THE BULL
Fall 2019/ Winter 2020
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
AR E CLOWN S ST I LL F UNNY?
THE TENACIOUS HUSSLE OF RAPPER
THE TENACIOUS HUSSLE OF RAPPER

Fall 2019/ Winter 2020
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
AR E CLOWN S ST I LL F UNNY?
THE TENACIOUS HUSSLE OF RAPPER
THE TENACIOUS HUSSLE OF RAPPER
Thank you for picking up this magazine.
āLive Performanceā is the theme I chose for this issue. Hereās why.
I was 12 years old. At the time I was seeing a therapist for anxiety. And my brother, whoās three years older, was in a production of A Christmas Story. He played the bully.
As I watched him opening night, with the lights shining and a packed house enjoying the performance, I noticed the audience didnāt see my older brother. They saw a bully. A character.
That amazed me. It made me realize that when you are performing you get to release yourself from your troubles, enabling you to become anything you want to be.
Like any stereotypical younger brother, I followed closely in his footsteps. I soon joined theater and performed in plays and
musicals. Quickly, my anxiety subsided.
I havenāt seen a therapist since.
I hope the stories give you a feeling similar to the one I had watching my brother that nightāa feeling of appreciation for others who dare to perform live.
I hope you are inspired to go see a show or maybe be in one. This magazine is the result of the hard work, dedication and teamwork of the Bull Magazine staff. I have much love and respect for those who contributed to this issue.
My sincerest appreciation goes to professors Jeff Favre and Jill Connelly, as well as to the entire Pierce College Media Arts Department. Anybody that has let Jeff and Jill into their lives and genuinely listened can agree that they are two of the hardest working instructors. They pushed me beyond what I thought was my limits and I am forever indebted to the time they have spent trying to help me be a better journalist.
Photography:
Bleu Briggs
Cecilia Parada
Katya Castillo
Chris Torres
Natalie Miranda
Instruction:
Calvin Alagot
Taylor Arthur
Sean McDonald
Sean Collins-Smith
Your support and dedication to the Pierce College Media Arts publications do not go unnoticed. ank you.Best, Cameron Kern Ryan āHundoā Williams pose in the photo studio at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Oct. 16, 2019. Photo by Bleu Briggs
22 Full-time college student and stripper
Exotic dancer in todayās world of social media
Burn Club
26 Keep on clowning
28 Celebrating a culture through dance
Before the lights dimmed and the teleportation to Transylvania commenced on a recent fall Friday, host Zoey Hayes crawled on stage at the Nuart
in the audience take part in a rite of passage.
Virgins in this case included anyone who has not seen the live adaptation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Those who got on stage were asked to pick their favorite cartoon characterā and then instructed to fake an orgasm as that animated alter-ego. After they each groaned it out, everyone ran back to their seats for the main attraction.
Each weekend, the Nuart welcomes people from all walks of life and immerses them in the longest-running continuous midnight movie of all time. And although
Sins Oā The Flesh is a veteran crew willing to get extreme when the lights go out.
Abby Mahle has been participating in the cast since she was 16. Starting as a Transylvanian, because itās the only role you can play when you are younger than 18, she then tackled other roles, such as Magenta, Columbia and Rocky. Now she serves as the groupās photographer.
āI think the thing that gets me the most about this is the community space and generational mixing, which is really uncommon,ā Mahler said. āTo have that
Photos by Katya Castillo Nina Minnelli glows in the spotlight as she struts across the stage as Frank N. Furter at the Nuart Theatre in Santa Monica, Calif., on Oct. 19, 2019community space, which is LGBTQ safe and is not alcohol centered, is really amazing, because most LGBTQ places are not only 18-plus, but they are bars. Having a place that isnāt that, where you can see people getting older, is rare and should be treasured.ā
Mahler explained that the important thing about joining the Rocky Horror community is being open, because there is so much history to learn, and to enjoy the experience.
The Rocky Horror Picture Showās general U.S. release date was in 1975, around April Foolās Day at the Waverly Theater (now called IFC Center), in 1976 in New York, according to the Rocky Horror Fan Page . This was the start of Rocky Horrorās āaudience participationā that has lasted throughout the decades.
Dressed as characters from the replica of whatās happening on screen, while audience members play their part with props and lines of dialogue that have developed organically through the years.
The response to a movie that didnāt do well in its initial run during regular hours was a surprise to everyoneā including its creators Jim Sharmon and Richard OāBrien as well as to its cast.
Tim Curry, who played Dr. Frank N. Furter in the original motion picture, even attended a showing while living in New York, just down the street from the Waverly Theater, and he often witnessed fans going to midnight showings in costume, according to NPR.
Living up to the cult classicās legacy is a big act to follow, but it doesnāt discourage generations of fans from dedicating themselves to learning every facial expression, dance move and stage block.
Austin Fresh, who is Sins Oā The Fleshās cast lead, said there is still pressure to get creative because it is such a phenomenon, and they have seen so many iterations of it.
āI come from a very strong theater background, so I have a lot of tools in my to break down and analyze a character as far as emotions go,ā Fresh said. āLike when I played Frank, I probably took about 50-to-60 hours to break down all the facial expressions and motivations in a scene. I feel it naturally, then I build upon it. But with Trixie (the waitress or
Marlee Blackwell laughs diabolically as Frank N. Furter as Hannah Jarvis, in the role of Columbia, looks at her at the Nuart Theatre in Santa Monica, Calif., on Oct.12, 2019 Marlee Blackwell October at the Nuart Theatre.usherette), that one is nuts, because there is no one on screen, so you have to build it from scratch, and it has to be different every time.ā
Fresh also touched on what is like to go outside of the box and to push boundaries.
āIām Trixie, for the most part, so I do a lot of gender bending Trixies,ā Fresh said. āSo Iām either a full blown drag king or full blown drag queen. Very over the top, old school burlesque style.ā
Fresh thinks that newcomers should continue to push boundaries but also maintain the integrity that has been built.
