Derique McGee and DeMarcello Funes show their hambone skills at Showcase 2014. Photo Credit: Jack Ottaway

PCT Alum and Staff Member DeMarcello Funes in short film: BALANCING ACT at Harlem Film Festival

BALANCING ACT, a short documentary film by Stanford Film students Kristine Stolakis and Catharine Axley, screened at the San Francisco Black Film Festival this year, was accepted and will be screened at the Harlem Film Festival this Saturday, September 13th. The film is a portrait of DeMarcello Funes, who grew up in West Oakland and in the Prescott Circus Theatre program. DeMarcello speaks to his life growing up in the program, identity, coming of age as an African American artist, and carrying the legacies and practices of culture and traditions.
Please share the link to the Harlem Film Festival with your contacts in New York City to spread the word about this great short film!

Teaching Artist Derique McGee featured on Raices, Radio Bilingüe

Our own Derique McGee was featured on Radio Bilingüe, the leading Latino public radio network, as part of their series, Raices, which features stories about grassroots artists.  Along with teaching artist Derique, staff member and Prescott Circus Alum DeMarcello Funes and his younger sister, Esperanza Funes, also a PCT participant, were included in the story as living proof that the hambone tradition is being carried on through generations. The Spanish-language radio story, called “Hambone: un ritmo de resistencia,” is the product of a soulful conversation between Derique and reporter Fernando Andrés Torres about the history, technique, and cultural significance of hambone body percussion. Derique shares is own experience and connections with hambone, from the idea of creating something from very little and sharing limited resources within the community to not taking himself too seriously and spreading laughter and smiles to future generations.