The History of Gitana Productions con't.

Faces of Love Concert from Ireland featuring the McPeaks (2011)

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day just a wee bit early Gitana brought the MCPEAKES to St. Louis, one of Ireland's best-known musical families, featuring a distinctive blend of Irish traditional, folk, acoustic and contemporary music.

McPEAKE fuses original Celtic compositions with contemporary rhythms and styles to create their own unique sound that is an experience for the ears and soul. McPEAKE members have performed alongside such prestigious artists as John Lennon, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, The Chieftains, Bono of U2, Riverdance and more.

Francis McPeake IV, the fourth generation of this world-famous musical dynasty, is one of the few authentic uilleann pipers in the world today. Uilleann pipes are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, distinguished from other forms of bagpipes by their sweet tone and wide range of notes. This event was preceded by a call for stories about the tangled roots of Irish and African Americans with wonderful success. Following the concert Irish and African American artists gathered at the Scott Joplin House to share music, dance, recite poetry and to heal together with the help of Guinness and the arts.

Muddy River (2012)

“Muddy River,” a dance theater production was the vision of Cecilia Nadal, Gitana producer. The play was a collaboration of St. Louis playwright Lou Robinson and director/choreographer Vivian Anderson-Watt, contrasting the human qualities that unite us – love, acceptance, empathy, hope – with iconic racial events in St. Louis history.

One dramatic dance segment in “Muddy River” exposed the “spectacular domination celebration” of the 1904 World’s Fair Living Displays, where African pygmy families and a thousand Filipino natives were caged and exhibited as “primitives” in makeshift ‘natural’ environments.

Another dance depicts the 1917 East St. Louis race riots, during which white rioters burned the city and shot African American residents as they fled the flames. In one poignant scene, a mother and her four children escape the violence on a hastily built raft, only to fight the mighty Mississippi River for their lives. These were actual relatives of Alderman Terry Kennedy of St. Louis City. Local composers and musicians contributed original music to the play. Twenty-two dancers from St. Louis were involved in this well received original!

Celebration of Oneness (2012)

A sea of diverse faces, brilliant colored powders, personal stories and diverse cultural performances unified an unusual multi-cultural gathering at Strauss Park in September.

Across from the Fox Theatre in Grand Center, the Celebration of Oneness event included an authentic Holi Festival of Colors. People from diverse ethnic, cultural, religious, disability and age groups covered each other with red, magenta, pink, green and blue powders, turning the crowd into a rainbow of colors.

The Celebration of Oneness brought together people who rarely interact, even in diversity circles. Latinos, African Americans, Indians, Liberians, Chinese and White Americans were represented but also representatives from the 15% of Missourians who are disabled. New and emerging immigrant groups came as well as those who are unemployed or needy. Old and young, straight and gay, people with different abilities and beliefs were welcomed.

The event featured personal stories, artists, musicians and community leaders representing various St. Louis cultures and communities. The Celebration of Oneness was a call to action for unity, harmony and inclusion, particularly for those who are underserved or new to this country.

Cross-Cultural Engagement Conference  (2012)

To celebrate 15 years of dedication to diversity in the arts, Gitana Productions initiated the conference, “Cross-Cultural Engagement: Building a Diverse and Dynamic Community,” in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission with support from the Diversity Awareness Partnership, the International Institute and Webster University. The 2-day conference targeted arts and nonprofit organizations with special presentations by Howard Ross, one of the nations top diversity experts and Urban Bush Women with their trademark workshop, “Entering, Building and Exiting Community.

Gitana and the Regional Arts Commission developed a Steering Committee of 80 organizations and reached 250 participants at the conference who will sow more seeds of cross-cultural engagement in St. Louis for many years to come. (See more about the conference at www.stlcross-culturalengagement.org.)

Faces of Love Concert with the AL-ANDALUS ENSEMBLE (2013)

In March 2013 the Al-Andalus ensemble wowed a capacity crowd at the Union Avenue Christian Church with a special opening program from Michael Castro, poet and Rabbi Goodman. These sophisticated artists with extraordinary breadth and creativity soulfully merged classical, jazz and contemporary music with musical traditions from the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

 Al-Andalus, an eclectic group of musicians from all over the world recreated the spirit of the historical Al-Andalus in a concert that celebrated the music that came from the peaceful co-existence of Muslims, Jews and Christians in the golden age of the historical Al-Andalus in Southern Spain.