Marlee Blackwell, who has been with the cast for six years, said that the audience base and excitement has remained consistent, and that gives her hope that it will continue.
āItās because the people you meet here are amazing, and a lot of us tend then you come to Rocky Horror and no one cares who you are, what you look like or where you come from,ā Blackwell
said. āWe have people that are in theater, people that are disabled or widespread group, and it is cool to see how we can all bond over this.ā
Blackwell picked up sewing and costume design because of Rocky Horror , and said she has sewn more sequins than she can count, all of which as an unpaid volunteer. She tells people it is more than a hobbyāitās a lifestyle.
āThis experience has been very cathartic,ā Blackwell said. āItās our home away from home. It gives me an outlet to perform as someone who likes to be on stage but not necessarily act in a traditional setting, and itās a blast getting to put on makeup and costumes as well as having the community play a big part in it.ā
The Sins Oā The Flesh has many recurring cast members, including Lindsay Huston, who has been with the cast for more than a decade, as well as Nina Minnelli and Renee Jeske, both of whom are coming up on 20 years. Huston said that when you are
preparing a character. To fully study them, you must watch the movie āan obsceneā amount of times.
As one of the older castmates, Huston now is at the point where she knows her roles so well that she doesnāt usually need to spend a lot of time on them. She watches the movie in October for refreshers, but itās like going on autopilot.
āI would say I bring history to the cast, because I was around when a lot of the original cast members were still around, and I remember what happened, what lines were yelled out, what signs they held up,ā Huston said. āAlso, I feel like Iām the cool dad or the cool uncle. I just take people and Iām like, āItās going to be okay my sweet summerās child.āā
Minnelli said she canāt comprehend how many hours of preparation has gone into being a part of this cast.
āThankfully, Iāve done and seen naturally pick up and crawl into the skin
Austin Fresh and Renee Jeske mirror the Rocky Horror Picture Show movie as they embody their characters Columbia and Magenta at the Nuart Theatre.of any character that I play,ā she said. āIt is just fun to see that people still want to come out, and that it is still relevant in so many ways.ā
Renee Jeske said that the family atmosphere is why she doesnāt quit it.
āThe reason Iāve been doing Rocky Horror for so long is just the people and having a cool group of friends that are just as much of weirdo as I am,ā Jeske said. āWe are always looking for people to join the cast, and most of my long time friends I met through Rocky. Even when people leave the cast they remain friends with people forever.ā
Pierce College Department Chair of Performing Arts Michael Gend said going to see a movie versus a live theater experience such as the Rocky Horror Picture Show is much like comparing listening to your favorite song on iTunes and then listening to it live in concert.
āThere is this viceral energy that you get from being surrounded by a live audience watching an actual actor or performer on the stage that you canāt replicate in the movies,ā Gend said. āItās this unique piece of theater that is so reactive and has this element of improvisation where the actors can really play off of audience response.ā
The audience swayed side to side to a musical number at the Nuart Theatre.
Since 10th grade, singer and actor Stephanie Smith has struggled with her vision, from the simple need to wear glasses, to getting into a car accident that detached her retinas.
Exacerbated by diabetes, she began to slowly lose her eyesight, with tunnel vision in her right eye and only peripheral in her left.
Still, Smith was able to see ⦠until 2009.
āThey kept doing surgery after surgery after surgery until my eye went dead,ā Smith said. āI donāt even have light perception anymore. Iām completely dark.ā
But Smith hasnāt allowed the
Story by Meilani Welbeck Photos by Kevin Lendio Professional Singer Stephanie Smith refuses to let losing her sight stop herdarkness to effect her passion for performing, while also helping others who are visually impaired to continue performing as well.
Smithās voice was trained by classical expert Bradley Baker. At 13, she sang background for R&B singer Natalie Cole in 1991 at the Greek Theatre.
Smith went on to compete in the Los Angeles Music Centerās āSpotlight Awardsā held at their Dorothy Chandler Pavilion where she became the 1995 Spotlight Award winner in her category after competing against 5,000 other music students throughout California.
āI participated in anything that had musicāmusicals, plays, anything,ā Smith said.
But in 2009, she began to have issues with her eyesight. Smith said that she still was able to sing gigs, but because she let people know about her debilitating eyesite, the work opportunities came less.
āPhone calls stopped,ā she recalled.
āNobody reached out to me, you know? And then I would reach out to them and nothing.ā
According to the World Health Organization, āGlobally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed.ā
Despite being what some would consider forgotten in the industry, Smith has managed to adjust her life.
Smithās oldest son, Jordan Taylor, who often serves as her aid, said his mom is independent.
āGenerally, she tries to do stuff by herself, and when she asks, she at least lets you know she tried to do it by herself,ā Taylor said.
Smith credits her faith in God and the encouragement from her children when she is feeling down.
āI do have my days where I feel
discouraged because it seems like you reach out to people and people donāt want to be there, but outside of that, itās like Godās saying to me, āIām showing you right now, even though you donāt want to do it, you can do a lot of this by yourself without the help of those other people that youāre reaching out to,āā Smith said.
Smith, to resist her inevitable blindness, eventually she learned to embrace it. She enrolled in the California Department of Rehabilitation. According to Smith, they sent people to her home to teach her how to travel with a guide cane and taught her how to navigate through her kitchen. She later enrolled in computer classes.
In June 2018, Smith founded The Vizionz Project, Inc., with the purpose of providing people who are visually impaired with the same opportunities their sighted peers have, and to bridge the gap between the groups to help facilitate more inclusive interactions. The schools that are designed for the visually impaired children, Smith believes, are not taught at the same level.
āPeople saw that I lost my sight. Phone calls stopped, nobody reached out to me.ā
-STEPHANIE SMITH
āThese kids do not get the same opportunities. No oneās teaching dance to blind kids and only some schools teach drama,ā Smith said.
Smith said the hardest part about running The Vizionz Project, Inc. is not to acquire fundraising.
