Elena on the road

Hello again, DZ blog readers!

The band has been traveling tirelessly these past two months on the first half of our spring tour -- and, as we've just finished playing a show in my beloved city of Chicago (kinda my second home), I wanted to take some time to tell you about some of the cool things we've seen and done...

We've hit many different parts of the country in the last two months, including the Southwest, our very own borough of Brooklyn, snowy New England (at the lovely venue Higher Ground), DZ's first appearance in Ithaca, NY, Houston, Tennessee, Colorado, and finally Chicago. As always, we've met some wonderful and interesting people along the way (in addition to our great audiences, of course) and seen some cool sights. Here are some of the highlights for me...

In Albuquerque, we were hosted by the impressive State of New Mexico-run National Hispanic Cultural Center. This organization put together a jam session for us and some local musicians, and a few of us braved a free samba class. (No pictures, sorry! Too busy dancing.) We also ate delicious green chilies at Duran's Pharmacy in Albuquerque's Old Town.



At the wonderful Rialto Theater in Tucson, AZ, we met up with our old friend Salvador Duran, a local musician and artist. A couple of us checked out his studio, which sits in a strip of artist studios near the train tracks in Tucson. In addition to playing music with us, Salvador is finishing up a mural for the Rialto Theater -- check out Salvador and his mural below.



In Houston, the band hung out at the Ripley Center for an evening and jammed with some talented, young, up-and-coming artists. These performers eventually joined us on stage for our big performance at the Wortham Center!

However, my number one highlight of the spring tour thus far has been a group from Memphis, TN, called Watoto De'Afrika. This amazing group, founded and run by Donald O'Conner, works to introduce Afro-centric performing arts and literary styles to African-American children in and around Memphis. Around 65 children and young adults joined our DZAF performance at the Germantown Performing Arts Center, dressed in colorful clothing for a Ugandan dance of their own and beautiful church garb for "Down By the Riverside" and "Catch That Train." (See pics below.) Check out the website -- they will be putting on a performance entirely made up of DZ tunes this summer!







Finally, in Chicago, we were joined by our good friend Derick Grant (tap dancer) and the wonderful group Sones de Mexico. Sones is an extremely talented and popular Chicago-based group that also functions as a non-profit musical education organization in the city.




On a personal note, I used to work alongside various community organizations in South and West Chicago, and our show at the Harris Theater allowed me to revisit those areas. While re-exploring the city, I also took a minute to visit the Obama Volunteer Headquarters in downtown Chicago. No matter what you're political views are, I maintain that Barack Obama, who began as a community organizer in South Chicago, is an incredibly inspiring and dedicated advocate for a politically-aware, justice-oriented, and equality-driven America. Nobody's perfect, but I am greatly moved by his eloquence and willingness to speak frankly about our country. Here are some photos from the headquarters (which, by the way, are open to volunteers at any time!).




Ok, well, it's back to Chicago for me. Hope you enjoyed the update, and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Cheers,
Elena

Opening photo of Elena by Gala Narezo