie Schwabl and Michael Boidy joined the class to discuss music’s incredible power to heal and to bring people together. Jamie Schwabl’s passion for music led her to start her own music label, Wulfpack, and has since performed at music festivals such as Desert Hearts and Lightning in a Bottle. Michael showed the students a trailer to his upcoming film “Heart Beat” which explores the roots of rhythm, primordial instruments, and vibrational medicine. Their artistic endeavours demonstrate that music can be make a powerful difference in people’s lives.

“It was very rewarding and such and honor to share my documentary trailer, story and experiences with the Give a Beat foundation youth program. I personally found my success by doing the things that I love all the time, also having mentors and role models to guide me along the way. Ultimately, success is being inspired, achieving small goals, making progress, and inspiring others. Thank you again for including us Give a Beat. Keep up the great work!” - Michael Boidy

Jamie Scwabl discussing her love of music.

We also wanted the students to feel motivated to use the tools at their disposal to create their careers. In Week Four, we were joined by Casey McCune and Crystal Garcia from Give a Beat’s program partner org, Boomagram. Casey discussed how social media can be used to propel a business and even make a career. He explained that one does not need a lot of money to follow his or her passions and create successful careers using the example that he founded Boomagram from the ground up with very little initial capital. He encouraged students who make art to use social media to promote their content. In the months following the program, one of the students began designing their own website to upload and promote his art.

“We really enjoyed the opportunity to speak to the students about Instagram and how they can use the graphic design skills they’re learning to create possibilities for their futures. We’re honored to help support Give a Beat and Project Kinship in the amazing work they both do. Overall it was a very rewarding experience!” - Casey & Crystal, Boomagram

Kathryn and Izmina working on Izmina’s logo.

On our final day of class, students rotated through various stations, including one-on-one mentoring sessions with Jerry Sterk, logo rendering in Adobe Illustrator, screen printing, video interviews, and DJing. In post workshop surveys, the majority of students said that the course was an excellent experience and they especially enjoyed drawing and designing their logos. It was wonderful seeing students open up and let their creative side be seen. We’re extremely proud of these students for showing up to class week after week. This was just the first part of our journey with the students at Project Kinship and we’re looking forward to continuing our relationship with them.

Interested in Give a Beat? LEARN MORE ON OUR WEBSITE!

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londontheatre · 7 years ago

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The Grinning Man – Simon Annand

The Grinning Man is at Trafalgar Studios with initial booking from 5th December 2017 through to Saturday 17th February 2018.

The cast will be led by Louis Maskell and Julian Bleach, who will reprise the roles of Grinpayne and Barkilphedro during the London run.

Cracked hearts. Strange fates. Impossible dreams. The King is dead, but who the hell cares? A strange new act has arrived at the Stokes Croft fair, a grotesque oasis of entertainment.

Soon everyone from the gutter rats to the new Queen has fallen for the handmade freak Grinpayne and his hideously beautiful face. But who is he really? And how did he come to be so marked? Together with an old man, a blind girl and a wolf, he has a story to tell. A tale so tragic and so strange that not even he can guess how it will end.

The Grinning Man is a brand new tragicomic musical directed by Tom Morris and based on The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo. Brought to life by writer Carl Grose (Dead Dog in a Suitcase) featuring a sensational original score by Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler and puppetry from Gyre and Gimble, the original puppeteers of War Horse, don’t miss this hot ticket!

BRISTOL OLD VIC PRODUCTION DETAILS

The Grinning Man A Bristol Old Vic Production

The Grinning Man 13 Oct-13 Nov 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Sat mats) Ages 12+ Contains dark subject matter with some scenes of a sexual nature, violence and swearing.

Running time: 2hours, 50mins including a 20min interval

Book Carl Grose Lyrics Carl Grose, Tom Morris, Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler Music Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler Director Tom Morris Set Designer Jon Bausor Costume Designer Jean Chan Movement Director Jane Gibson Puppetry Design and Direction Finn Caldwell and Toby Olié for Gyre & Gimble Lighting Designer Richard Howell Sound Designer Simon Baker Music Supervisor Tom Deering Casting Director Will Burton CDG Onstage Musical Director Tarek Merchant Associate Director Ben Woolf Rehearsal Photography Simon Annand

Cast: Stuart Angell, Alice Barclay, Stu Barker, Ewan Black, Julian Bleach, Audrey Brisson, Pete Flood, David Guy, Ross Hughes, Sean Kingsley, Patrycja Kujawksa, Louis Maskell, Tarek Merchant, Stuart Neal, Gloria Obianyo, Gloria Onitiri.