āEverything that I do is going to income,ā she said. āUsing your personal money to get your business started is already hard. And when your money is limited, itās even harder.ā
consultant Alicia Barmore, who founded Favour Consulting Group, there are bring in less than $50k per year in revenue.ā
Barmore said she has helped start over 12 years.
āWhatās really unique, and what I love about Stephanieās story, is that sheās taking a stand for thousands of other people that are in the same situation,ā Barmore said.
Smith acknowledged that although she may have lost her eyesight, she hasnāt lost her gifts.
āMy physical sight is gone, but my vision is very much there and I want the world to know I can see a lot more than you think I can,ā Smith said.
⢠About one in three parents said their child received one year or less of music education. One in six parents said their child had received no music education at their school.
⢠By 2010, 40 percent of high schools no longer required that students take arts courses to graduate, according to the report, citing U.S. Department of Education statistics.
⢠Only a third of eighth-graders in the Western United States took an art class in 2016 and only 17 percent played in the school band, the
according to a recently released national arts assessment.
Many students in America never get their moment in the spotlight
1.3 million elementary school students donāt have access to music classes in the United States today.
Mexico is home to many traditions, culture and music.
The infamous Sones de Mariachi date back to the 1800s. Mariachi music was a way to celebrate the struggles and triumphs of a personās life.
Mariachi groups remain an integral part of celebrating important occasions in Mexico, such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals.
Mariachi has generally been a maledominated genre, but there are some notable exceptions.
Founded in 2007 by Maricela Martinez in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Mariachi Lindas Mexicans is an all-female mariachi group. They have performed in LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the Museum of Latin American Arts and will be featured on season three of the Starz network show Vida
Martinez fell in love with the music style because her father was in a mariachi group, but she never imagined herself becoming a director of one.
āI saw my father serenade the āmananitasā to my mom on her birthday
every year,ā Martinez said. āI never saw a girl in the group with my dad, and I never thought it was possible.ā
After attending an all-female mariachi concert with her sister, Martinez was amazed by their performance.
āWe were like āOh, is that possible?ā After my sister wanted to play [in a mariachi group], she said to me, āCome on, letās do it,ā and so I started playing the trumpet at 16,ā Martinez said.
When Martinez turned 17 she had become a director for a juvenile group and believed she was a natural-born leader. After working with many different groups she realized how much they took advantage of women.
āI noticed how the directors of female groups would take a lot of money from the girls and give them a small amount,ā she said. āI wanted to spread the love with mariachi and represent our culture and women.ā
On Nov. 2, 2007, she went to La Plazita Olvera with Guadalupe Cortez, a vihuela player, and together they found they had potential.
āWe had Dia de Los Muertos makeup on,ā she said. āWe laid our case out and people started to put money for us. Then we had gig after gig, and everythingās been escalating to better and greater things.ā
Martinez decided she wanted her group to be all-female, because she believed it would give her a place where she felt supported and her voice would be heard.
A musician spends a lot of their time with group members, but the closest relationship is with her instrument.
āMy relationship with my trumpet is so special. Every time I play it I teleport to another world and I forget all my worries and anxieties and I concentrate on just playing,ā Martinez said.
Martha Flores, a guitarron player for the Mariachi Lindas Mexicans, said it took her time to fall in love with her instrument.
āMy brother made me play the guitarron, so I did, but I learned to love it, and right after high school I came here and thatās why I am here today,ā Flores said.
Olga Casillas, a violinist for the group,
Story by Belen Hernandezfound interest in her instrument after hearing it play.
āI play the violin, and what inspired me was seeing women play instruments in this genre of music. I love seeing women included in a male-dominated
Mariachi Lindas Mexicans typically work 12 hour days but enjoy spreading their culture and empowering women their biggest supporters are their family members.
Casillas said her family was excited to see that she was going to be in a mariachi group.
āMy family is very proud mariachi in the family because they love mariachi music,ā Martinez said. āIt is part of our culture. Itās our passion. I honestly donāt listen to anything else but mariachi music.ā
The group plays different venues for different occasions, Casillas said. They
be contagious.
āWe do catch and feel our peopleās energy. For example, at a funeral youāll see us crying, and at birthdays youāll see us celebrating with them,ā Casillas said.
Mariachi is that it is distinctive to Mexicans,ā Herrera said. āItās not something we cropped out from France or China. Itās something Mexicans created. Itās part of our Identity.ā
Herrera said Mariachi has always been male-dominated, but it doesnāt mean women donāt have the capability of doing a manās job.
āThe notion that only males can participate in this activity is just nonsensical when you think about it,ā Herrera said. āBut we as people often continue with nonsensical ideas. So it goes against [our culture], and we should just get rid of it.ā
āIt just depends on the type of event.ā
Fermin Herrera, a professor of Chicana/o studies at California State University, Northridge, said mariachi music is part of the Mexican culture.
āThe importance of the Son de
Mariachi Lindas Mexicans wants to be an example of empowerment and hope to continue spreading love of Mexican culture through music.
āThis is an art,ā Martinez said. āWhen we perform, we want people to connect the music with good people who are representing our community.ā
āMy relationship with my trumpet is so special. Every time I play I teleport to another world.ā
- MARCIELA MARTINEZ Founder of Mariachi Lindas Mexicans
At 18, during one of Ryan Williamsā shifts at Footlocker, a colleague grew sick of listening to his fantasies of being a famous rapper. He took him aside and said, āIf you want to be a rapper so bad, prove it.ā
Williams went home that night and it on Facebook, the pseudo streaming service of music for teenagers in 2011.
After receiving some praiseānot only from his friends at work, but also from random people onlineāhe realized this actually could be his career path.
I was gloating, like Iām the man at this. That didnāt come until later,ā Williams said. āI only feel that way now. But then it was like, Iām actually pretty decent at this, like if I really worked at it, I could turn this into something,ā
Years later, after falling in and out of love with the rap game, Williams began to take the art form seriously. Now 27, he is recognized by thousands as Hundo, the up-and-coming San Fernando Valley rapper with a promising career as a signed, featured artist for Sprite, the soda under the Company
Williams believes being a rapper today is more attractive than ever, but that many donāt see the power the form has when used as a proactive voice for change.
