Asian Avenue magazine

Denver’s know-it-all to the Asian American Pacific Islander community

From West Coast-based multiethnic breakdancing crew JabbawockeeZ winning MTV’s reality series “America’s Best Dance Crew” earlier this year to hip hop groups from Asia firing up the international underground hip-hop scene, the surge of Asian artists hitting the stage is a force to be reckoned with. Asian Avenue magazine looks into the lives of Colorado’s Asian American hip-hop personalities as they stir up the local scene, their multidimensional and multifaceted stories telling much more than just about hip hop, but also about how it shapes their ideals and everyday lives.

It’s 8 p.m. on a Wednesday, or “hump day” in college lingo, and restaurant bars on Boulder’s Hill are brimming with students enjoying $5 mojitos and discussing upcoming term papers. For them, this “hump day” ritual is their release from the rigors of school.

On the first-floor gym of the University of Colorado rec center is another crowd that also gets together for some release from school on a given Wednesday night – it’s the Front Range Rockers, a crew of B-Boys and B-Girls practicing power moves and battling each other to breakbeats booming from silver speakers covered in graffiti.

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1) One-handed Freeze, 2) Headspin, 3) Hollowback, 4) Side Freeze, 5) One-handed Pike, 6) Tip Toe

The Asian Pacific Development Center (APDC) and MillerCoors celebrated their success in renovating the new MillerCoors Community Room by a ribbon cutting ceremony on October 16. Through the partnership and generosity of MillerCoors, a newly renovated community room is available again to serve the needs of our diverse communities within the Denver Metro area and Front Range. The community room serves many functions: day treatments, movement therapy, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and more. A wonderful tradition of preparing meals for the classes including a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner for the holiday has made this a welcome and longed-for place.

On hand to cut the ribbon were Joanne Tabellija, Multicultural Relations Manager, MillerCoors, and Christine Wanifuchi, CEO, APDC. Among the attendees were Carla Madison, Denver City Councilwoman District 8, APDC board members Miok Fowler, Bob Hara and Rudolph Lie, APDC staff and friends.

The 2008 America’s Best Dance Crew live tour stopped in Denver on October 8th at the Wells Fargo Theatre. The tour began in Miami on September 18th and moved across the country to 25 cities in five weeks ending in Houston on October 23.

The show began with intro dances from season-two crews Fanny Pak, BreakSk8 and A.S.I.I.D. The season’s winner, b-boys from Las Vegas, Super Cr3w, also battled on the stage. Finally, first-season winner, San Diego’s JabbaWockeeZ, took the stage with their notorious white masks and Michael Jackson renditions. MTV’s ABDC program recently won the Teen Choice Award for “Best Reality Dance Show” from FOX-TV and was ranked #4 on the “Top 10 Dance Shows of All Time” in TV Guide. The show is currently concluding open casting calls across the nation for season 3 crews.

Close to 3,000 people enjoyed a tropical getaway at Skyline High School in Longmont on Sunday, October 12th. The inaugural Colorado Aloha Festival treated guests of all ages to daylong festivities of island food, 45 gift booths, mini workshops, Hula films, and topped off the event with a Hula Ho’ike dance concert.

The place was buzzing while people shopped at booths carrying handmade ceramics, a variety of Hawai’ian leis, cool t-shirts and tropical clothing, and island jewelry. Workshops included spam musubi making, ukulele lessons, lei-making, and hula lessons. About 1,300 attended the Hula concert featuring live music and chanting with dances from Halau Hula O Na Mauna Pohaku led by Director Tammie Chaumillon. www.coloradoalohafest.com.

Those words are on the wall of the Japanese American Resource Center of Colorado (JARCC), which opened its doors on October 11th at Sakura Square. Their mission is “to be a vibrant resource preserving, educating, and communicating the evolving Japanese American experience in Colorado.”