Trafalgar Studios Performance Times: Monday to Saturday 7.30pm Matinees: Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm Booking to 14th April 2018

http://ift.tt/2G1BAAu London Theatre 1

#IFTTT #London Theatre 1

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symbianosgames · 8 years ago

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The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from curator/video game industry veteran Simon Carless, rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend. This week's highlights include videos on the making of Raw Data & the surprise debut of Scanner Sombre, plus the history of seminal NES emulator NESticle.

A quick and early newsletter this week, since we're in Texas for a few days visiting friends game-centric & non game-centric - among them Venus Patrol/ex-IGF supremo Brandon Boyer (& world's cutest megadog Scout), as well as Gamasutra publisher/EIC Kris Graft.

One thing I did find interesting from the links I still managed to excavate, though - the recent GDC video linked below about the making of VR standout Raw Data has a fairly high dislike-to-like ratio compared to other GDC videos (more dislikes than normal).

Why? Well, partly because the game dared to hit Early Access at $40 USD with a fairly linear story, by the look of it. If the hope was that VR would ensnare the 'core gamer', I'm starting to wonder whether VR experiences are even core gamer-compatible in terms of narrative, linearity & replayability. Which would be a pretty big stumbling block, if true... Anyhow, until next time?

- Simon, curator.]

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The future of dialogue in games (Alex Wiltshire / PC Gamer) "Getting to discover the politics and personalities of a new location should feel like a reward, but the same formulaic text dump from city to city can make you feel awfully weary. Being NPCsplained at with screeds of exposition and feeling you’re taking little meaningful part in it all, game dialogue can make you want to run back into the hills."

[Game] Story - What Is It Good For? (Thomas Grip / Gamasutra Blogs) "This "go write a book instead" attitude isn't new. One of my favorite articles on the subject is Jesper Juul's "Games Telling Stories?". Interestingly, I pretty much agree with all of the points that Juul raises, but reject most of his conclusions. I think that video games are very well suited for telling stories and that there is no inherent conflict. [SIMON'S NOTE: another response to that Bogost article, of course!]"

Early Access Lessons From Raw Data (Chris Hewish & Mike McTyre / GDC / YouTube) "In this 2017 VRDC at GDC session, Survios' Chris Hewish and Mike McTyre break down the technological and artistic challenges, insights, and decisions that continue to influence and evolve the development of Raw Data and helped it climb the Steam charts while still in Early Access. "

When Fans Take Their Love For Twitch Streamers Too Far (Cecilia D'Anastasio / Kotaku) "It was one in the morning when the Twitch streamer Ellohime heard a knock at his front door. He had been grinding away at a PC game that night in December 2015 while his infant daughter and fiancée slept. His 22-year-old brother was crashing in the central Florida home, too, and it wasn’t unheard of for him to invite friends over at odd hours. Ellohime left his desk and went downstairs to the door."

Analysis: 'Scanner Sombre' (Errant Signal / YouTube) "Scanner Sombre is the latest game by Introversion Software, the team that brought you Uplink, Darwinia, DEFCON, and Prison Architect. It's definitely pretty, but what if anything is going on beneath the surface?"

Inside Marvel vs Capcom Infinite: an in-depth interview about accessibility, combos, ditching cross-platform play and sweat equity (Alex Donaldson / VG247) "I sat down with producer Mike Evans and associate producer Peter ‘combofiend’ Rosas to talk about these challenges and chat about Infinite’s gameplay systems in-depth. Rosas in particular is a voice that carries some weight with the fans – he’s a community hire of Capcom’s, and is famous in the fighting game tournament world for performing one of the greatest fighting game comebacks of all time with a lone, vulnerable Spencer in MVC3. He knows his Marvel. Here’s our chat."

Epic, near-EVE-worthy troll sabotages Elite: Dangerous community event (Lee Hutchinson / Ars Technica) "In the vast simulated galaxy of Elite: Dangerous, a years-old mystery concerning an unknown region of space called the Formidine Rift was poised to take a dramatic leap forward on Saturday. An NPC going by the name of Salomé was preparing for a frantic, fast return to the main inhabited core worlds with information that would advance the mystery’s plot. Eliteplayers could choose to try to escort Salomé to safety, or could try to gun her down."

