We had a great rehearsal yesterday with our V-Troupe, the clowns were preparing for their very serious roles for the following show-
Heliopolis is a story of a woman's life lived in joy, love and freedom. It will come to an end unless she assumes and conforms to the cloaks of a community. The story was inspired by a article by Asef Bayat titled "Islamism and the politics of fun" this article deals with the systematic and legislative suppressions of fun and joy. This suppression has plagued communities and cultures throughout history in all regions of the world and in our story of Heliopolis. In this tale of myths our heroine retells the magic of her beloved Heliopolis a place of music, poetry, dance, mystery, love and wonder as she barters for her life.

Above Photo of Gregangelo by Andy Freeberg


AN EXCERPT FROM ISLAMISM AND THE POLITICS OF FUN: "Arts and music have not been spared from piestic wrath. Protestant puritans replaced the Church as the medium of salvation, resorting to piestic practices such as hard work and 'avoiding cards, dancing, theatre-going, and essentially every action which could be seen as a concession to ''the world'' . According to this logic, art, sexuality, and by extension fun had the potential to disrupt the influence of reason on human conduct or divert humans from full attention to the transcendental."

Gregangelo Herrera, a third-generation San Franciscan of Lebanese and Mexican descent, was exposed to a rich array of arts at an early age. He is a graduate of the California College of Arts and Crafts, and he has extensive training in dance, music, and circus arts. Gregangelo is an accomplished multi- media artist his signature act, the Whirling Circus Dervish, has gained international recognition from a spectrum of audiences.

This production is a culmination of his passion for art, world cultures, the extraordinary artists of his company, and his ancestry .
Influenced by his recent trip to Turkey, combined with years of travel throughout Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, he began to reflect on his grandparents' immigration to San Francisco in the United States in the early 1900's from Batroun, Lebanon. This reflection brought up the current state of the arts in these travels, its sometimes difficult struggle to exist, and his family's ability and dedication to maintaining a rich and multi- generational participation in the arts. His uncle, Stan Beainy recalls: "When I was a child, I experienced all of the traditions of the Old Country here in San Francisco such as the food, music, dancing and storytelling. My mother and father both played the Oud as well as the trimbucka. Families always got together on weekends. The women would cook and men would tell the stories of the old country. After the meals everyone would sing, dance and play musical instruments and each year there would be something called a Marhajan where the Lebanese and Syrian communities in the San Francisco Bay Area would come together for celebration of music, food, dancing, plays and storytelling. During get togethers, everyone used to do a 'line dance' called the "Debka". My father was usually on the end of the line waving his handkerchief during the dance and Julia Farrah would usually sing Arabic songs at these affairs. She had a fabulous voice. " Gregangelo reflected on these traditions and how they still play a major part of his and his family's lives. Gregangelo began his first art class at the de Young Museum at the age 5. At the age of 15 he began performing with The Aswan Dancers a Middle Eastern Dance troupe under the artistic direction on Amina Goodyear , where he developed his Whirling Dervish act. During this time he was also part of a contemporary Middle Eastern percussion ensemble called the Cairo Cats. Following his passion for Circus Arts he began his Velocity Circus company in the 90's and then grew his business, Gregangelo & Velocity Arts & Entertainment , into the multi-media and layered arts organization that it is today.
"Heliopolis" combines all of these traditional elements into a rich production of East meets West. "Only in San Francisco" could this cultural richness develop, grow and become an aesthetic of its own. In turn, this allows Gregangelo to pass on this richness of music, dance, art, joy and fun which he knows to be indigineous to the human spirit.
Please join us on February 11, 2008 as the Marin Theatre Company Presents "Heliopolis". Sincerely, Jeffrey Ferns



Read CCA "At A Glance" Article on Gregangelo