āMaybe being a musician appears cooler than other jobs, but the core of what I do is still to support the community, way to get involved and make a change, whether it be on the smallest scale or the largest one,ā he said. āItās evident in the music I put out. Itās evident in the rapping.ā
Williams spent many years deciding on what he calls āhis purpose.ā He worked a couple of blue-collar jobs while he studied to be a youth pastor.
āI could have sworn that I was going to focus on ministry,ā Williams explained. āI ended up dropping out of college to pursue ministry and then I left ministry soon after.ā
But it was a conversation with God that convinced him to change his direction.
āIt was as if God himself spoke to me and was like, āIf this took you a year
to learn how to get better, without any success, would you be OK with that?ā Williams explained. āOnce I answered that within myself, and I said āyes,ā I knew it was time to take it seriously.ā
Williams credits his success from other social media platforms, as well as his support group Potluckāan artist collective he co-founded.
āI wanted to create something where itās not just about the person at the top,ā he said. āThose types of organizations, they fail. So I wanted something where itās like, if everybody cooks, everybody should eat. Itās like, letās get people to collectively give their talents and we all
Justin Garner, who goes by his stage name JustBeatz, is a music student at
over an MP3 for a live performance, but it gets boring,ā Garner said. āI think people think its eye candy to see a rapper with a live band. Thereās no color with an MP3. It brings color when we step into a room together.ā
Samuel Grodin is an adjunct performance professor at Pierce College. He said that having a live band is usually a more preferable option, regardless of the music style.
āIt depends on your musical vision, but there is something special about performing in a group,ā Grodin said. āYou react off of one another, and these reactions can make something great. Rock Concerts, for example, with all the singing and yelling, can sometimes feel like listening to the music aspect of the show becomes secondary to the performance as a whole.ā
Many of Williamsā songs cover social topics such as racism, political corruption and domestic violence. But his roots are focused on his backyard.
āIf I could change the way that things are around here in the Valley, if I could bring in more jobs, more work into this community, then thatād be cool,ā Williams said.
Pierce College and is Williamsā producer. Garnerās work can be heard on Williamsā latest project This Is Not the Album, which debuted earlier this year.
āTo me, itās the craft,ā Garner said. āPerforming is cool, but just being in the studio, crafting new music, is always a fun experience. Always.ā
When Williams performs live, he raps, Garner provides beats and Erik de Guzman organizes the songs and translates them for a live setting.
āWhen you get a great performance, itās just like an intoxicating feeling, like youāve done amazing and the crowd loves it. But I still love crafting a song,ā Guzman said. āThe process of putting sound after sound together like pieces in a puzzle, and then it all comes together beautifully. Nothing beats that.ā
Garner believes that Williams having a live band gives him an advantage over other rap artists.
āNot to shame anyone whoās rapping
Williams dreams of building his rap career to a global scale, but he also hopes to represent the San Fernando Valley like never before by building a rap culture separate from the Los Angeles scene.
āWhen I say Iām the best rapper in the Valley, I donāt say that to be mean to other people,ā he explained. āIām bringing awareness to the Valley, and Iām also trying to raise the level of the competition. I want people to really come to this and take it seriously.ā
According to an article by The Atlantic, the likelihood of becoming famous as a rapper is 0.0086%, while more than half of people in the United States ages 18-25 wish they were famous for rapping. But Williams isnāt afraid of pursuing his dreams, regardless of the statistics.
āThereās a lot of artists Iāve met that are more naturally talented, but they donāt apply themselves,ā he said. āTo me, thatās the difference, where I feel like I have an edge.ā
āI want to support the community by speaking up on important get involved and make a change.ā
- RYAN WILLIAMS Valley Rapper Hundo
His friends call him Blake Dedlie. To his family, heās David Christian Morgan. But on a September night at the Sugar Mill Saloon, neither āBlakeā nor āDavidā was getting ready to perform.
It was Bob Margoāthe dark persona Morgan learned to synchronize at the age of 16āwho stood on a small platform ready to excite the audience.
Despite the chattering noise in the background, this self-taught musician pulled up his guitar, curved his back
ran across the strings while he prepared for the show.
Morgan, writer and singer of songs with titles such as Monsters, Heaven and Hell and 3A.M., grabbed his microphone as they began to perform.
āItās not me,ā he said. āThatās what it really feels like. Itās some spirit out in the world. Iām just open to it, and then write it out.ā
Morgan has written and produced songs for his rock band Twisted Black Sole that express a feeling of anger, torment and frustration rooted in certain life-altering events. Morgan said it was Bob Margo who inspired him to write songs.
āOne time I was in a shower and I heard a song deep from within, and I knew it was him. Heās my shadowā the animalistic monster inside me that I gave a name to,ā Morgan said.
This concurring identity eventually became a song of its own.
I am Bob Margo
I want out of this s***hole
someone give me the key. I want out
Let me
I am Bob Margo
The human stain on your soul
Your sympathetic to my cry
Born on a Friday the 13th at 12:34 a.m., Morganās mother, Christy, said he was considered by the doctors as a perfect baby.
āHe came out with his eyes open and never cried,ā she recalled. āDavid was a happy kid. He was an honors student, and he always makes sure to do extra.ā
Morgan has attended Catholic private schools in the San Fernando Valley. He was in eighth grade at St. Bernard Elementary when he started writing lyrics. He was caught by his teacher who found
āIt sucked. I was part of the student government and they kicked me out,ā Morgan said.
Being introverted as a kid, Morgan started leaning toward music as a source of comfort from a challenging childhood.
āDavidās songs are his truth and reality that he may not always show to other people,ā his bandmate Ismael Ramirez commented. āA lot of them were written when he was young. It reminded him of all the things that shaped him of who he is now. In a sense, heās kind of the most vulnerable on the stage while he sings his songs.ā
After Morganās performance at Sugar Mill Saloon, he decided to sit outside the bar and grab a glass of beerāhis dark messy hair now dripping with sweat. A
few minutes later, he explained some critical moments in his life.
