In Good Keeping in 2022, the documentary film exploring the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Class of 2021-2022 is now live and available on-demand via our Youtube page.
The stories follow the apprenticeship teams:
- Yara Cordeiro and Ruthie Lezama practicing Capoeira.
- Eddie Bond and Andrew Small studying Grayson and Carroll County fiddle voicing.
- Mac Traynham and Ashlee Watkins studying old time rhythm guitar.
- LemLem Gebray and her daughters Datta and Akeza Seyoum practicing Ethiopian coffee ceremony.
- Lelis Garcia Olaes and her son Ken Garcia Olaes studying Filipino baking traditions.
- Chris Testerman, Sophia Burnett and Karlie Keepfer studying instrument building.
- Walter “Skip” Herman and KT Vandyke studying instrument repair.
- Horace Scruggs with his daughter Hannah Scruggs and historian Niya Bates learning the history of Black waterways in central Virginia and reading the river.
“This project brought so much joy to my heart” said filmmaker Pat Jarrett. The Virginia Folklife Program hosted three public screenings for the film this past summer, featuring artists local to each venue. In Bristol, at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, an old time jam featuring Chris Testerman, Mac Traynham, Sophia Burnett, Karlie Keepfer together with Emily Spencer and Lisa Ring. In Virginia Beach, at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, the Berhe family demonstrated the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, and Ken Garcia Olaes served hopia—both traditional flavors and new innovations—from Angie’s Bakery. Our last showing of the season was at the Carysbrook Performing Arts Center, where mentor artist and chair of the Fluvanna County Arts Council Horace Scruggs welcomed audiences back to the venue for the first time following COVID.
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Lemlem Gebray pours coffee on a small table, called Rokobet or Akahu Bun in Tigrigna and Bun-Nuway in Saho. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Lemlem Gebray is teaching her daughters, Datta, right, and Akeza, left, Seyoum, in the Ethiopian coffee ceremony tradition. They were photographed in their Richmond home with friends and community members on 2/22/22. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Master Yara Corderiro, left, and apprentice Ruthie “Charada” Lezama together at the batizado held at Cabin John Regional Park in Bethesda, Maryland on Sunday October 24, 2021. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Master Yara Corderiro, left, and apprentice Ruthie “Charada” Lezama “play” together at the batizado held at Cabin John Regional Park in Bethesda, Maryland on Sunday October 24, 2021. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Horace Scruggs pilots a bateaux in the James River near Lynchburg in July, 2021. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Lelis Garcia Olaes, left, and her son Ken make ube hopia together. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Chris Testerman of Independence, Virginia has taken on two young apprentices, Sophia Burnett, right, and Karlie Keepfer, to teach them the instrument-building tradition in southwest Virginia. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Ashlee Watkins is learning old-time rhythm guitar from Mac Traynham in Floyd County. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Skip Herman and his. custom Martin guitar. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Eddie Bond, left, is apprenticing Andrew Small of Floyd in the Grayson and Carroll County styles of old time fiddling. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities -
Walter “Skip” Herman, right, and KT Vandyke at Frog Level Guitar Shop in Abingdon. Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities
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