New York Field Trip

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Fall Conference 2007 Poster

New York Folklore Society
P.O. Box 764
Schenectady, NY 12301
518/346-7008
Fax 518/346-6617
nyfs@nyfolklore.org

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NEW YORK FIELD TRIP 2007
Voices of Belief: Folklore and the Sacred Arts
November 2-4, 2007
Cunneen Hackett Arts Center
Poughkeepsie, New York

The New York Folklore Society’s 2007 Field Trip, “Folklore and the Sacred Arts,” traveled to Poughkeepsie to experience the wealth of religious expession and belief in the Mid-Hudson Valley. This scholarly conference explored the intersections of religious belief and experience with the folk arts: sacred music and dance, folk art, and narrative. It also examined the ways that belief has informed and continues to influence social action.

Kicking off the weekend was a three-hour educators’ workshop held on Friday afternoon, November 2, entitled Religious Pluralism and Its Role in Classroom Learning. Co-sponsored by the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center, the workshop addressed issues of pluralism within the classroom learning environment, as well as tools to tie religious belief and expression into the Social Studies curriculum.

An opening reception on Friday night included Altars by the Guadalupe Association (Day of the Dead) and the Hindu Samaj Temple (Diwali). The conference’s keynote speech was provided by Dr. Robert Farris Thompson of Yale Unversity. His illustrated speech, entitled “Staccato Incandescence: Towards a History of Mambo,” was followed by a Mambo dance party with Soñando. Proceedings on Saturday, November 3, involved panel discussions on topics of “Social Justice and the Sacred Arts,” “Sacred Song,” and “A Tribute to John Mohawk.” A gala concert took place on Saturday evening with La Troupe Makandal (Haitian Voudou music and dance); Kontiwennenhá:wi: Carriers of the Words (Mohawk singing traditions); and The Jewish Singing Table by Sruli Dresdner, Lisa Mayer, and special guest Michael Alpert (Jewish sacred song). Sunday, November 4, included a field trip to a community sacred site, as well as a collaborative narrative program with the Interfaith Story Circle of Dutchess County.

The weekend included food, performance, and forays into the community. Event partners included the Dutchess County Interfaith Council, TRANSART, INC., and the Greater Capital Region’s Teacher Center. Support has been provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Program presenters included:

Rathi Raja, Executive Director of the Young Indian Culture Group
Aziz Ahsan from the Mid-Hudson Islamic Association
Sister Adriana Almaguer, OLC of the Centro Catolico Hispano, Newburgh
Representatives from the Mid-Hudson Buddhist Monastery
Ray Watkins (Gospel Music)
Sruli Dresdner and Lisa Mayer (The Jewish Singing Table)
Dr. Ivor Miller and Roman Díaz (Cuban Abakua)
Kontiwennenhá:wi: Carriers of the Words (Mohawk Women’s Song)
Tom Porter (Haudenosaunee Spiritual Leader)

Conference performers included:

Soñando (Mambo)
Kantham Chatlapalli
(Kuchipudi Dance)
La Troupe Makandal
(Haitian Voudou music and dance)
Kontiwennenhá:wi: Carriers of the Words
(Mohawk Women’s singing group)
The Jewish Singing Table by Sruli Dresdner, Lisa Mayer, and special guest Michael Alpert
(Jewish Sacred Song)

Schedule

About the Presenters and Performers

The New York Folklore Society and its programs are funded by the
New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional funding for this conference provided by the Theatre Development Fund and the New York Council for the Humanities.