āI was molested when I was 5. That was pretty bad. And the moment my grandmother died was a big downer too, because I was very close to her,ā he said.
At 18, Morgan experienced an overwhelming distress after breaking up with a girl that he thought he was going to marry.
āI just became an atheist after that. I started telling people that what they believe is dumb and stupid. I was just sad,ā Morgan said.
His spiritual life eventually centered more in rock music and less on his religious education.
āGod is sort of the otherness that we canāt really spell out. Rock and roll is my god. Thatās my higher power,ā Morgan explained. āThere are things in the world that we canāt really fathom. Like, why does music move us? Itās magical.ā
Throughout history, music has been proven to express and affect human
emotion.
Every element of a song, from tempo to lyrics, from instrument choice to the texture of the sound, plays a role in how the brain responds.
According to an article of Mmegi newspaper in Botswana, scientists reported that rock music disrupts the reasoning ability of a person by affecting the frontal lobe. This research could help explain why listeners of this genre are more likely to use drugs or even have suicidal thoughts.
Because of the negative associations connected with the music, it might be destructive or even unusual.
āPeople wear different hats at different times, according to Pierce College Psychology Professor Angela Belden.
āHaving a side to you thatās a little bit darker or twisted is not abnormal,ā she said. āI think people recognize that in themselves a lot of times. They are who they are. Theyāre complicated people, and
David Morgan performs at a Halloween show at Redwood Bar.their thoughts donāt always match their words. We think things deep inside. We keep them inside. David may just be more willing to take these things out.ā
Apart from being a founder of a rock band, Morgan also has extended his years.
Ramirez shared that the image of Bob Margo has inspired counseling members to unleash their strong inner potential.
āWe are shunned from releasing this energy because people are afraid of this power, and they think it is dangerous,ā Ramirez said. āWe just happen to accept it and allow it to be part of our lives, and then we use it to strengthen us, especially on stage, because thatās where our home is. Thatās where we belong.ā
He also mentioned the relevance of how this identity can be essential in facing political issues.
āI think the reason why society is
why people are out marching right now. Theyāve had enough, and itās ready to come out.ā
Whether a creative outlet or a psychological product of life experiences, Bob Margo became more than just a dark side of a rock band vocalist. It sheds light to the modern issue of freedom and suppression.
To an audience, Morgan may simply be a guy who sings rock music and plays the guitar. But to his friends and family, heās an image of strength and authenticity. His willingness to unveil his true self is the best performance heās ever done.
the way it is right now is because itās at the point where everyoneās āBob Margoā is trying to come out, and no one can hold it back anymore,ā he said. āThatās
This rock identity is Morganās life songāthe harmony that binds darkness from his past with the enlightenment music. āItās who I am,ā he said.
The Terpenese, one of Davidās three bands, perform in front of a crowd at Sugar Mill Saloon. David Morgan smiles to a bandmate in the middle of a performance at Sugar Mill Saloon. David Morgan tunes his guitar before a show at the Sugar Mill Saloon.āWe think things deep inside, we keep them inside. David may just be more willing to take these things out.ā
-ANGELA BELDEN Pierce College Professor of Psychology
Behind the deep burgundy curtain, the adult Odd Ball Cabaret in North Hills on a quiet Thursday night.
A patron sat by himself in the lonely club and watched as a tall woman in a revealing bodysuit that exposed her abdomen and back approached the long metallic pole. When she began to dance, the light centered on the stage lost its gleam that her
Dylan, who asked to keep her identity hidden, is a 26-year-old full-time student at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) that works on the side as an exotic dancer. After serving in the communications major while also working the allnude club.
āThereād be sometimes where I cried and I would just be like, Iām over this. Why do I put up with this?ā Dylan said. āBut then, other times, you know, Iāve made good friends, Iāve had great nights, Iāve made a lot of money. Itās just kind of like a give and take.ā
Dylan moved to Long Beach after her service from the Marines and attended Long Beach City College before transferring. Even though she had her school paid by the government, Dylan wanted
āYou know, I was under so many rules for so long and being in the Marines and stuff, I just wanted to have fun,ā Dylan said.
Dylan decided to work as an exotic dancer.
āAt a topless club where they sell alcohol, you can get drunk at work. It just sounded like fun,ā Dylan said. āItās a once in a lifetime experience that Iām not going to be able to do late in life.ā
She began searching for a club that would take her, and she eventually landed an audition in a club called Candy Cat Too in Woodland Hills. Despite
Story by Sergio Torres Photos by Maja Losinska Dylan dances around the main stage pole before the Odd Ball Cabaret opens in North Hills Calif., on Oct. 20, 2019.taking a class for pole dancing, Dylan felt that she wasnāt experienced enough.
walked in. I was like shaking,ā Dylan remembered.
Expecting the establishment to be empty, Dylan found herself auditioning in front of several customers.
āI guess I was just nervous in the lights. I was just trying hard to look not bad. I made $12 on stage. Iāll always remember that day,ā Dylan said.
She was rejected by the Candy Cat Too.
But after that experience, Dylan found a well-known dancer to message her. Asking for a job opportunity, the woman from Instagram told Dylan about the Odd Ball Cabaret. special place in my heart,ā Dylan said.
Although Dylan started dancing in her early ā20s, the Odd Ball Cabaret has a wide age range of dancers.
A more seasoned performer from France, who uses the stage name Manuella, has worked in the Odd Ball Cabaret for 30 years. She came into the country with a group of dancers doing several different kinds of dances, including ballet,
After she said her husband came to America, he landed a job as a double for a Belgium action star from the late ā80s to the ā90s and then Manuella became pregnant. After the baby and later dabbling in exotic. She and her husband split and exotic dancing became her primary source of income.
āI started dancing because I was by myself, and when I started dancing like 30 years ago, naked, it was a lot of good money,ā Manuella said.