There are currently three segments on display: the Larimer Street Mapping Project that illustrates JA markets and commerce from the early 1900s; the Agricultural Community of Colorado; and the Memories Project showcasing artifacts from pre-war and post internment camp era. Although it’s small in size, JARCC is packed with rich historical information about the plight of Japanese Americans in Colorado.

Located at 1255 19th St., 2nd level of Sakura Square. Limited hours – E-mail: [email protected] for more information.

Anyone who has watched Mudra Dance Studio perform is left feeling energized, thoroughly entertained and simply…happy. This is a testament to the founder, dance instructor and choreographer, Namita
Khanna Nariani, whose love of dance, music and humanity is woven into every performance. With each performance, Nariani shares her message of tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness to captivated audiences.

A residential and commercial architect by day, Nariani, who’s East Indian American, founded Mudra Dance Studio, a non-profit organization that promotes classical, folk and contemporary forms of Indian dance.

You’ve studied dance since the age of three. How has this shaped your thinking towards life in general?
Music, dance and performance have been a part of my life from a very young age. My parents were a part of a performing group part-time and my mom was in a few plays while she was pregnant with me. I am told that at the age of one, I would expect my grandparents to perform a drum concert, while I danced, and only then would I agree to eat. I guess the choreographer in me came to life before I could even walk. Dance was my outlet. As long as I can remember, I loved seeing the look in people’s eyes when they watched me dance. The look of joy, happiness, amazement and acceptance was the best compensation anybody could have given me. That is when I realized that people could learn, accept and love others, if they were educated through a medium that really touched their heart.

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12203 E. Iliff Ave. #D
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 755-8518

Hours:
Open 7 days per week
11:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Tucked away under one of the unremarkable storefront signs of the Iliff Common Center in Aurora, there lies a little bit of southwestern China just waiting to be discovered. The new management and new chef at China Jade offer customers a wide range of Chinese cooking. The old standbys of chow mein, lo mein, chop suey, fried rice and the rest, are done on par with the best Chinese take-out places in the metro area.

Their Cuminum Cyminum Flavored Beef is simply strips of beef tenderloin seared with a cumin and garlic glaze and served over a bed of broccoli. The Shredded Pork with Hot Garlic Sauce is a dish of green and red sweet peppers, garlic, bamboo shoots, montane mushrooms and of course, tender and delicious pork.

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12652 Ken Caryl Avenue Unit C
Littleton, CO 80127
303.904.1334

Hours:
Open 7 days per week
11:00 am-9:00 pm

Western Littleton just got a little more cosmopolitan. East truly meets West at the Pot of Pho located at the crossroads of Ken Caryl Avenue and C470. Out here, you don’t find many Vietnamese restaurants that generally are located in more urban areas. But thanks to the easy access that the highway provides, this area is expanding rapidly. Here snuggled against the picturesque foothills of Ken Caryl Valley you can fend off the coming cold temperature by slurping a steaming bowl of noodles.

As implied by the name, the highlight of this bistro is pho, chewy Vietnamese rice noodles in a bowl of tasty beef broth. Ours was a combination of rare eye of round, well-done brisket, and Vietnamese meatball. With your soup, you get a plate of very fresh ingredients to fix up your pho – bean sprouts, lime wedges, mint, cucumbers, green onions, lettuce. Very little oil is used for the broth, so what you end up with is a dish that’s both hearty and healthy, not to mention delicious.
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Five years ago, the Boettcher Teachers Program was assembled, granted, and began taking applications for an innovative teaching fellowship. Built by visionaries, and fortified with experienced partners like the Boettcher Foundation, University of Denver Morgridge College of Education, Public Education & Business Coalition, Adams 12 Five Star and the Mapleton Public school districts; a hybrid between a masters program and alternative licensure program was formed.

The Boettcher Teachers Program was established to recruit, train, and retain highly qualified teachers in the schools that need them most. The goals of the program are to help close the achievement gap for students in low-income, high needs schools, work with culturally and linguistically diverse student populations, teach in schools where more than 50% of the students live in poverty, and ensure that subject areas which historically face teacher shortages are taught by the most well-prepared teachers.
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