Folk arts coordinator bringing cultures together

In the past month Elinor Levy has attended the Martin Luther King Jr. parade, a finkle (Yiddish group) where she met a Lithuanian who sang in Yiddish theater in post-World War II Soviet Union, a Scottish Ceillidh (a festival) and a Japanese embroidery class.

Later this month she will be at a Chinese New Year event.

As the new folk arts coordinator for Clark County Parks and Recreation, Levy, whose position is funded through a grant provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, has been making her way around the world, studying different cultures via community centers and libraries in the valley.

Her field work will put her in touch with families and cultural groups that are passing their traditional stories and arts to younger generations. Her mission is to bring folk arts to the county at large and to give different groups a chance to present their traditions to one another.

Levy, who started work Jan. 3, argues against the popular belief that Las Vegas has no culture. "That's definitely not true. It's so easy to focus on the glitz and the glamour, yet there are so many people who make this town happen.

"I'm finding all these really neat little pockets of people."

On Wednesday Levy met with the 30-member Mexican Ballet Folklorico group, Tepuchcalli, at Halle Hewetson Elementary School to observe its practice and ask about its background.

As Levy interviewed the group's instructor, children and their parents gathered in the cafeteria where tables had been taken away for the evening. The children, dressed in black, began to warm up. Young girls fit into their flamenco-style dresses used for rehearsal.

Twelve-year-old Aldolfo Maduena talked with other dancers, the youngest being 4-year-old Michael Zepeda, who was busy practicing his steps.

"They show us different dances from different states in Mexico," Maduena said about why he joined the group. Born in Los Angeles, Maduena has lived in Las Vegas for nine years. "We want to learn about Mexican culture," he adds.

Which is why dance instructor Jose Fajardo is so dedicated to the group.

"I was concerned about my Spanish community," Fajardo, who was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, said. "We were looking for another way to have fun and show Mexican tradition, dance and costumes."

The group, divided by ages, performs dances from nearly all the Mexican states. They meet three times a week to practice. During the weeks before a performance, they may meet six days a week, according to Miguel Hernandez, president.

Since it was formed in 1996 Tepuchcalli has performed 130 times, including at UNLV and Cashman Center. Levy's visit was a "matter of getting them into the county fold."

Other cultural groups in the valley include Samoan, Hawaiian, Southeast Asian, Iranian, Hungarian, American Indian, Filipino and Basque, Levy said.

It's interesting to see the ways groups work to stay together, yet assimilate at the same time, she said. "It's so easy, especially in this country, to focus on assimilation. But people are not the same. Everyone's different."

Irma Wynants, a volunteer for the Community Roots project, which works to find and support local folkloric artists, says cultures that preserve their traditions feel stronger.

"It's very hard to settle into another country with a different language and different people," Wynants said. "This makes us realize who we are and where we came from so we don't feel so much like an outsider.

Although Wynants' project is sponsored by the Nevada Arts Council, she says she assists Levy with Latino communities.

Wynants said it's important in a mixed society that different cultures understand each other's traditions.

One way of highlighting the different cultures is through a 30-minute video documentary Levy is working on that features the Kaminari Tiko drummers, the Mexico Vivo dance company, a Navajo silversmith and the D Bar J hat company, which makes historical hats.

The video is expected to be finished in March. At the same time an exhibit featuring the costumes and artwork of those in the video will open at Winchester Community Center.

"We hope this will be the first of many," said Dorothy Wright, program administrator for concerts at the Clark County government center, about the video. "(Through Levy) we're combining all of these things that we wanted to do for some time."

The video, funded by the National Arts Council, will air frequently on the county's Channel 4 and will be presented to A&E, the national cable network. Videos featuring the valley's annual Renaissance Festival and Native American Festival have been featured on A&E, she said.

Another priority of Levy's is to continue the annual Folk Life Festival during the first week in October. The 9-year-old event features performers and arts and crafts from different cultures. Last year more than 20 groups participated. And Levy said she is looking for new artists.

"We've been waiting for her for years," said Jeanne Johnson, Folk Arts Program associate with the Nevada Arts Council in Carson City. Although the two groups are funded and operate separately, Levy will be taking over some of the Southern Nevada responsibilities and will meet regularly to share information.

The Folk Arts Program needed someone who could be in the valley and be readily available for events, Johnson said.

Levy is trying to include folk-art activity in programs such as Safe Key and those for the elderly. She's hoping to tap into a rich source of folk arts: the people who work in hotels and casinos.

"I always knew there's something other than the casinos holding Las Vegas together. There are about 5,000 people coming to Las Vegas each month. Each one of them has folklore."

Levy has her master's degree in Cultural Anthropology from California State University at Sacramento and has been working toward her doctorate from the University of Indiana at Bloomington.

"This is my dream job," Levy said.

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