Joseph Campbell's interpretations of humanity's various myths are popular because they ring true; he was remarkably effective in revealing their wisdom about life and even death. Coming from a very similar place (though perhaps somewhat more curatorial in her process) is Virlana Tkacz, the director of the Yara Arts Group. She has been researching ancient songs and poems from Ukraine, Mongolia, Central Asia and points further east for years, and her work with the troupe reflects her desire to re-integrate the ancient "ways of knowing," as she puts it, into modern life. 

I first caught Yara's work in 1999 when I was assigned to review their musical play "Circle." It blew me away with its combination of great singing, songs, inventive staging, and earthy humor. (It was also where I first met Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello, who had a role in the play.) Ever since then I've thought more people should know about Yara, and now that I am "vlog enabled" (!) I finally can not only write about it, but bring you an interview with Virlana, and present some excerpts from Yara's most recent production, "Scythian Stones."



Even if you missed this last production, the good news is that Yara continues to create these intimate theatrical pieces here in NYC (and abroad, in the countries from which much of the the music and myth come) and you can catch more of them in the future. And there is more to Yara than just theater, as a visit to the Yara Arts Group website will reveal.

In my last note, I talked about making connections through research.  Today I'd like to talk about the connections that you make that you may not know about for years, if at all. I was lucky this week; I encountered two of them.
Connection #1: In a former life I was a CD producer, and I produced a boxed set of international accordion music called "Planet Squeezebox." It was a mammoth effort in a small amount of time, and I came away regretting that I had been unable to include, among other genres, Afghani accordion music. Fast forward 14 years and we acquire the wonderful vignette "Afghanistan: An Accordion Journey" from Greg Warner. And in contacting him, I discover that "Planet Squeezebox" was an important part of his own accordion odyssey.

Connection #2:  I tend to find myself in unusual places following music around, and about 5 years ago, I attended a music festival in Samarkand. There were over 50 performers, and several stood out for me, even if they did not play the most accessible music.  One was Salamat Sadikova from Kyrgyzstan, one was a young man from Tibet, and another was Aygun Baylar from Azerbaijan (more on her later, I hope). I managed to get video of the festival, and much to my joy, found their performances well captured. For these past years, I wondered about putting the Tibetan's lovely songs on the air. Then, a press release that was sent to me connected me to his photo, I recognized him, and yesterday, I met him, (his name is Techung) and he was able to tell me what the song was about. You can see it right now, as our video premiere.