Colleen Dunagan is professor at CSULB who teaches
differences in technique between burlesque and exotic.
āI might take things off but I never really let you see me,ā Dunagan explained about burlesque. āItās the temptation, like stripping, where the whole point is that youāre going to already be naked or youāre going to take everything off.ā
Exotic dancing is not necessarily seen as a legitimate
and itās often not counted as an art.
āDance is probably the least respected of the art forms in terms of economic stability and commitment by the government or the culture supporting it,ā Dunagan said. āWe tend to expect dancers to just try and survive, somehow.ā
Like Dylan, Manuella attended school learning the business of beauty salons.
āI kept it going with exotic dance because they gave me more money, so I could take care of my son. My son never missed anything,ā Manuella said. āHe has always known, but he never sees it in a bad way.ā
She eventually owned a salon in Encino, while dancing and going to school during the early 2000s, but the business failed. Still, Manuella is glad that she was successful during her sonās formative years.
āHe has had a very good career, and Iām so proud of him, because, for me, the most important thing after having my son, is being a good mom,ā Manuella said.
Dylan lived through the tribulations of the Marines and is continuing her journey with education. Although she started dancing just as a temporary job, it has taught her some skills that will be useful later on in life.
āIāve never regretted it. I saved up a lot of money. I have a surgery coming up that Iām paying for in cash,ā Dylan said. donāt regret it and I would do it again for sure.ā
Ventura metal band Disrupted Euphoria waited patiently in the wings of the small bar, Whisky a Go Go , on Los Angelesā famed Sunset Boulevard, as a one-man song.
Frontwoman Hannah āRebelā Ribble cheerily bobbed her head to the music, chugging down much of her water in only a few moments.
She was preparing her voice to make maniacal sounds some would call shocking or scary.
Extreme vocals are most often used in metal and punk genres. Various types of growling, screaming and guttural noises are used to convey intensity beyond what singing may express.
The roots of these vocal styles are as old as rock nā roll itself, with artists in the 1950ās such as Little Richard, Screamin Jay Hawkins and James Brown gaining fame belting lyrics in moments of passion.
However, many modern acts today, such as Disrupted Euphoria , have harnessed this sound and taken it up another level to show that extreme vocals are an entirely new style that are as technical as conventional singing. Ribble explained Disrupted Euphoriaās
and, two, it doesnāt ruin my throat when Iām all done,ā Ribble said.
Learning how to manipulate her voice in several ways has also been fun for Ribble. She likes how anyone can learn, regardless of gender or singing ability.
āThe thing thatās the most fun about it is that youāre suddenly sounding like a dragon,ā Ribble said. āYouāre not using your actual voice, so thereās no reason for it to even sound feminine or masculine. It becomes irrelevant at that point. Itās pretty cool. Itās just a human thing.ā
Extreme vocals are an acquired taste, and bands usually accompany it with dark lyrical imagery, along with a rebellious or evil-themed performance.
early days consisted of performing mainly covers of other bandās work until she began to dabble with growling.
āAustin, the guitar player, asked me if I wanted to learn how to growl. It was about
Guitarist Austin the bandās practice sessions to be therapeutic.
āWeāre an excellent outlet for aggression and frustration,ā Mitrofanis said. āMost of the time, when Iām having a hard week, I know I have band practice
āYouāre not using your actual voice, so thereās no reason for it to even sound feminine or masculine. Itās just a human thing.ā
-HANNAH āREBELā RIBBLE
Frontwoman of band Disrupted EuphoriaStory and photos by Nicole Benda
or a show coming up, and itās cathartic when the four of us get together.ā
Pierce Collegeās Music Professor Garineh Avakian explained how Ribble may be able to maintain a growl-like distortion in her voice.
you to growl on or yell on,ā Avakian said. āSo thatās something that I do. Like when I have to get mad, I donāt use my throat. I just pop my sound into the head voice, and itāll be really loud.ā
Avakian emphasized that air control is most important when doing any kind of vocals.
āWe are a wind instrument, so everything that we do with the voice is based on breath,ā Avakian said. āYour bottom line engine is your breath management and your breath support.ā
Similarly, Ribble avoids putting tension in her throat and uses more of her head voice and face. This technique is meant to prevent vocal cord damage.
āA lot of the sound is manipulated by how you hold your jaw or your tongue, or how open wide your mouth is,ā Avakian said. growl.
āEventually, when the noises start to come out correctly, thereās just bike,ā Ribble said.
Mitrofanis understands that same feeling of excitement through the aggressive performance and sound of metal music.
āI think metal fans enjoy harsh vocals because the metal is already a very primal genre of music,ā he explained. āI can feel a sense of happiness and ease when Iām listening to it. Then there are millions of other people that feel the same way, so itās one gigantic family of headbangers and moshers.ā
Agroup of children sat together on a lawn and watch as a man in a checkered shirt and polka dot pants juggles red and yellow bowling pins.
The clown cried out that he doesnāt know how to stop juggling, and his audience of children and adults laughed at his predicament.
Pretend tears, real laughter and wild jugglingā just another day in the life of Gilly the Clown.
Gilly, whose real name is Guilford Adams, has been a professional clown for almost 20 years and has performed more than 3,000 kid parties.
āAs a clown, youāre trying to reach the largest group of people. Youāre trying to bring smiles and a sense of humor to the human existence that we call life,ā Adams said.
Born and raised in Texas, Adams became interested in clowns as a teenager. His local church had a
clown ministry, where magicians and clowns would perform for children and the elderly. Inspired by these performances, Adams committed himself to the craft.
home for an old lady. I remember taking a pair of Air Jordans that I had, taping them up, spray painting them and creating my own clown shoes and costume,ā Adams said.
World Clown Association Director Dean Cotton runs a clown ministry in Fayetteville, Georgia. Cotton explained how the art of clowning can be combined with Christian ministry.
