Official uVu Blog

Discover Guadeloupe through music

uVu producer Jessy Schuster was raised on the French island Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. As she went home for the holidays, she shared with us some of her home country" best of" culture and landscapes.

To start, let's discover the music of Guadeloupe: Gwo Ka. Known as folk music, Gwo ka is hand drums music.

Different sizes of drums establish the foundation and its flourishes, with the largest, the boula, playing the central rhythm and the smaller, markeur (or maké) drums embellishes upon it and interplays with the dancers, audience or singer. Gwo ka singing usually guttural, nasal and rough, though it can also be bright and smooth, and is accompanied by uplifting and complex harmonies and melodies. There are also dances that tell folk stories that are accompanied by the gwo ka drums.

Rural Guadeloupans still use gwo ka drums in communal experiences called lewozes; this is the most traditional manifestation of gwo ka in modern Guadeloupe. Gwo ka is also played at Carnival and other celebrations. A modernized and popularized form of gwo ka is well-known on the islands; it is known as gwo ka moderne. (source Wikipedia).

The following video was shot next to "La place du Marche St Antoine" in Pointe-a-pitre on Dec 19th, 2009.

Francois Ladrezeau, one of Guadeloupe's most renowned player from the Mass Group Akiyo is playing in this video (with the yellow shirt).

Miami Today Profile - Shalley Jones Horn

In her first year as director of Miami-Dade County’s Department of Housing and Community Development, longtime Miamian Shalley Jones Horn has been cleaning up a mess she didn’t make. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has its foot on the county’s neck, as Ms. Horn once put it, in the aftermath of a well-publicized housing scandal. She’s been working to document past action left undocumented and spend federal money left unspent while at the same time overseeing a new pot of money funneled to the county through the Obama Administration’s stimulus package. Her department isresponsible also for economic and community development programs. Juggling it all has been a challenge, Fannie Mae veteran Ms. Horn says, but she came prepared. “I came here with my eyes wide open. I have an opportunity to make a difference in this community…” She talked cleanup and community development in an interview with Miami Today reporter Risa Polansky.

For the entire interview go to Miami Today or uVu. 

A look back @ Photographer Ian Shive

 

 

Renowned photographer Ian Shive attended a St Thomas Episcopal Middle School where students learned about his photographs from his book The National Parks: The American landscape. 

Watch the video on uVu and take a look at the stills on Facebook. Don't forget to rate our content or leave a comment.

Roots of Noetic Science

I finally received the new Dan Brown novel for the holidays and hadn't even reached the Prologue  before having the first "oh wow" moment.

Brown used his standard format and began with his typical disclaimer, acknowledging that all the organizations mentioned in the book are real.  I was surprised to see the reference to the Institute for Noetic Sciences. 

I had no doubt that the Institute was real, having met the founder just a few weeks earlier, interviewing him in his South Florida home.

 You can see the interview with former astronaut Edgar Mitchell on uVu if you'd like to have some additional insight on Noetic Science and the work of the Institute.

Watch the video here

Miami Today Profile - Benjamin Leon

 Since a young boy Benjamín León, Jr., had a knack for business. He started off washing dishes and working in factories, and then sold tires and programmed computers. After climbing up the ranks in other jobs, he joined his father to run Miami’s first pre-paid medical center Clínica Cubana. In 1970, the father-son team founded Clínica Asociación Cubana, which grew into a multi-million dollar operation. 

After the entity was sold, Mr. León was already formulating the vision for Leon Medical Centers, selling many of his holdings to fund this new business venture. More than a decade later, the risk has paid off as the company has grown into a leading health care provider for Medicare recipients with more than 33,000 enrolled. 

With two new centers recently opening its doors, for a total of seven top-notch medical facilities, the focus now is on continuing to provide cost-efficient, quality care despite the potential cuts HMOs face under the proposed health care reform. 

For The Love Of Pork Rinds

 Olivia is at the top of her modeling career when her life begins to fall apart.  She is forced to shed her former self in a true moment of clarity.

By Rachel Clark, part of the New World School of The Arts Theatre Department's The One Festival 2009

Watch the video here

The Fischer King

 In writing this show I wanted to expose how as human beings we can push away those around us and become consumed by our ambitions.  This show takes place in the final moments of the World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland (1972).  There are very specific real life decisions Bobby Fischer made on his way to the top. I chose a few of these decisions to focus on and dramatize.

By Jason Edelstein, part of the New World School of the Arts Theatre Department's The One Festival 2009

Watch the video here

Pure As Porcelain

 A woman takes on many roles: the mother, the wife, the daughter, the sister, the neighbor, the friend. This is the true story of that same woman who did her best to fill thse shoes, but lost herself along the way.  She sought refuge from God, and guidance from a family she believed to be more righteous than her own.

By Ashley Price, part of the New World School of the Arts Theatre Department's The One Festival 2009

Watch the video here

Kindergarten Kiss-Off

Do you remember your favorite teacher? Whether it was Miss Clark and her funny songs, Mrs. Daugherty who read the tales of E.B. White, or the lovely Miss Shannon who gave endless smiles, their planted seeds have rooted and grown in the minds of us over the years.  Life throws surprises at us. Sometimes they're not so pleasant. How we handle our struggles and bad news is up to us. Sometimes we regress back to Kindergarten...

By   Ann Marie Olson, New World School of the Arts, The One Festival 2009.

Watch the video here

I Believe In Jim Jones

 Religion affects people in many different ways. When things in our life go wrong, we look to some messiah to save us.  If by chance we think we have found the right one, it will not be long before we destroy him or he destroys us. It is possible to let ourselves be so entranced by the preachings of one man who appears God like in our eyes that we will gladly give away our time, money, friends, lives and freewill to be closer to this messiah, this self proclaimed prophet? Will we leave this earth a little closer to heaven than we imagined or are we just throwing away the only thing that truly belongs to us, our souls?

By Jameson Hammond, part of the New World School of Arts Theatre Department's One Festival 2009

Watch the video here