Mixed in a sultry summer in Budapest, La Danza Poetica #65 is a collection of sultry new sounds from South America, the States, France, Canada. And dedicated, with love, to the bright light of Australian poet and activist, Candy Royalle, who passed last month. Pure heart and spirit, within this music is the poetry of life, the continuum of tradition, the bright promise and healing that comes through music.

Recent releases from Brome, J.Lamotta, Kuzich featuring Mei Saraswati, William Beale, Lido Pimienta, The Turbans, Besarabia, Anna Stereopoulou, Dat Garcia remixed by Space People, the Music Action Collective, DjClick, Lagartijeando remixed by Chancha Vía Circuito, and featuring Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet’s, “Landfall”, now released as an album.

A slow chorus. A slow driving mix of spoken word and hip hop and multi-voice harmony, music with many layers, complex melodies and harmonious fusions of electronica and folk origins. Musicians and poets from the United States, Spain, Colombia, Canada, and Guatemala. Big questions and big problems being addressed head-on. Stories being told from the heart, voices coming from deep in the chest. An energising way to start a new year!

Opening with the beautiful Song For Elijah (Wrap Our Arms Around You), dedicated to the memory of a young life tragically lost in Australia, and also a call for all to help the family in difficult times. La Danza Poetica #58 is “A Call To Arms”. As it’s the end of a tumultuous year, I’ve created a tumultuous mix featuring some favourite tracks of 2017 that I haven’t been able to include in the radio show so far. Covering a lot of ground, from wild upbeat global bass to Latin hip hop, Los Angeles and New York City poetry and rap, Native American fire, French orchestral beats, very intelligent downbeat soul, and songs for the end of everything.

Chile – between the mountains and the sea, the poets and musicians sing of the land and the heart. This month’s mix features poets Vicente Huidobro, Pablo Neruda, and Nicanor Parra, plus a focus on the expressionistic poetics of Cecilia Vicuña, Como Asesinar a Felipes, and Kali Mutsa, and the delicate, fierce, Violeta Parra. Also some favourite folktronic producers including Lata / MMNI, Matanza, and Australia’s Galambo. 

Poesía y música, Española. A mix of all new music, joyful and uplifting, anchored by the voices of our “honoured ghosts”, poets of 20th Century Latin America, exploring the political and social importance of poetry, nature, and the nature of our desires.

Pieces of the Puzzle takes its title from a poem by English spoken word artist Salena Godden – the poem that closes the show. From Australia to Costa Rica, to Colombia, to Argentina, to Italy, Portugal, Germany, America, Chile, England, France, Japan, Ghana, Mozambique … all these pieces are part of our big, beautiful jigsaw puzzle of thought, emotion, word, and music. 

Diving deeper into the dancehall – mixing the poetry of MC Zulu, Chicago’s most profound dancehall vocalist and electro-reggae producer with conscious beats old and new. Concerned that we listen as we dance, learn as we excite, and have a real conversation with the music, Zulu has been presenting some of his lyrics in spoken word recitations. This month, we are seriously dancing to poetry! Are you listening?

My 50th show for Groovalizacion Radio, and my first for the year 2017. Starting us off right on this journey around the sun, I’ve mixed up poetry from an inspiring organisation out of Los Angeles, and music from an inspiring record and film company out of Buenos Aires. A musical mix for the southern hemisphere summer – come dive into the lovely warm ocean of sound of Latin American folktronic rhythms and Los Angeles poetic medicine. 

A special collaboration between La Danza Poética and La Rebelde Academia de la Música Latinoamericana (RAMULA)! Colombian poet Gustavo Gómez Giraldo, aka Juaco, recorded in Brussels by Joaldo Domínguez. Mixed with music from Mateo Kingman, Nicola Cruz, Sentidor, and Negro Dub.

Paseo Mental - a walk through the mind, through the various voices in our heads, both our own and the voices of the honoured ghosts and ancestors who walk with us. Performance poetry from Segovia, Spain, from an installation by Andrés Sánchez, plus new tracks, collaborations and remixes out of South America, Mexico, USA, Algeria, and Europe.

For the Kulin Nation, Melbourne has always been an important meeting place. And it continues to be a place of connection for people from all around the world.

Entering my third year at Groovalizacion - happy birthday to La Danza Poetica! The 24th edition is intercontinental, transnational - a world of poetics, mainly new releases, ranging far and wide in the spirit of the dance.