āClowns can be used to draw people and provide opportunities for relationships to form between people,ā Cotton said. āClowning can be used to teach a lesson from the Bible. At my church, we sometimes introduce the Sunday School lesson for the day using an object lesson or skit during
the group opening session with all the children.ā
When he got to high school, Adams became more focused on sports and dropped the act. But as an adult, he gravitated back toward clowning and decided to audition for the famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1997.
He wasnāt accepted, though even if he had it wouldnāt have made much of a difference because the college closed down later that year.
Although Ringling Bros. had one of the most prestigious clown colleges in the world, Adams said that their training and showmanship is different from the kind of performances that he prefers.
āMost Ringling clowns that I know do not have a giant skillset to deal with children, because the people are so far away, so you donāt really interact with them,ā Adams said. āIn a lot of ways the things that people associate with
clowns, like balloon animals or gentle word play, they donāt do that.ā
Adams moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to pursue an acting career. Wanting to make money between auditions, he joined a clown company and began performing at parties.
Adams had learned his tricks largely on the job and from experience, and it was during his early years of performing that he created āGilly.ā It isnāt a single, unchanging character. There are multiple personas, such as Doctor Gilly, Cowboy Gilly and Light Face Gilly and so on.
In a digital age where so much entertainment comes from the Internet or television, Adams stressed the importance of exposing young children to live performances.
āThey watch TV. Everything now is given to you through a two-dimensional phone or video,ā Adams said. ā I think thereās something very vital about that. Live performances are something real. Weāre an active part of it. Kids, especially, donāt have that anymore.ā
When most people think of clowns, they imagine a fully painted face and a wacky wig. But when Adams performs for kids, he uses only a little makeup around his eyes and he wears the signature red nose.
Adams also adjusts his personality based on the age of his primary
audience.
āI try to be more compassionate for younger kids. A little more higher pitched and more agreeable,ā Adams said. āBut Iāll be a little more laid back and settled with older kids.ā
Hecklers or other rude audience members might give Adams a hard time during a performance. When this happens, he tries to ignore them.
āI just talk to people who are more receptive. Itās a lot like anything you do in any profession. You gravitate toward people who are willing to listen,ā Adams said. āWhen I have people who donāt want to listen or use the opportunity to act out, I just steer myself toward other kids that are interested. Kids will warm up.ā
Adams believes that disliking clowns is a popular norm in todayās society, but
āIāve been saying I hate Nickelback for as long as I could remember, and I couldnāt even tell you three of their songs. But Iām told I should hate them. I think a lot of people fall into that category with clowns,ā Adams said. āI donāt fault people all that much for it, because no one is really championing clowns.ā
Assistant Professor of Cinema Ken Windrum said that before the 1990 TV miniseries IT, clowns in cinema were portrayed as complex yet sympathetic characters. The image of a clown being
ā[In old movies] clowns were shown as dual-natured. They have their persona as a clown, but then theyāre often shown as being sad or tragic individuals,ā Windrum said. āI canāt think of any sinister or evil clowns until 20, 30 years ago.ā
In the past, clowns such as Bozo or Ronald McDonald gave the profession a light-hearted and positive image. Today, there are few positive role model clowns, which Adams believes is the reason for the strong negative associations with his profession.
āIn 2019, the only clowns you see are scary looking, like Pennywise and the Joker,ā Adams said. āI wonder if clowns in their own way are like indicators of what society is going through. We personalize our frustrations and anxieties in this sort of anonymous face-painted person.ā
But the negative perception of clowning hasnāt stopped Adams from getting gigs on TV shows such as Modern Family and Glee. He has also starred in more than three dozen commercials and acted in segments for Disney and Buzzfeed.
Yet, when heās a clown on set, Adams has a strange feeling of detachment from his fellow coworkers.
āThereās like this extra layer of anonymity,ā Adams said. āBecause
youāre not youāyouāre in character. Iām not Guilford Adams. Iām Gilly. I go by āGilly.ā People donāt quite know who you are. More often than not, when Iām a clown on set, my actions are very surface level with people.ā
Even though Adams loves acting on television, he prefers to have a live audience, because it gives him the opportunity to improvise and be interactive.
āAs a clown, thereās a slightly richer experience being on stage or being in front of people, because clowns donāt have a wall,ā Adams said. āYou need to have audience interactions, whereas with an actor you could operate with a wall.ā
As a man in love with his profession, Adams said the best part of his job is the simple sound of laughter, and added.
āThe fuel you get from making somebody else laugh, itās such a unique experience,ā he said.
For many people, a home does not have to be a physical place. Instead, itās a feeling.
Inside Amy Navarreteās dance studio Ballet Aztec, itās easy to tell that this place is home for many who enter.
The purple-colored walls at the entrance are decorated with pictures of past performances. The studio has a food for the parents to eat while they
practice. In front of the table is a bright baby pink wall with a rectangle-shaped window where they can peek at the children.
The other side of these walls is the actual studio, where these young dancers begin their journey into Folklorico.
Navarrete, who teaches with a spirit of discipline and honor.
Her practices always start with a soft melody music warm-up. She explained that doing this helps the children let out whatever stress they had during the day so can focus solely on learning the new
routines.
Navarrete has been a ballet
She started dancing when she was 5 in Jalisco, Mexico. When Navarrete was 12, she moved to California with her family in search of a better future. Even though she had left her country behind, she retained the roots of being a Mexican.
Navarrete noticed there wasnāt much Mexian culture represented at her school, which prompted her to start a ballet folklorico club. Navarrete said she has always held a strong sense of dedication in teaching others the values and traditions of Mexico the only way she knewāthrough dance. This later prompted her to open the dance studio.
Throughout the years Navarrete has been teaching, she could see how, through dance, her students have a young girl who was a great dancer, to really enjoy the performances.
āThe amazing part is that she never wanted to smile,ā Navarrete said, āNo matter what I did to her, what I would
recently started to be appreciated.
āFor us to learn language and math, we need to know the patterns and the sequence,ā Garcia said. āSo, dance also helps children to learn those sequences through learning the steps of a routine.ā
Gabriela Mendoza-Garcia, the editor of Dancing Throughout Mexican History (1325-1910), explained that the history of Mexico is intertwined with dance. Mendoza-Garcia, is a ballet Folklorico dancer as well.
