Centrum: Washington's home for arts and education.

Centrum Faculty at the Winter Olympics

2010-03-08T11:28:14-08:00

If you watched the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, you had a chance to see Canada celebrate part of its robust fiddling culture - particularly the music from French Canada.

Over on our Fiddle Tunes site, we point you to video links showcasing the performances of past and present Festival of American Fiddle Tunes faculty members André Brunet, Eric Beaudry, and David Boulanger.

Salsa Dancing at Fort Worden This Weekend

2010-03-05T07:00:53-08:00

Join Centrum March 19 and 20, 2010 for two nights of Salsa dancing at Fort Worden in the Madrona MindBody Institute’s beautiful studios, located at 310 Fort Worden Way in Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend.

The dances are part of our Salsa Dance Intensive taking place March 18-21 (dancers welcome!).

A 1-hour beginner session with basic steps and brush-up starts at 8pm, with the full dance getting underway at 9pm. Music will be provided by DJ Victor, as well as a set by a live band on Saturday!

Victor Chavez aka DJ Victor is one of Seattle’s most popular deejays and is a founding director of Somos El Son, a Salsa dance organization that has performed at the Seattle Salsa Congress and Seattle Folk Life Festival, among other venues.

On Sunday morning at 10am, you can also participate in the "Soulful Sundays" session at Madrona MindBody.

Purchase tickets online, or learn more on our Salsa Dance site.

Download Centrum's 2010 Workshop Catalog

2010-02-22T11:53:09-08:00

Each spring, one of our major projects is to assemble all of our summer workshop information into a bright, shiny, informative catalog. Our hope is that in one sitting, you can take this workshop catalog and dream about all of the different artist experiences possible for you here at Fort Worden.

Port Townsend is a magical place in the summer (year round, actually) and part of that magic emerges when people just like you spend time with us, finding their artistic voice.

Our 2010 workshop catalog is being mailed out this week. However, you can download the catalog right now. Don't wait - some workshops are already full - others are close. We hope you can join us this summer, and as always, don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.

Learn to Play Latin Jazz

2010-02-10T12:47:38-08:00

The virtuoso bassist and composer Oscar Stagnaro is leading (along with son Paulo) Centrum's March 18-21 Latin Jazz Intensive. If you are a jazz musician looking to master Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, or Caribbean rhythms, you can't ask for a better guide. A native of Lima, Peru, Stagnaro is currently Associate Professor at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where he teaches bass and directs the Latin ensembles, and also teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music. He received three Latin Grammy Awards for his recordings with Paquito D’Rivera -- Live at the Blue Note, Brazilian Dreams and Funk Tango.

Here is a video from a few years back of Stagnaro jamming onstage with D'Rivera. If learning to jam like this sounds fun, check out our Latin Jazz Intensive page; we still have space in this workshop. And don't forget, the same weekend, we'll also be hosting a Salsa Dance Intensive, in partnership with Madrona Mindbody Institute and the Century Ballroom.