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Ambi’ance Magazine The Birth of
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n December 2011, a concept was born, and a platform implemented in a one-bedroom flat off La Brea Avenue and Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles. After working in community services for over twenty-five years, it was time to develop an aggregate of all the various entities experienced around the country. It had to be something that would not only entertain but
inform and eventually inspire. This avant-garde cocktail would
blend print social media, fashion, Hollywood entertainment, public service, standup comedy, and music into something totally different than Ebony, Jet, Essence, Sister2Sister or People magazines. The thing that set this vehicle apart from the other more established tabloids was that this would be a “People’s Magazine”. In other words, we would edify and illuminate the efforts of those creative individuals who were
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trying to get to the top of the food chain. Our mission was to provide a platform for the actors, singers, writers, directors, producers, models, innovators, and visionaries both established or up and coming! In the beginning we rarely highlighted the A-Listers or Hollywood’s elite (they found us). Originally, we centered around one of the more interesting and unsung professions in the country, Stand-Up Comedy! This eventually led to stints at the Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, Hol-
lywood Improv, The J Spot, ACME Comedy, Flappers Comedy Club, Jon Lovitz Theater and the Comedy Union (which was just two blocks from my apartment). Inevitably, the doors opened to some of Hollywood’s hottest stars. It wasn’t long before the likes of Steve Harvey, Marc Howard, Luenell, Earthquake, Kym Whitley, Cedric the Entertainer, Marla Gibbs, Red Grant, Queen Latifah, Snoop Dogg, Mike Epps, Hope Flood, Kevin Hart, A.J. John-
son, Myra J, Omar Gooding, T.C. Carson, Kim Coles, Schatar ‘Hottie’ Taylor, Doug Christie, Lamar Odom, and Tiffany ‘New York’ Pollard started extending invites to some of their most exciting events. Soon, Ambi’ance Magazine started gracing the celebrity red carpets of the People's Choice Awards, The Nokia Center, The H.O.M.E., The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Gracie Awards, The Crenshaw Christian Center, The American Heritage Awards, Academy Awards, Emmys, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Maver-
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Guadalupae D’Lushus
Brazilian Funkay
“I don’t want to be stuck in one bag! I want to be international, sharing all of my flavors and claiming all of my roots, not just the Black, Latin or Portuguese, because I am all of that. I don’t want to be singled out into one ethnic group. That irritates the hell out of me! When I hit the stage, I bring them all. I’ve learned from the masters how to put on a live show and make it last in people’s mind and share my energy.” -Guadalupae D’Lushus
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lavor and energy? Most definitely! That is Brazilian born diva, Guadalupae D’ Lushus. She has traveled the world and has been trained by and performed with the best of the best! Her resume is as extensive as it is impressive and her laugh is full and ever present, yet she is immediately humbled and appreciative when
she pays homage to all of the legendary icons that have paved her way and Ambi’ance Magazine was there to walk down memory lane with this remarkable woman!
and Puerto Rican heritage from Sao Paulo, Brazil. My adopted mother; the legendary Ms. Linda Hopkins; is from New Orleans.
Ambi’ance: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Ambi’ance: When did you begin dancing? I am sure with a Brazilian heritage dancing comes natural.
Guadalupae: I am of Brazilian
Guadalupae: Yes, we learned to
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dance as children. The Samba is a cultural dance and we were taught as little children that we represent our country with this dance. All of the schools teach the children Samba and culture as part of their curriculum. When I came to the states, dancing was natural. When I was in Brazil I saw Tina Turner and she quickly became my idol. I fell in love with her and I wanted to be just like her! (Laughter) Ambi’ance: And what an iconic idol! We all loved her then and of course now...my favorite dance song was ‘Proud Mary’...you started out slow rocking and after that pause in the song, “...rolling on the river...” and that beat changed, you let it all loose, hair swinging and everything! (Laughter) Loved it! When did you come to the states and how did you begin dancing here? Guadalupae: My husband was in the military and brought me here at an early age. People thought I was very extraordinary looking at the time. You know, brown lady with big eyes and sounding like Zsa Zsa Gabor to them. (Laughter) They would ask me if I could sing. I could barely speak English, let alone sing, but I could dance! They were always putting pretty girls on shows, you know, Edwin Starr and others and I would always get drafted! Dancing was something I could do in my sleep. Ambi’ance: I read that you danced and toured with James Brown and a lot of your homage is paid to him. Tell me about that.