Mendoza-Garcia said the importance of dance is it articulates Mexican culture and preserves its history.
āDancing tells you who we are as a people,ā she explained. āThere are stories that are passed down in history and then passed down from one generation to the next through movement. These dances are ways of remembering our ancestors through embodied movements, through our dancing.ā
An analysis by Ed Morales published in 2018 in the Washington Post reported that young Latinos who were raised to assimilate into American society during the crucial developmental years have a strong urge to connect to their ancestral roots when they get older. Many of these young Latinos struggle with how they identify culturally, which causes emotional distress and brings deep insecurities that hinder them from moving forward with their future.
That is why Navarrete puts a great emphasis on teaching her students to be proud of their heritage.
āWe, as a community, have to defend our language. We have to defend our food, our dance, or music,ā Navarrete said. āThe only way weāre going to do that is to start by the root. And the root is the children.ā
Navarrete said that she wants her students to be able to recognize that they are ambassadors when they performā ambassadors of the Mexican culture and its rich history.
By opening Ballet Aztec Navarrete hopes that the studio is not only a place of dance but a place of community. Familia. A home away from home.
āI opened the doors as a gift to the community, and I want everyone to feel welcome, appreciated and respected,ā Navarrete said. āI wanted them to have that space where they could come and say, āOh, I am a folklorist. I belong to a ballet Folklorico,ā and to say it with pride.ā
Arielle Navarrete , the daughter of studio owner Amy Navarrete, performs traditional moves from the Nayarit region of Mexico at Saint Cyril of Jerusalem.bring her, what I would give her, she didnāt smile while performing.ā
With the encouragement from Navarrete and the other teachers at the studio, the girl eventually began to smile during performances. She blossomed into one of Navarreteās best dancers. Now 12, she dances with the older and advanced group.
āShe dances with her entire soul and heart,ā Navarrete said. āItās because of her determination to really learn and also to let go of that shyness. Once sheās on stage performing with the rest of her peers, sheās a really happy and joyful person.ā
As with any dance genre, learning the steps is the most challenging part. However, for these young dancers, many of whom started as the same time they were learning to walk, it is second nature. With each new
dance, Navarrete shows the meaning and the symbolic value of each movement.
Destiny Estrada, a 14-year-old middle school student, has been
Aguascalientes, Mexico.
āWhen I dance, I feel more connected to my culture,ā Graciela Estrada said. āI dance because it shows a different side of me that I donāt get to say every day.ā
Now living in Burbank, Graciela Estrada brings her granddaughter every Friday at 6 p.m. to Ballet Aztec to watch her Destiny perform the same dances she performed in Mexico.
āI canāt help but feel happy when I see her dance,ā Graciela Estrada said. āI feel so proud of her when I see how much work and love my granddaughter puts in every time she dances.ā
dancing since she was 5. For the Estrada family, dancing is a tradition passed on through generations, including her grandmother, Graciela Estrada, who was a dancer in her hometown of
Special Needs Educator Maria Eugenia Garcia said that the art of dancing can help children mature cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically. She explained that the research on its effectiveness has only
āThese dances are ways of remembering our ancestors through embodied movements, through our dancing.ā
- GABRIELA MENDOZA-GARCIA Editor of Dancing Throughout Mexican History
As the sun dipped below the horizon on a fall Wednesday evening, several dozen men and women strolled onto the grounds of Culver City Park.
Members of Burn Club, which holds sprayed gasoline on to staffs, boltchained balls and hula-hoops, walked toward the empty basketball courtā jarālit their instruments and entered the Burn Club veteran Sydney
Brushwood, wearing black leggings and a dark navy tank top, enveloped herself with a hot, glowing blaze coming
rings that resemble the claws of Marvel superhero Wolverine.
In that place at that moment, Brushwood was exactly where she wanted to be.
āYou feel free when performing,ā she
Fire spinning makes me feel complete.ā
Brushwood began obtaining the
three years of practicing staff handling, said, well aware now of her mistake. āYou donāt want to wear baggy clothing once, and I put it behind my body and the wick got stuck on the pants and my
Early on, she had several other incidents, including burns and setting what to wear and how to handle the
equipmentāand then she joined Burn Club.
outside of performing, Brushwood said Burn Club gave her a boost of
āI was the outsider,ā Brushwood said. āI would always want to just leave because I felt inadequate. I wasnāt good enough. After a while, after you go repetitively and consistently, people get to know you, and you become like a household name.ā
Brushwood became the admin for Burn Club, which means she was responsible to make sure everyone zones are and how to light up in the safe zones.
While the art was new to Brushwood, Polynesian rituals. According to Tahiti channel gods, articulate emotion and Tahiti Traveler publication noted, āWe took the base of the dancing and
gave it a better meaning or took it into another direction. Expressing your feelings of love and passion through the
Professor of Anthropology at Pierce College Ilya Neman gave credence to
āPolynesian culture is based on giving and requesting from the gods.
to be fertile and abundant during harvest seasons,ā Neman said.
Andy Huang is the clubās current admin. He also founded Burn Club in
Story by Abdul Alsadi Photos by Chris Torres2003. His goal was to make a community that can express
āItās really important to a lot of us,ā Huang said. āFire is about empowerment and sensing the elements. And thatās a primal thing.ā
Diana Pahk, Brushwoodās partner and friend, sometimes spins with her. She is a dancer and doesnāt consider herself
āI feel so free when I dance,ā Pahk said. āAny type of dancing to me is freeing the soul.ā
years to come, motivated by the community of friends she has made and the thrill she gets when she performs.
āFire spinning will always be a part of me. It gave me
has an incredible sensation. You feel free when performing. You feel as if your channeling the Earthās elements.ā
āFire is about empowerment and sensing the elements. Itās a primal thing.ā
- ANDY HUANG Admin of The Burn Club