FandangObon Festival 2024

Musician in the Son Jarocho genre, traditional luthiere, songwriter, adjunct professor at Occidental College and instructor in California state prisons.

César works on live sound reinforcement, music production, podcasts, and radio. With his band, Cambalache has written and arranged traditional son jarocho music and also has composed some songs inspired by Caribbean rhythms and life.

Follow @Jarochelo IG, YT & FB.

Songwriter, dance and theater artist, and founder and now Legacy Artist of Great Leap.

In 1986 Nobuko began creating songs and dances for Obon, the Japanese Buddhist tradition of ancestor remembrance, danced by thousands in yearlyfestivals. This led to the creation in 2014 of FandangObon - Eco-Arts Festival. In 2021, her album 120,000 Stories (Smithsonian Folkways) and memoir Not Yo’ Butterfly (UC Press) were published. The documentary: "Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song In Movement" will be released in November on PBS So Cal. 

Follow @nobukomiyamoto_

Mujō Dream Flight (MDF) MDF is the artistic vehicle of founding taiko artists Sasen Cain, Yeeman “ManMan” Mui, and Maxyn Rose Leitner. Together, and in collaboration with other predominantly trans/non-binary taiko artists, they create both original works and traditional adaptations. MDF’s art centers dance and personal storytelling informed by their specific cultural backgrounds.

Instagram @mujodreamflight

YouTube @mujodreamflight

Martha Gonzalez is a Chicana artivista (artist/activist) musician, feminist music theorist and Associate Professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies at Scripps/Claremont College. Gonzalez along with her partner Quetzal Flores has been instrumental in catalyzing the transnational dialogue between Chicanx/Latinx communities in the U.S and Jarocho communities in Veracruz, Mexico and have been active in implementing the collective songwriting method in correctional facilities throughout the U.S.

Learn more @ marthagonzalez.net

Follow @marthartivista

Maceo Hernandez has been performing taiko for 39 years. At the age of 16 he began performing with world renowned Taiko group from Japan, “Ondekoza”. In 1993 he was the subject of John Esaki’s award-winning documentary, “Maceo Hernandez: Demon Drummer from East L.A.”

Maceo currently leads “East LA Taiko”, the director of the “Taiko Center of Los Angeles”, and the Artistic Director of the Terasaki Budokan’s performing group “J-Town Taiko Club”

Follow @DemonDrummer 

Nancy Sekizawa aka “Atomic Nancy” is a singer, songwriter, DJ and performer with deep roots in the Little Tokyo community. At age 16, she was the first Japanese American singer with Hiroshima, and has been a choir member with First AME Church since 2001. She has performed with Nobuko Miyamoto’s Great Leap since 1980. She has spent the last 37 years as an addiction and substance use disorder specialist with the Asian American Drug Abuse Program, and DJs 45 vinyl records from the legendary jukebox from the Atomic Cafe, where she is a family owner.

Carla Vega is a multi-disciplinary performing artist, sings in Nobuko Miyamoto’s band “Mottanai”, and has collaborated with GreatLeap.org for 10+ years. Carla believes in the power of the arts to heal, touch the heart of our humanity, inspire a deeper connection to our personal stories & ancestries, ignite compassion and create positive social change. 

Latest projects: linktr.ee/iamcarlavega

Follow @iamcarlavega

Chie Saito is a performance artist and educator based in Los Angeles and Japan and has been part of FandangObon since 2019. She is a movement faculty and directs performances at LACC Theatre Academy. Chie believes bringing awareness of the body and mind will also awaken the awareness of the effect of oneself on society.

Follow @sasayaki_productions 

Though they have been an official group since 2015, the members of Le Ballet Dembaya have been drumming and dancing together since early childhood. Their parents are all among some of the first generation of people in Los Angeles to study, practice and celebrate the traditions of djembe music. Raised together as brothers and sisters in this Los Angeles drum and dance community, they often gathered to practice West African rhythms and movement. Little did they know that they would grow together to form Le Ballet Dembaya, which means “the dance of the family” in the Soussou language spoken in Guinea. This name was chosen to acknowledge the sibling-like bond between the group members, to acknowledge their parents and elders whose footsteps they follow in, and to acknowledge their ancestors whom they honor each time they practice or perform this beautiful art form. Le Ballet Dembaya hopes to use this as a tool for education, healing, and empowerment in greater Los Angeles and beyond.

Learn more @ leballetdembaya.com

Follow @leballetdembaya

Ofelia Rivera Esparza @ofrenda1 is a Chicana artist, altarista (altar maker) and educator from East Los Angeles. She is a sixth generation altar maker and is recognized for her work with Self Help Graphics & Art (SHG), specifically for her community ofrendas (altars/shrines) for Dia de Los Muertos. 

Rosanna Esparza Ahrens @sannazan Rosanna is a Chicana, installation and graphic artist, born and raised in East L.A. She and her siblings, represent the 7th generation of altaristas (altar makers) a traditional practice passed down from her mother, Ofelia Esparza and all the maternal grandmothers from Huanimaro, Guanajuato, MX. Rosanna has worked and created side-by-side with her mother as a Master Altarista for Día de Los Muertos ofrendas (altars) since 2001 and has exhibit at several museums.

Learn more @ https://www.tonallistudio.com/about

Poet Laureate of Boyle Heights, Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara is also a singer, songwriter, producer, writer, performance artist, and impresario. In the 1970s he made his mark in music with his band Ruben & the Jets, produced by the legendary Frank Zappa. Ruben has been a long-time associate of Great Leap as a cultural mentor in the Collaboratory program, and a key element of FandangObon as emcee. His autobiography, Confessions of a Radical Chicano Doo-Wop Singe, was published in 2018 by UC Press and is required in many university courses.

Follow @rubengguevara

Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed plays at the intersections of pop and politics through a variety of mediums and actions. Motivated by her Bangladeshi and Muslim upbringing in Southern California, she started her career as an activist by creating a political voice for those most marginalized in the backlash of September 11th.  She has over two decades of experience integrating art, culture organizing, and advocacy.

Most notably, she co-hosted the The #GoodMuslimBadMuslim Podcast, which made a political statement that rippled all the way to Oprah and the White House.

Follow @tazzystar

Etsy ShopPodcastwww.tazzystar.me

Neelanjana Banerjee's fiction, poetry, essays, and journalism have appeared widely in places like the Texas Observer, Teen Vogue, Virginia Quarterly Review, PANK Magazine, The Rumpus and more. She is the Managing Editor of Kaya Press, a 30-year-old independent press dedicated to Asian diasporic literature. 

Follow @neelanjanab

A taiko drummer and dancer. She is a co-founder of SHIN3, a group that performs taiko storytelling, music, and dance to foster appreciation of Japanese culture. Elaine works as a kindergarten teacher at the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. Trained in Japanese folk dance, she is also a dance leader, who provides coordination and instruction for Southern California bon odori festivals. She has worked with Nobuko Miyamoto to choreograph several new pieces of repertoire.

Follow @mari27chan

Shamisen player, dancer, and writer. A fourth-generation Japanese American Canadian from Vancouver, he grew up in Seattle, Maryland, New Jersey, and now Los Angeles. He is the co-curator for a free public art series, Tuesday Night Café, in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo neighborhood, and a member of the dance crew Ninjas for Social Justice.

Follow @seanmiura