Step in the Right Direction

If you’re looking for an evening of ethnic dance and music, stop by the “Make a Joyful Noise” concert at CSUN’s Performing Arts Center on Sunday, featuring performances by the Youth Classical Orchestra and Dance Ensemble of Wat Thai, the Native American Dance Theater and a Japanese drum ensemble.

Not to mention a Hawaiian dance troupe and a Native American flutist named Elk Whistle.

Proceeds will help pay for mothers with AIDS to attend a weeklong summer camp in Wrightwood with their children.

“Many of the cultures represented do not talk about HIV and AIDS in their own communities,” said Gordon Hall, event chairman and member of the United Methodist AIDS Committee. “Because the AIDS virus is multicultural, we’ve attempted to bring diverse people together for education and assistance.”

Hall founded the 15-member Channel Islands Taiko Drum Ensemble, which is scheduled to perform.

“Oriental rhythms touch a deep part of me,” said Hall, who became interested in the music while teaching English in Japan. “It has been very strengthening and healing. The rhythms allow you to relax and explore your life. You step out of the box where you’ve been doing your own thing.”

Sunday’s concert includes the classical music of Thailand, which Hall said he fell in love with while working with Buddhist monks in poverty-stricken areas of Bangkok.

“[Thai artists] tend to perform within their own community,” Hall said. “They know AIDS is a problem in their home country and are willing to support the entire community’s effort for those who are afflicted.”

The Hula Halau O Puanani Haaheo dance troupe will perform an ancient hula that tells the story of the birth of Hawaiian culture. Performed to the rhythm of a gourd drum and ancient chants, the hula is an early form of pantomime.

Before the alphabet was introduced by missionaries in the 1820s, Hawaiians remembered stories through dance and chanting. For Hawaiians who want to go back to their roots and keep the culture alive, there has been a resurgence of this form of dancing, which is regarded as healing and hopeful.

“Some people expect to see a hula girl in a grass skirt doing the Hollywood-style hula,” said Sylvia Puanani Edgar, leader of the dance troupe. “But it’s not just getting up there and shaking your bottom; it goes deeper spiritually.”

Keeping roots alive through music also has been the goal of Bill Neal, a.k.a. Elk Whistle, who plays the traditional flutes of Native Americans.

“It’s a meditative or prayerful instrument,” he said. “It is also described by some as a healing instrument. It takes people to another place and time. It reminds us all that we’re a part of the natural world.”

Known by some Native Americans as “keeper of the songs,” Neal sang with a drum group for dancers at powwows where he learned the phrasing of the traditional music. Although his music consists of ancestral melodies, many of his songs are improvised and subtle.

Neal gives his audiences a listening tip: “Sit back, close your eyes and think of yourself on a mountaintop and see where that goes.”

BE THERE

“Make a Joyful Noise,” Sunday, 4 p.m., at CSUN’s Performing Arts Center, 18111 Nordhoff St. Advance tickets: Adults $15, seniors and students $8. Call (805) 905-3679.