Gamasutra Plays Playerunknown's Battlegrounds with Brendan Greene (Gamasutra Team / Twitch / YouTube) "The Gamasutra crew sits down with Playerunknown, aka Brendan Greene, to talk about the success of Bluehole's latest game Playerunknown's Battlegrounds. [SIMON'S NOTE: the Gamasutra crew are doing more and more live Twitch chats with devs, & here's a particularly notable recent one - more archived on YouTube here.]"

Tumbleseed and the obscure mechanical arcade machine that inspired it (Andrew Webster / Verge) "It never went on to become a huge hit, but for game designer Greg Wohlwend, Ice Cold Beer proved inspirational. So much so that he, along with a small team, set about taking the core mechanic and expanding on it for the new video game Tumbleseed. “We’ve got to be true to the source material,” says Wohlwend of the development process, “out of love and respect for this awesome game that not a lot of people know about.”"

Boom, Headshot! (Martin Annander / Gamasutra Blogs) "However, let’s not rail against violence. That’s not what this is about. Violence can be thrilling, its narrative exciting, and the skills required to master the gameplay can be quite rewarding to attain. We’ve played first-person shooters for decades for reasons other than murder. [SIMON'S NOTE: from a couple of weeks back, but only just spotted it - a powerful partner to Ste Curran's 'Double Tap' GDC 2017 talk?]"

How the Mixed Reality Game 'Bad News' Brings Towns Like 'Twin Peaks' to Life (Steven T. Wright / Glixel) "We were inside a sprawling exhibition hall at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,where a trio of PhD students from the University of California, Santa Cruz are showing off their project, Bad News – an interactive experience that, much like a play, incorporates aspects of real-world performance."

The Story of NESticle, the Ambitious Emulator That Redefined Retro Gaming (Ernie Smith / Motherboard) "The product of a talented programmer who designed a hit shareware game while he was still in high school, NESticle was so good that everyone looked past the fact its name was basically a dick joke."

In Gacha We Trust: The Appeal of Japanese Free to Play Games (Allen Kwan / Medium) "Richard Garfield recently penned a manifesto on free to play (F2P) games that encourage spending, or what he calls “skinnerware”. While there is perhaps a little bit of irony in the fact that the person responsible for creating one of the bigger “skinnerware” games, Magic the Gathering, writing a manifesto decrying the exploitative nature of these types of games, reading his post made me reflect on the F2P games that I play. [SIMON'S NOTE: this editorial is a little old, but popped up on social media recently & is well worth revisiting!]"

Faithfully updating the art of a classic in Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Joel Couture / Gamasutra) "Ben Fiquet spent a great deal of time playing the 1989 Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap as a child, wandering around its wondrous worlds. The game made a strong impression on him. These feelings would well up again, years later, when Fiquet found himself working on the recently-released remake, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap."

Rock and Roll Days of StarCraft: a Development Retrospective (StarCraft: Remastered / Blizzard Entertainment) "The year was 1997, and Blizzard art director Samwise Didier’s ’65 Mustang was producing an alarming amount of smoke. The ancient vehicle was held together by little more than duct tape and prayer, and by the time Didier pulled into his garage one sunny Southern California afternoon, it was clear that neither countermeasure would suffice for long."

Interview: The creator of the Conquests adventures on what made them special (GOG.com) "During the steady stream of Quest and Larry games that established [Sierra's] legacy, a couple of less-known but no less-loved titles came along: Conquests of Camelot and Conquests of the Longbow. To celebrate their long-awaited arrival on GOG.com we've approached their creator, Christy Marx, for a chat on what made them so special to her and to so many adventure game fans."

'Hearthstone' Director Ben Brode Talks Surprise Success and Tough Choices (Joshua Calixto / Glixel) "As Hearthstone’s director, Ben Brode has a firm understanding of how much is riding on the game’s complex design. If he and his team tune things to be too random, the competitive scene suffers. Nerf a card too much, and players start to feel like their monetary investments are losing value."

Tom Hall: 5 key design lessons I learned directing Wolfenstein 3D (Jon Irwin / Gamasutra) "Wolfenstein 3D came out exactly 25 years ago, on May 5th, 1992. Nothing was the same after that day. “We knew it was new and special, but we were pretty blown away by the reception,” says Tom Hall, the director and co-designer of the game."

