KCET Expands Its 45-Year Collaboration With The Los Angeles County Arts Commission To Film 'Live @ The Ford' Television Series
KCET EXPANDS ITS 45-YEAR COLLABORATION WITH THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY ARTS COMMISSION TO FILM 'LIVE @ THE FORD' TELEVISION SERIES
Including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and live performances taking place at the Ford Amphitheatre this summer
Los Angeles - August 17, 2011 - KCET, the nation's largest independent public television station serving Southern and Central California, is pleased to expand its 45-year collaboration with the Los Angeles County Arts Commissionto present Live @ the Ford, a fall television series featuring four diverse performances at the historic Ford Amphitheatre. Live @ the Ford is a KCET Co-Production with the Los Angeles County Arts Commission in Association with CDK Productions.
The new four-part series includes Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company; a double bill of Korean B-boy group Last for One and Korean fusion group Haegum Plus, presented by the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles; the 4th Annual J.U.i.C.E Hip Hop Dance Festival; and The Angel City Jazz Festival. Each of these four shows will be edited to a one-hour program. Concert footage will be interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, giving a cultural and artistic context to the performances, also available at kcet.org.
For nearly half a century, KCET has partnered with the Los Angeles County Arts Commission to broadcast the annual Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration, a live multi-hour performing arts event featuring dozens of culturally and artistically diverse performing groups from all corners of Los Angeles County. The Live @ the Ford partnership comes in support of KCET's current initiative to develop local programming that contributes to the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California.
"At the Ford, our goal is to foster the excellence and diversity of LA County performing arts groups and provide a place where people can discover and appreciate the rich cultural offerings of their region," said Adam Davis, Managing Director of Productions. "Our partnership with KCET allows us to make the Ford's programming accessible to an even broader audience."
"We continue our ongoing commitment to the community and the performing arts sector with this new and exciting collaboration with the Ford Amphitheatre," said Juan Devis, director of Production & Program Development at KCET. "Together, we've picked outstanding artists who represent the rich ethnic origins of Los Angeles, We're proud to celebrate the diversity of artistic expression with them through this series."
KCET members receive 20% off adult tickets for all KCET Live @ the Ford performances, as well as a chance to win complimentary tickets and a private pre-show reception for up to 19 guests on The Ford's entryway plaza.
The Live @ the Ford series includes:
Ruta del Norte: Northern Route
Presented by: Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company
FRI August 19, 8:30 p.m.
Cross the border with Grandeza Mexicana, L.A.'s premier folklorico dance company, as they illuminate the culture of Mexico's northern regions. With a terrain and character similar to America's Southwest, Northern Mexico is known for wide open plains, cowboys, big attitudes and brave characters. The evening features new works -- folk dances of Tamaulipas and a Country Western-themed piece (a first for Grandeza) -- as well as the Mexican traditional music group Hermanos Herrera.
Presented by: Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles
SAT September 10, 8 p.m.
The Korean wave washes up in Hollywood when top exemplars of South Korean culture arrive at the Ford. World Champion B-Boy group Last for One, featured in the film Planet B-Boy, displays its winning brand of break dance. Haegum Plus, a fusion music ensemble, uses Korean traditional instruments in original ways to create new sounds. Led by virtuoso instrumentalist Kang Eun-il, the group seamlessly weaves modern composition and world styles into Korean music. Last for One joins Haegum Plus for the last part of its set.
The 4th Annual J.U.i.C.E. Hip Hop Dance Festival
Presented by: J.U.i.C.E
FRI September 30, 8:30 p.m.
Deeply affected by a recent visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Japan, producer-dancer-choreographer Emiko Sugiyama conceives an event celebrating world peace. Known for showing a wide range of street dance styles and performers, the festival this year adds a new component: each audience member will be asked to create an Origami crane which will be sent to the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan. Los Angeles artist SANO and Japanese artist Shiro create original paintings to the funk, classic, break and hip-hop tunes spun by DJ Kenzo. Amy "B-girl CatFox" Campion and Jacob Kujo Lyons are co-Artistic Directors of J.U.i.C.E. Hip Hop Festival.
The Angel City Jazz Festival - Global Jam
Presented by: Angel City Arts
SAT October 1, 5 p.m.
The 4th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival brings the very best of creative and cutting-edge jazz to the Ford. This year revel in a Global Jam, a celebration of jazz's wide cultural diversity. Get ready for distinctive musical mashups from artists from around the world such as L.A.'s own Pan Afrikan People's Arkestra with Dwight Trible, Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura (avant-guard jazz from Japan), The Kandinski Effect (modern French jazz), the Tigran Quintet (Armenian jazz) featuring Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasayan and Rudresh Mahanthappa & Samdhi (Indian fusion jazz).
About KCET
On-air, online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. KCET currently produces the Emmy®, duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning SoCal Connected, a hard-hitting prime-time weekly television news program that examines the issues and people of Southern California. Throughout its 47-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and children's programs, its outreach and community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org.
About the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
The Ford Amphitheatre season is a program of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and is produced in partnership with Los Angeles County-based arts organizations. The partners for the summer season, chosen through a competitive application process, receive significant production and marketing support, while keeping the lion's share of the box office proceeds.
Tickets for the Ford Amphitheatre 2011 Summer Season are now on sale at www.FordTheatres.org or by calling the Ford box office, 323-461-3673 (GO 1-FORD).
About the Los Angeles County Arts Commission
The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Laura Zucker, Executive Director, provides leadership in cultural services of all disciplines for the largest county in the United States, encompassing 88 municipalities. In addition to programming the John Anson Ford Theatres, the Arts Commission provides leadership and staffing to support the regional blueprint for arts education, Arts for All; administers a grants program that funds more than 300 nonprofit arts organizations annually; oversees the County's Civic Art Program for capital projects; funds the largest arts internship program in the country in conjunction with the Getty Foundation; and supports the Los Angeles County Cultural Calendar on ExperienceLA.com. The Commission also produces free community programs, including the L.A. County Holiday Celebration and a year-round music program that funds 70 free concerts each year in public sites. The 2011-12 President of the Arts Commission is Ollie Blanning. For more information please consult the Arts Commission online press kit: http://lacountyarts.org/page/pubnewspress
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