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Sophia proudly presents the Musicians
for her Mobile Mini Circus for Children
Home Garden Concert
 28th June 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1977) ) began his guitar studies at the age of 19 at the Guitar Institute L' Escola of Quirijn Cutter in Zwolle. He was first only motivated to play Bob Marley songs on the guitar of his great-aunt.

Quirijn taught him the value of a classical education. The compositions by Fernando Sor and Dionisio Aguado brought him in contact with a new world .
With Quirijn Errol was mainly devoted to Spanish and Latin American romantic music . In that period he followed masterclasses with Zoran Dukic , Stefano Grondona and Eduardo Isaac .

By the famous Andalusian gypsy guitarist José Antonio Carmona - ' Pepe Habichuela ' - he got in contact of the Flamenco : " When I heard Soleá Habichuela it was just a mysterious lure . I could not understand , there were a kind of ' false ' notes as in Arabic music . It was instantly clear to me: this is the way I must go . "

After four inspiring years with Quirijn , Errol continued his guitar studies with the virtuoso flamenco guitarist John Fillmore in Amsterdam. John taught him in the following years all the Flamenco Techniques and all the important Flamenco Styles.

In the years after Errol attended masterclasses and workshops with Moraíto Chico and Tomatito .

In 2003 he was a prize-winner at the EGTA Guitar Competition for amateur guitarists in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
And in the same year his dream came true when he was able to follow lessons in the region of Cadiz (Andalusia ) by Juan Manuel Utrera and Jose Pedro Jimenez ..
A year later Quirijn offered him the opportunity to share his experiences on the Flamenco guitar with interested students. Since then he has been teaching at Guitar Institute L' Escola .

In 2008, Errol founded the world music band PaLé and has worked regularly with musicians from many cultures.
 

Errol Pawiworedjo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born in Curacao, The Netherlands Antilles, Yumarya Grijt discovered her love for music and pleasure in singing at a young age. She grew up listening to all sorts of music, from traditional folklore music from her island and the surrounding ones, to beautiful salsa music from all the big stars as Celia Cruz, Oscar d’Leon, Marc Anthony and many more.
 

She started singing in several choirs, mainly in gospel and folklore choirs. In 1993 she moved to The Netherlands, in order to study English. Here she got in touch with several bands, which asked her to do free-lance work. Due to her affinity with Latin-American music, her experience in singing and her capacity to speak Spanish fluently, she was able to learn the different repertoires quickly.
Yumarya became lead singer of the Charanga band “Eric y su Chocolate”. In this band she has had the opportunity to work with several top musicians, among which are Eric Durrer (Luxemburg), Fabian Nodarse (Cuba) and Marc Bischoff (Germany).
 

Across the Dutch border, in Germany, she is also lead vocalist in the latin-jazz band “Salsa Fuerte”. Here she works with top musicians from German and New York latin and jazz scene.
She also sings together with Willy Panama (Miami / Panama), Izaline Calister (Curacao), Fiebre Cubana Miami (Javier Concepcion Jr., Eugenio Doria and Edward Magdariaga), Maite Hontele (The Netherlands/Colombia).
 

Yumarya has worked on 4 CD’s: Eric y su chocolate- Con chocolate caliente, Salsa Fuerte – Fantsia (2007), Fiebre Cubana - en Miami (2008), and Gerardo Rosales – Salsa mundial (2008).

The song Fantasia of the same named album of Salsa Fuerte is written by Yumarya.

 

Yumarya is a singer who is known to be unique and explosive on stage for having a powerful voice and dynamic stage presence. She mainly sings material of the genres salsa romantic and latin jazz songs.

 

Yumarya is currently working on her own solo project for which she is writing her own material and she is part of bongomatik.

 

What is bongomatik? Young and hip aficionados of music and dance all over the world have adopted the term Bongomatik as the highest possible compliment of being in tune with modern society.Lately the term has been increasingly referring to groovy music. Especially one band sticks out for their extremely refreshing mix of Cuban soul, desert grooves, Bombay boogie and twelve tone funk. To call them hip would be an understatement – according to their audience, this is the most bongomatik band ever. No wonder these eight men and women have named themselves: bongomatik

These folks know how to play the bongo and the electrical guitar alike. They don’t shy away from blood, sweat, callus and tears to give us back the feeling we felt when we saw our first BONGOMATIK Original®.So if you want to know how bongomatik you are, listen to their recordings, or even better, check out one of their concerts wearing your most bongomatik outfit!Currently, they are launching their outstandingly thrilling music at venues in Europe, Belgium and America.
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1995) Born in Luxemburg, she is our youngest performer this day. The moment Sophia came up with her idea Joanne was the first to offer her help and to participate.  Since a few weeks she is an ex-student of the Lycee Classique d´Echternach. After the summer break she will start to study medicines in Germany. Since the age of 6, she has been playing the Cello and a few years ago she also started to play the piano. She is a passionate and talented musician and loves to play music! We cant wait to hear her play!
 