A three-year-old Elite Dangerous mystery is finally unravelling (Wesley Yin-Poole / Eurogamer) "Elite Dangerous players have taken a significant step in solving a mystery that has befuddled its most rabid secret-hunters ever since the game came out. The Formidine Rift mystery, as it's known, kicked off back in 2014 with the release of Drew Wagar's novel Elite Reclamation. Since then players have searched for clues in an attempt to solve this mystery. This week, a major discovery was made that suggests a solution is near."

Lessons from Escape Rooms: Designing for the Real World and VR (Laura E. Hall / GDC / YouTube) "In this 2017 GDC session, escape room designer Laura E. Hall discusses the design fundamentals and structures necessary for creating real-world experiences that offer not only entertainment, but create immersion and transportation for players in order to understand how "physical play" can be a foundation for virtual reality design and beyond. "

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[REMINDER: you can sign up to receive this newsletter every weekend at http://ift.tt/2dUXrva we crosspost to Gamasutra later on Sunday, but get it first via newsletter! Story tips and comments can be emailed to [email protected]. MINI-DISCLOSURE: Simon is one of the organizers of GDC and Gamasutra, so you may sometimes see links from those entities in his picks. Or not!]

#IFTTT #Blogger

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howaboutudance · 9 years ago

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(Ben Annand)

#SoundCloud #music #Ben Annand #oasishouse #tropical #barabara #Deep

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bartekindustries · 5 years ago

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Next Full Moon Transmission is August 2nd.

DJs:

1:45 Blooming Presence: A Venus Meditation by Nicole Piar & Joe Pleniukas 2 - Maggie 3 - Ion Driver 4 - Trichome 5 - Bartek 6 - Brandroid 7 - Hon 8 - Ben Annand 9 - Anton Tumas

Stream to take place on:

- The Moontribe Collective Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/moontribe/

and

http://twitch.tv/moontribecollective As we have done in the past we will again contribute a portion of donations received during the livestream to a special charity. We must remain dedicated towards our most basic words, "live in love". This month we'll be donating to the ACLU because they have filed multiple lawsuits across the country in response to unconstitutional law enforcement attacks on journalists and protesters in Portland and beyond.

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nativealienblog · 12 years ago

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This mix was recorded at the stunning Rancho Agua Caliente Eco-Resort about 30 minutes from Ensenada. Partygoers were treated to a poolside sound system, olympic size cool pool plus large hot pool, private roman baths all fed from 108 degree mineral water that runs under the property. Ben's set was just ahead of sunset, from 6:30-8:00pm on Saturday night.

#SoundCloud #Ben Annand #Tropical House #tropicalhouse #house #housemix

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sylviadivinorum · 12 years ago

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An absolute dream of a party with 48 hours of house and techno on Funktion One Sound in a beautiful forest setting! The best Tropical party yet! Recorded between 12:30 and 2:00am on Saturday night, right in the sweet spot but there were many many sweet spots at this event and absolutely every dj played to a great crowd. I took things deeper, back and forth between lighter and trippier for this one. Adnan's set last year showed that you could go deep with the crowd at that time and get great response so I paid attention to that, knowing we had lots of banging music in the night and wanting to break that up a bit. One of the top dj experiences of my life, I was totally comfortable here and finally found the perfect balance between my need to be technically on point with my desire to let loose and have fun! It was so much fun! I could go on and on but I won't. Enjoy the music! <3 <3 <3

#SoundCloud #Ben Annand #Tropical House #tropical #hearts #tropicalhearts

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bubblegumdj · 13 years ago

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@ Metamorphosis Dec. 20th -Palenque Chiapas-

