World music in bloom

Lotus Fest has sprung again, this time sprouting flowers instead of orange leaves. \nLotus Blossoms is the expansion of the autumnal Lotus Festival, an annual world music extravaganza that was host to 100 musicians from 17 countries in 2000. \nThank you standardized testing. Because of the ISTEP, given during the time of the Lotus Fest, and the earliness in the semester, elementary students are unable to fully participate in the educational benefits of world music. \n"The Lotus Education and Arts Foundation is committed to the idea that arts and music can create a non-threatening environment in which children may begin to embrace cultural diversity and be encouraged to see their own culture(s) in an international context," according to a Lotus Blossoms press release. These arty people are doing it for the kids.\nFour international musical groups, Danu, Matapat, Kevin Locke and Sones de Mexico, will join forces to fight the perpetual battle of cultural enlightenment this weekend. Locke, an award-winning Lakota hoop dancer, storyteller and indigenous flute player, and Matapat, the 2000 Lotus Fest-featured trio from Quebec, will tour a combined total of nine schools. Also, Monroe County fourth-graders will be able to attend a Matapat interactive performance and bazaar of international cultures and community organization.\nAbout 300-500 children should be in attendance at each school performance.\nThat's not all -- Redbud Retirement Home will also host the first Lotus-related retirement home show. \nWhile the Lotus Festival is mostly performance, Lotus Blossoms is about 80 percent educational, says Lotus Festival Executive and Artistic Director Lee Williams. \nWhat a great time spring is.\nIt is imperative for diversity to be accepted and understood, especially with the growing number of multicultural people in the United States. The best way to learn is to start young, and what better way to learn then through music?\nLotus Blossoms 2001 is the first of an annual event, which the organizers hope will grow in the future.\n"It's here to stay," Williams says.\nBringing together international artists is no easy task, Williams says. The Blossoms planning committee has been meeting since early last summer, aside from planning the original Lotus Festival. Kids don't get to have all the fun. There will be several free workshops and events for the Blossoms, including one with Guatemalan basket weaver Juanita Velasco. Friday and Saturday nights, the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., will play host to two dirt-cheap concerts, letting people hear music from around the world for only five bucks.\nAnd the excitement doesn't stop there. Both Danu and Matapat have been greeted by cheers in Bloomington before. Locke has friends in the community, and the leader of Sones de Mexico graduated from IU, Williams says. Local ties are ones that bind.\nArt and music consumers in Bloomington are victorious yet again. Lotus is entirely not for profit, meaning the multiple day stays of these famous musicians are paid for by donations, grants and sponsorships.\nWith a larger amount of funding, Williams hopes to bring future artists to town for about five days each. This year, Danu and Sones de Mexico can only stay for two, with Locke and Matapat staying a little while longer. With any luck, Lotus will attain the funding so even more educational opportunities can be offered.\nThe moral of the story: World music is better two times around.