Yumarya Grijt

Joanne Zeien

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arie is a versatile entertainer in heart and soul. After 20 years working as a teacher and singer of the Redband he decided to proceed as a professional fulltime musician/entertainer `Rooie Arie´.  Rooie Arie is a troubadour, a clown and singer/guitarist in the Redband.

He is also a singer/guitarist of the successful band JAFT: musical poetry. This year JAFT received the audience award at the cabaret festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

On June 28th  2014, we will mainly meet Clown and Circusartist Arie.


 

 

Rooie Arie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special guest this day, and Sophia is very happy he´ll be with us: David Mason!
He was Sophia´s inspiration to come up with this event. In the article you can read what David is doing and what the circus school means for the children in Afghanistan.  


 

Children's circus in Afghanistan tries to bring joy to the war ravaged country
(hindustantimes, AFP Kabul, April 23, 2013)


In a dusty city of grey concrete blast walls where there's not always much to smile about, the organisers of a children's circus try to provide a splash of colour and some moments of joy.

The Kabul-based Mobile Mini-Circus for Children (MMCC) was founded in Afghanistan in 2002, months after the fall of the hardline Taliban Islamic regime which banned music and dance.

Fewer than one million children - and no girls - attended school nationwide at the time.
While other NGOs and government agencies focused on food, shelter and education, MMCC (www.afghanmmcc.org) strove to introduce "soft" values bringing children together to foster a more joyful atmosphere despite frequent hardship.

  

"It's a special circus," said founder David Mason, a former salsa and tango dance instructor from Denmark.
"It's a circus to educate, give meaning to life, make children happy, make them dream and realise their dreams and gain self-confidence and inspiration."
Professional adult artists tour and perform for children across the war-torn country.

In the past 11 years, the circus and its local partner the Afghan Educational Children's Circus have attracted a total live audience of more than 2.7 million people in 25 provinces.

At a show in Kabul on Sunday to mark World Circus Day, young performers in colourful cloaks circled a courtyard on rollerskates and headscarved girls showed off their juggling skills.
Children performed cartwheels and backward somersaults and formed human pyramids, dancing and clapping to entertain an audience of their peers from a camp for internally displaced people and an orphanage.

"When you are living under a plastic sheet in a Kabul winter, then... hardship and surviving makes people forget about living. And then once you have survived, there's nothing much to live for," said Mason, 47.
The circus works to change that.

 

A total of 120 girls and boys attend a centre in Kabul after regular school hours to learn circus skills, going on to give performances in schools and refugee camps.

"They are semi-professionals," said Mason, co-director of the non-profit body with his partner Berit Muhlhausen. MMCC also draws on support from almost 100 international professionals and volunteers.

Enjoyment is the main message but the circus also stages hour-long educational performances. They include messages lasting for 10-15 minutes on the importance of hygiene, school attendance, mine awareness and malaria prevention.


But the overriding message is to be happy. "It's difficult to convince academics and people in power that having a reason to be joyful is a huge achievement, an aim in itself," he said.

He told AFP that attention to children's art and talents "is really important in society. We can see that young Afghan people have a lot of talent".
Firouz, an 11-year-old who lives in a camp for internal refugees, also enjoyed the show. "This programme is fun," he said. "I'd like to learn how to juggle and do gymnastics. It's really good."

Every year the circus brings together children from across Afghanistan for major events such as festivals and children's assemblies. This, says MMCC, promotes unity in a multi-ethnic country.

 

The MMCC holds entertainment programmes in the Afghan capital and other big cities.

The circus, which has also performed overseas, says 75% of all its activities are run and taught by children at a time when Afghanistan is taking control of its own future as the international community steps back.

"Over the past decade, the children and youngsters at (the circus) have developed the capacity to lead young people across Afghanistan," it says on its website(www.afghanmmcc.org).

"Their voices are the voices of Afghanistan's future."

David Mason

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born on 26 september 2006 in St Martin, Dutch Antilles.
Initiator en co-organizer of the Mobile Mini Circus for Children Home Garden concert. Pupil of the Dutch section of the European School, second year. She loves to draw and paint.
When she was a 2 month old baby, 2 American tourists visiting St. Martin, were telling her parents: ´she´s going to be an artist!!!`. Who knows?!

 

Sophia

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