DAVE SEAMAN (AUDIO THERAPY/RENAISSANCE)/UK

TANNER ROSS ( WOLF + LAMB ) BOSTON

THUGFUCKER ( LIFE AND DEATH ) / NYC / ROME

SOUL CLAP ( WOLF + LAMB ) BERLIN / MIAMI

AVATISM (Dumb Unit/Vakant/Milan) Live-Set/ITALY

DJ TENNIS/ ( LIFE AND DEATH ) ROME, ITALY

TONE OF ARC (NO.19) SAN FRANCISCO

VOICES OF BLACK ( WOLF + LAMB ) NYC

DAVE AJU (Circus Company/Hypercolour)/SAN FRANCISCO

LOUIE FRESCO (No.19 / DEFECTED)/MEXICO

KATE SIMKO (LEFTROOM/VISIONQUEST)/LONDON

KRIS WADSWORTH (Morris/Audio, Alphahouse)/UK

BUBBLEGUM ( (ONE CHANNEL STUDIO)/MEXICO CITY

SIGNAL DELUXE (GET THE CURSE)/MEXICO CITY

JOSSIE TELCH (UNDERGROOVE MUSIC)/MEXICO CITY

FRANCISCO DE TAVIRA (PINK CITY BEATS)/MEXICO CITY

[a]PENDICS.SHUFFLE (CULPRIT)/AUSTIN

BRIAN BEJARANO- As You Like it, RE: Body- SF

BEN ANNAND (Moontribe LA / Forward SF)/LA

ADNAN SHARIF (Forward SF/ D-EDGE Sao Paolo)/ SF

IDEE PROJECT / BRAZIL

JUAN JOSE JARAMILLO /Soulvision/ECUADOR

JG KING (MONOCODE)/QUITO, ECUADOR

TERRAKROMA/Desert Trax/LA

DEAFCHILD (Sunrise Social Club)/PORTLAND

OFDM / Classcadia / SEATTLE

RHYTHM KEEPERS – CA STEREO MEDICS, SEATTLE, WA

JUSTIN TIMBRELINE - LOST & FOUND, SEATTLE

+ more major headlners TBA, including some of the biggest names in Deep House and Techno.

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giveabeat · 8 years ago

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Students Meet Client Ben Annand

Students Learn About their Course Objective from Mock Interview with DJ Ben Annand

Lauren Segal leads interview with Ben Annand to get students acquainted with their project client.

By Julia Bistriceanu, Edited by Terri Harel

For the second week of our program, the Give a Beat team arrived at Project Kinship with a very special guest. This week, students started to build a portfolio by working with an actual design client, Give a Beat’s longtime friend and partner, DJ Ben Annand. Ben has graciously helped us raise thousands of dollars for our programs through his Tropical Events parties.

Students experiment with Adobe Illustrator program tools.

To start off the session, students learned more about Ben, their client. We chose Ben as the student’s first client because he represents our organization’s values of compassion and dedication to the community. During his mock interview in front of the class, Ben explained why he got into dance music, “Nobody cared what you looked like or where you came from, but accepted you as part of the family.” He described how the dance scene’s inclusivity and acceptance of diversity helped build his confidence and launched his career in music over 20 years ago.

To demonstrate to our students that dance music and its community can affect change, Ben talked about why he started Tropical Events. After years in the industry, he wanted to give back to the community and show the world the positive side of the dance music scene. He raises money at each of these events and all the funds go towards nonprofits.

With Ben’s message in mind, we went on to discuss the basics of design and marketing so the students could get to work. By the end of the session, the class was busy exploring Adobe Illustrator and conceptualizing logos. With such a diverse class of students we’re excited to see what each student came up with. For now, students can continue to hone their skills in between classes with the three months of Adobe Illustrator and laptops provided for the course thanks to our generous supporters.

For those interested in supporting this program, $25 buys one month of Adobe Illustrator for one student. We welcome donations at giveabeat.org/donate!

Interested in Give a Beat? LEARN MORE ON OUR WEBSITE!

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bartekindustries · 5 years ago

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Moontribe live stream July 4th 2020

http://twitch.tv/moontribecollective

https://www.facebook.com/events/639687583325374/

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bartekindustries · 8 years ago

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Terrakroma 10 YEAR Anniversary & Halloween

Friday, Oct 27, 2017: 2 PM - Monday, Oct 30, 2017: 5 PM @ La Jolla Indian Campground

https://www.facebook.com/events/445641102463576

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bartekindustries · 5 years ago

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27 years ago a small group of friends decided to head out to the desert and dance under the full moon together, and the rest is history! Although we all wish we could be out under the big beautiful full moon together, our current situation doesn't make that possible. So we've put together a two day streaming line up so we may celebrate together and continue to build our energy collectively for that moment in the future when we can be out in nature together again! https://www.facebook.com/events/250854632788219/

