---------------------------------------------------------------
Tentative
Entertainers
---------------------------------------------------------------
RYAN
HIGA At age 14 and out of sheer boredom, Ryan gathered his
neighborhood friends and made home videos
using a VHS camcorder…no editing software, not even a tripod. Although
quiet and reserved in
nature, the videos showcased the creative and comedic side of him. He
loved to make people laugh!
Ryan was born and raised in Hilo, a small town of 50,000 people, on the
Big Island of Hawaii. He
was your typical kid. From age 5 he played basketball and did judo and
loved to watch TV and play
video and computer games. In high school, he was a member of the
National Honor Society and
participated in judo and wrestling, earning local and state titles and
received his black belt in Judo.
With nothing else to do after a night of bowling or movies, he
organized his school friends to make videos.
In 2006 came the discovery of Youtube, a digital camera, tripod and
editing software. He started posting
videos on Youtube because it was an easier way to share them with his
friends….not knowing they would
become so popular.
His Youtube channel has over 2.4 million Subscribers and became #1 Most
Subscribed All Time in
August 2009. His over 60 videos have more than 511 million views.
Ryan is currently a student at University of Nevada, Las Vegas,
majoring in Film and hopes to be
successful some day in the entertainment industry as an actor, writer,
producer or director……. or
perhaps, fulfill his dream of starring in his own TV series. Ryan Higa's
Youtube
Original Video -
More videos at TinyPic ---------------------------------------------------------------
JON
ILLASTRAYTE KIM Born and raised in New York City, Jon Kim is a 22-year
old, singer-lyricist rising Youtube star. He has performed in numerous
shows
as far as Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and has
also worked with notable performers such as Dante Fawkes of Atlanta and
Kollaboration 10's Melissa Griggs. He likes to play basketball to stay
fit and lists Michael Jackson as one of his music heroes. Although
Korean, he claims to support the Vietnamese culture by eating a lot of
pho. Because of his popularity in Atlanta, rumor has it that a group of
girls cornered him by asking his autograph while eating at a restaurant
called "Honey Pig" (which happened to be playing one of his recorded
songs at the time.) He is currently based in Orlando, Florida. Jon
Illastrayte Kim's Facebook
---------------------------------------------------------------
VARUN
REDDY Varun Reddy, born and raised in the City of Hyderabad,
India, is a Beat
boxer by choice and an Engineer by profession. He finished his
Bachelors in
India and moved on to US, where he finished his Master in Material
Science
and Engineering. He started beat boxing four years ago when he saw it
on
an American TV show aired in India. He started learning beat boxing on
his
own and then an year later through Youtube(when finally the faster
internet
reached his house). He started performing 2 years ago and was really
really
happy when he won AASU Got Talent. It is his “Can do” attitude which
makes
him to believe he will be the first Beatboxing Prime minister of India
but
currently he is still a work in progress. He is currently practicing
the Art
of Beatboxing in Chicago and eagerly waiting to be famous, so that he
can
write something worthwhile, like everyone else above and below him on
this
page.
---------------------------------------------------------------
ANIDA
YOEU ALI Performance artist, writer and global agitator, Anida Yoeu
Ali is a first generation
Muslim Khmer woman born in Cambodia and raised in Chicago. Her
interdisciplinary
performances use Butoh to examine the poetic potential of the body and
collective
healing. Her performance work transforms loss into conversations about
reconciliation.
Since 1998, Anida has toured over 300 colleges and venues with the
spoken word
ensemble, I Was Born With Two Tongues, and the multimedia collective
Mango Tribe.
The Tongues' pioneering live performances and critically-acclaimed
debut CD, "Broken
Speak", ignited a new generation of Asian American voices. She is also
a founding
member of Young Asians With Power!, Asian American Artists
Collective-Chicago,
the National APIA Spoken Word & Poetry Summit, and MONSOON fine
arts journal.
Her artistic work has been the recipient of grants from the Rockefeller
Foundation,
Ford Foundation, National Endowment of the Arts and Illinois Arts
Council. From
Copenhagen to Ho Chi Minh City, Anida lectures, exhibits and performs
internationally. Anida
Yoeu Ali's
Website
---------------------------------------------------------------
DJ
REKHA DJ
Rekha is a producer, curator, educator and activist based in New York
City and founder of Basement Bhangra™. She was named "Ambassador of
Bhangra" by the New York Times as well as "one of the most influential
South Asians in the United States" by Newsweek. Rekha’s other musical
work include sound design for the TONY winning Broadway Show, "Bridge
and Tunnel." And off-broadway show Rafta Rafta, and associate Producer
for the NPR Radio Documentary, "A Feet in Two Worlds". Her debut album,
"DJ Rekha presents Basement Bhangra" is on Koch Records. In early 2009,
Rekha embarked on a three-week tour of India as a Cultural Ambassador
to the U.S. Consulate She was NYU’s Asian Pacific American Artist in
Residence for the 2006-2007 year which is when she has taught a class
Pop Culture: South Asians in the US. Rekha has given lectures and led
workshops on Hip Hop, politics and South Asian art for various
universities and institutions including the Smithsonian, Brooklyn
Museum and Columbia University. Her work has been featured on CNN, NPR,
PBS. Rekha has curated shows for Summerstage, Celebrate Brooklyn and
curated Desi Diaspora film series at the 92Y Tribeca. She has a BA in
Urban Studies from Queens College. DJ
Rekha's
Website
---------------------------------------------------------------
Past
Entertainers
Kate
Rigg
& Zulu
Set
