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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