Guadalupae: My longest and biggest break came with James. He took me all over the world. Ambi’ance: How did you meet him? Guadalupae: I met him while walking down the street on my way to audition for the Miss Black America contest. I had my portfolio with me crossing in front of what used to be the Ed Sullivan Building (now the David Letterman Building). James was across the street with a couple of his henchmen and he looked at me, wet his lips and said, “Heh, Ha, Heh, Heeeey” (in her James Brown imitation) and that’s how I got the job! (Laughter) Ambi’ance: (Laughter) And the rest is history! Guadalupae: I had hair down to my 19” waist then, so I was Beyoncé before Beyoncé you could say. (Laughter) I was then told that James wanted me to dance for him and I didn’t believe it. I was immediately taken to his office where I was signed and the next morning we were training downstairs at the Apollo Theater with different ones preparing us to go on the road. Now that is all she wrote! (Laughter) Ambi’ance: You know that was a risky chance you took back then, especially for a young lady fairly new to a country where you barely spoke the language. Guadalupae: Yes, I was very
young and barely spoke English, but there were the Freda Paynes, The Whispers, Funkadelics, and George Clinton and Parliaments and many others, all looking out for me and protecting me from the entertainment snakes. I was the youngest one out there, so they became my big brothers and sisters. I always felt safe with them and I learned from them. I behaved and I listened. I was very teachable and was always in the right place at the right time. Ambi’ance: You have a very impressive resume. Guadalupae: Thank you! I was taught by the best, Sweetie. I’ve seen the best and we were around the best. As difficult as James was, you learned a lot. You either accepted it or walked around with the biggest chip on your shoulder. But when you traveled with him, you traveled in style. He had his own plane, his own bus and you stayed in the best of places. You were paid generously; I was the highest paid dancer at that time. We were highly visible. There were many many artists that opened for James, The Chi-Lites, Manhattans, The Stylistics, The Dramatics, all of them were on shows with us at the Apollo and I was in the company of them all. There was always a revue and James was the superstar, which meant that you met all of these people along the way; making it really nice! We worked some of the biggest and baddest places there were! There weren’t twenty
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issue 01
n April 21st, 2016, Deborah Bakaimani, my former VP of Operations for Ambiance Magazine LA/ATL was called into transition.
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Deborah “Debbi Deb� Bakaimani was born in Los Angeles CA in the winter of 1970. At the age of 6 mos. She and her parents went to Blantyre Malawi to live, while there her two sisters were born. Chichewa
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is her native language, and she did not learn English until she moved back to the states in 1976. Schooling was hindered for the first year since she could not speak English. That struggle gave her an insatiable thirst for learning. During her elementary and high school years she received many awards for her academic achievements which ultimately inspired her to become a teacher herself.
When attending John Adams Middle school, she was tested for and placed in the Gifted Magnet program where she excelled. It was also during this time that she volunteered at St. Agnes Catholic school as a teacher’s assistant and found a love not only for the children but art as well. She attended classes and workshops in her free time at U.S.C. that were geared for her love of teaching and creating. Deborah was accepted into Los An-
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geles Center for Enriched Studies (L.A.C.E.S.) where she continued her general studies and graduated in the spring of 1989. She was married that following spring and had her first daughter. She was a stay at home mom and had 2 more children within 5 years. After the third child she decided to continue her education and found a full-time job as a student teacher. She went on to receive her A.A. in Child Development and became an administrator at Golden Wings Academy located in Carson CA. She was there for 5 years and worked in every capacity of the facility. It was at this time that Deborah also developed a taste for business and business practices. She returned to school to learn the fundamentals of grant writing and nonprofit business and tax laws. Children have always been a passion for her. She joined several advocacy programs and was a proud member of the NAEYC, Los Angeles Teachers Association, Southwest College Student Body Treasure, and more. Children and their well-being took a front seat in her career path. She became a foster parent and was trained as a liaison between foster parents and childcare centers to help foster parents find adequate safe childcare for the children in their care. In the Spring of 1998, she welcomed another child and went back to work and school. She continued working as a school administrator
at GARR Academy and was afforded the luxury of having her children attend the academy where she worked. She was credited with facilitating parent informative workshops, enlisting several community based resources such as GoodWill, Salvation Army, Challengers Boys and Girls Club that came in and would offer extracurricular resources and activities for parents and children for little or no cost. She also helped to raise funds for the schools so that dis-advantaged parents could receive scholarships for their children to attend the school. In 2000 she had her last child and moved to San Bernardino County. There she helped to start the Rialto Teacher and Parent Association and opened her own childcare. She also returned to school receiving her B.A. in Psychology. She started and operated her childcare and continued her work with schools and the community for the next 11 years to help improve the quality of childcare and incorporate art and science in the general curriculum for preschoolers.
In 2012 She decided to follow her dream of having a nonprofit that catered to homeless and foster children by giving children and parents resources that they need for the reunification process and assisting the family with any and all resources that would keep them as a cohesive unit and make them into a successful family unit.. She also started to dabble in jewelry making and came up with Vanilla Dreamz Bing to help support her new nonprofit called Kidz Unlimited. A sub line was created called 'Journey' which is a children's bubble gum bead and bow line, all proceeds go to fund Kidz Unlimited endeavors. In 2014 I made an executive decision that changed the direction and legacy of Dark Gable Productions Unlimited forever. It was that fateful February in Hollywood that I invited a young businesswoman named Deborah “Debbie Deb� Bakaimani to join Ambiance Magazine LA/ATL. At that time Ambiance Magazine
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