https://www.twitch.tv/moontribecollective

Line up schedule (may change a bit): June 4th 12pm to 12am 12pm-1pm - Joe Pleniukas 1pm-2pm - Keerd 2pm-3pm - Bartek 3pm-4pm - PheuZen (feat. Pole Priestess) 4pm-5pm - John Kelley 5pm-6pm - Christian Martin 6pm-7pm - Ben Annand 7pm-8pm - Michael be 8pm-9pm - Drew Holly 9pm-10pm - Armando Kroma 10pm-11pm - Sam Drank 11pm-12am - Britton June 5th 12pm to 12am 12pm-1pm - DJ Maggie 1pm-2pm - Bluetech (audio visual experience) 2pm-3pm - Griffin Paisley 3pm-4pm - Bellhop 4pm-5pm - Dance Spirit 5pm-6pm - Anton Tumas 6pm-7pm - Treavor 7pm-8pm - Chadwick 8pm-9pm - Synchronometry 9pm-10pm - Chief Jesta 10pm-11pm - dela Moon 11pm-12am - Brandroid Cover photo by Soodyod Photos https://www.facebook.com/soodyodphotos/ https://www.instagram.com/soodyodpanda

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giveabeat · 8 years ago

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Give a Beat Begins New Mentoring Program

Give a Beat Launched Music-Inspired Graphic Design Program for Previously Incarcerated Youth at Project Kinship

Lauren Segal and students on the first day of our course at Project Kinship.

By Julia Bistriceanu

In October, we made our way to Santa Ana for an exciting new project. This would be the first day of Give a Beat’s new music-inspired graphic design program led in partnership with Project Kinship, a youth gang intervention organization. Aquent Agency awarded Give a Beat their ‘Design for Good Grant’ to launch this program. Over six weeks, eight previously incarcerated youth will gain graphic design skills and receive valuable mentoring from industry experts. Give a Beat’s mission is to create avenues for youth that empower, educate, and inspire them in hopes of preventing recidivism and creating innovative career paths. The music-inspired graphic design program will give the students an introduction to Adobe Design Suite, exposure on how to manage professional relationships, market their skills, and research jobs/careers in the music industry. During the course, students will design a logo, website, social media assets, and a t-shirt for their “client,” Ben Annand, a Los Angeles-based DJ that has been supporting Give a Beat for years with party fundraisers. At the end of the course, all the students will go home with their own personal laptop!

Give a Beat founder, Lauren Segal (standing), lays out course curriculum to students.

On the first day of the workshop, we were excited to finally meet our new students. We introduced our organization and discussed how it was founded on the dance music community values of love, inclusivity, friendship, and unity. Because many of these students have experienced the criminal justice system and its traumatic effects first-hand, we want to establish a foundation of positive values. We want our students to feel welcome as we are there to help them jumpstart their futures.

Students brainstorming their goals.

After the introductions, we were very happy to learn that, of course, music was the unifying interest for everyone in the room. The students’ interest was visibly piqued when they learned that music would be at the core of their new project, as they started sharing with us their favorite genres and artists. Being able to cater the course to their specific interests would ensure they stayed interested and engaged.

DJ Hawkeye instructing beatmatching to Anna.

Apart from developing skills, a huge part our mission during the program is to help the students gain self-confidence. Incarceration and involvement in the criminal justice system has the terrible effect of breaking people down and hampering their paths to a normal life. Our program aims to build students up and show them they are more than capable of creating the futures they desire.

We got a glimpse of confidence-building during the first session, when the students got the chance to get on the deck with our guest DJ, DJ Hawkeye. Each student got to try out mixing on their own. Their determination to get the beat-matching perfect was visible in their furrowed brows and rapt attention. Although some were a bit timid at first, the students were all smiles once they figured out how to do it themselves.

Jerry bonding with Angel over football stories.

Jerry Sherk, a former NFL athlete who is now an expert mentor program consultant, joined us to lead a goal-setting exercise called Hero’s Journey. Students identified their goals and set out a plan to reach them by imagining themselves as the heroes of their own life stories. We are very grateful to have Jerry, our primary consultant, inspiring staff and students with his wisdom and expertise.

Kathryn Stellmacher, our graphic design instructor, closed out the lesson for the day with a short, inside look at the music industry. Kathryn is graphic design professional with over 20 years of experience and a long time friend of Give a Beat. She showed students that many of the interests they already possess could be applied to jobs and careers music industry. One of our goals is to connect interested students to paid internships in the industry. These two exercises were crucial for us gaining an understanding of how we can help students fulfill their goals through music industry pathways.

Interested in supporting the graphic design program? We are looking for people who can help us give these students that opportunity. If you’d like to make a positive difference in a young person’s life we invite you to please support our program. We accept donations! Stay tuned for more pictures and news in the weeks to come.

Interested in Give a Beat? Learn more on our website!

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