National Performance Network Annual Meeting in New Orleans

Let’s Geaux, Y’all! The National Performance Network presented their Annual Meeting in New Orleans livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Friday 13 December - Sunday 15 December 2013. To participate in these sessions, direct your comments on Twitter to @NPN_VAN and use hashtags #AMNOLA and #LiveAndOnStage. Find the Facebook event here.

FRIDAY 13 DECEMBER
A Keynote Conversation (with music) 
9:30 a.m. PST/ 11:30 a.m. CST/ 12:30 p.m. EST / 17:30 GMT

A conversation between Donald Harrison, Jr. and his sister Cherice Harrison-Nelson, facilitated by radio personality and music lover Gwen Thompkins. Members of one of New Orleans illustrious Mardi Gras Indian families, Donald and Cherice have played significant roles around the world as New Orleans cultural ambassadors.

• Donald Harrison, Jr. grew up in a home environment saturated with the city’s traditional music of brass bands, parades, modern jazz, R&B, funk, classical, world ethnic, and dance music. His connection to New Orleans roots were deepened by his father, a Big Chief in the African and Native American influenced culture of New Orleans’ Black Mardi Gras Indians. Harrison is self-described as a jazz saxophonist, bandleader, composer, cultural participant, singer, actor, master costume maker, custom furniture designer & builder, inventor, and educator. His numerous accomplishments include: Co-Founder/Artistic Director for Tipitina’s Intern Program; appearance in several national films including HBO’s Treme; Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group; and mentor to many first-rate musicians. A true musical innovator, Harrison created “Nouveau Swing,” a style of jazz that merges modern dance music like R&B, hip-hop, soul, and rock. He is known for combining jazz with Afro-New Orleans traditional music, expanding upon a commitment to steward the offshoot rituals, call and response chants, and drumming for the next generation.
• Cherice Harrison-Nelson is steeped in authentic Mardi Gras Indian tradition, a culture practiced only in New Orleans. She is the third generation in her family to mask Indian, a ritual handed down from her late father, Big Chief Donald Harrison, Sr. Her masking style is in homage to traditions of West Africa. Harrison-Nelson is a female in a male-dominated culture, but she doesn’t take any shortcuts—creating striking Mardi Gras Indian suits, sewing each bead by hand, creating distinctive patterns in vibrant colors. She is curator of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame, managing director of the Guardians of the Flame Cultural Arts Collective, manager of the Mardi Gras Indian Collective, and the education outreach coordinator of the Guardians Institute. Harrison-Nelson has coordinated Mardi Gras Indian presentations and demonstrations for the City of New Orleans. She is an education advocate and has worked with numerous schools and educators to share cultural traditions to enhance academic achievement.
• Gwen Thompkins is a freelance journalist and writer in New Orleans and host of the weekly public radio program, Music Inside Out. Thompkins began her career in New Orleans at the Times-Picayune newspaper, then moved to National Public Radio, where she worked as senior editor of Weekend Edition Saturday and as NPR’s East Africa bureau chief. She returned to New Orleans in 2011, following a fellowship year at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. On Music Inside Out, Thompkins interviews the finest musicians in Louisiana, which boasts an unusually varied cultural landscape. For more information, or to stream the program, go here.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13
LIVE & ON STAGE PERFORMANCE SHOWCASES (#LiveAndOnStage)
4-7 p.m. PST/ 6-9 p.m. CST/ 7-10 p.m. EST / 00:00-03:00 GMT (Saturday, December 14)
Featured Artists in Order of Appearance:

• Kataalyst Alcindor
• ArtSpot Productions
• Tsunami Dance
• Michaela Harrison
• Sean Dorsey Dance

SATURDAY 14 DECEMBER
LIVE & ON STAGE PERFORMANCE SHOWCASES (#LiveAndOnStage)
1:30-4:30 p.m. PST/ 3:30-6:30 p.m. CST/ 4:30-7:30 p.m. EST/ 21:30-00:30 GMT
Featured Artists in Order of Appearance:

• Antonio Garza
• Nejla Yatkin (NY2Dance)
• The Mudlark Puppeteers
• Mondo Bizarro
• Holcombe Waller

SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER
Lagniappe Session!
2:30-4 p.m. PST/ 4:30-6 p.m. CST/ 5:30-7 p.m. EST/ 22:30-00:00 GMT
Hosted by Nicole Garneau, Pragmystical Performance Artist and Rabble Rouser,The Lagniappe Session will feature the stories, presentations, and dreams of some of New Orleans' innovators, creators and leaders who are making a difference. Designed as short 7-minute TED-style blasts, these narratives are an important part of what New Orleans is today. “Lagniappe” is a favorite NOLA term that means a little extra something special thrown in for good measure.

About HowlRound TV

HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.