Internacional: The Art of Kat Reeder opening Friday!

Hello folks. It is the eve of the opening of my newest show "Internacional: The Art of Kat Reeder", opening Dec. 14th at Manifest in Honolulu. All my works are up and ready to go and I'm super excited. This internationally-themed project is one I've envisioned for a long time and I'm glad to finally share it.

You see, I've long been fascinated with world folklore, especially dance and music. I'm sure somewhere is a link to my growing up in Lima and then Miami, two completely different cities with their own local flavor. I was lucky enough to have been exposed to folks from all over the world. From Cuba to Jamaica, my friends were diverse and very much in tune with their traditions. It was a wonderful time of sharing music and dance.

Sure, as with all large cities, sometimes there was discord among ethnic groups in South Florida. Some native Floridians were displeased with the influx of Cuban immigrants as were some Cubans with the influx of Haitians and so forth. Sometimes people didn't understand one another. Whatever the political environment, food, music and dance always brought people together.

It was in this sharing that I noticed the common links between our world dances. I learned that Peru, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico and even America, could trace their dance roots to Africa. This was an awesome concept in my young mind. The idea of all dances were born of cultural interchange, the same type of sharing I did with my friends, was captivating to me.

This fascination with Latin dance soon sparked curiosity for all dances. If Latin-America and the Caribbean shared common roots, why not other peoples?

(By the way, I recently learned there are other nerds like me in the world...they're called Ethnochoreologists. Look it up, pretty cool! :)

This quest eventually took me many places around the world...some figuratively, some literally. I learned that in fact many dances do have common roots. For instance, American western dance can trace it's lineage to Ireland. Spanish Flamenco to India. Phillipines Pagapir to Muslim dance, and many more back to Africa. It is a very cool concept. One I explore with my newest art series.

So please if you're around you should definitely check it out. Only one canvas will be released and the proceeds all go to The Ronald McDonald House of Hawaii...more on that later. :)