Month: April 2022

Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, in residence at Northeastern Illinois University, brings their popular "Flamenco Passion" performances to the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd., 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 17 and Saturday, June 18, and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 19. These performances will cap the company's 46th multi-faceted American Spanish Dance and Music Festival (June 8-19). For more information visit ensembleflamencopassion.org."After two years of dealing with challenging COVID protocols, we are so excited to once again be able to feature a robust roster of dance and musical guest artists. Five of those dance and musical guests are joining us for the first time. They include internationally acclaimed Latin Grammy Award-winning Spanish-born singer,...

We are focused on reducing barriers and increasing opportunities so all people can get help when they need it. We are using equity as a lens to drive response operations and deliver better services to marginalized and other vulnerable populations. On January 20, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. released Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, requiring that agencies assess equity with respect to race, ethnicity, religion, income, geography, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. “We’re turning a page at FEMA and infusing equity throughout our agency, programs, and policies to better serve people who face unique barriers before, during and after disasters.” – FEMA Administrator Deanne Cris...

Technology sometimes moves at a dizzying pace. When it comes to innovation in financial activities, often referred to as FinTech, the world is seeing major advances. For banks, FinTech disrupts core financial services and pushes them to innovate to remain relevant. For consumers, it means potentially wider access to better services. Such changes also raise the stakes for regulators and supervisors—while most individual FinTech firms are still small, they can scale up very rapidly across both riskier clients and business segments than traditional lenders. This combination of fast growth and increasing importance of FinTech financial services for the functioning of financial intermediation can come with system-wide risks, which we cover in our latest Global Financial Stability R...

Northeastern Illinois University and Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater will host the Cardinal Bartolucci Foundation Choir from Rome at Northeastern Illinois University's Auditorium, 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 22.For almost 50 years, Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci, choirmaster of the Sistine Chapel Choir, oversaw the music of the sacred liturgies of the successors of St. Peter. The choir established in his name now disseminates and promotes knowledge of the most celebrated composers of religious music from the Renaissance to present day.This event marks one of the choir's first performances in Chicago and will include a special tribute to Dame Libby Komaiko, late founder of the Ensemble Español. Dancers will accompany the choir for a unique perfo...

Readers have asked many questions about Measure D and the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line. In part of Aptos, the line runs near Mar Vista Drive. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local file) SANTA CRUZ >> On June 7, Santa Cruz County residents will vote on Measure D, the Greenway ballot initiative. The ballot measure, spurred by local nonprofit Santa Cruz County Greenway Inc. and more than 12,000 valid signatures, would change the Santa Cruz County’s General Plan to promote Greenway’s vision for a trail: two lanes of bike traffic, a divider and a walkway. Current plans call for a shared walk and bike path on the rail line or next to the rail line. In recent weeks, Santa Cruz Local readers asked several questions about Measure D. Readers said they wanted to understand what’s at stake lega...

Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, in residence at Northeastern Illinois University, brings their popular "Flamenco Passion" performances to the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd., 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 17 and Saturday, June 18, and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 19. These performances will cap the company's 46th multi-faceted American Spanish Dance and Music Festival (June 8-19). For more information visit ensembleflamencopassion.org."After two years of dealing with challenging COVID protocols, we are so excited to once again be able to feature a robust roster of dance and musical guest artists. Five of those dance and musical guests are joining us for the first time. They include internationally acclaimed Latin Grammy Award-winning Spanish-born singer,...

Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theatre will pay homage to its late beloved founder Dame Libby Komaiko when it performs her “Danza del Fuego” (“Dance of Fire”) at Dominican University’s Lund Auditorium in River Forest on April 23. It’s part of a program packed with stunning numbers by this acclaimed dance company, in residence at Northeastern Illinois University, that has spread the joy of Spanish dance around the United States since Komaiko founded it in 1975.Fifteen dancers will perform, accompanied by three musicians.Artistic director Irma Suárez Ruiz has been with the company for 43 years. Suárez Ruiz said it is a “great honor” to continue the work of Komaiko, who she called “our director, our boss, our mentor, our instructor — everything to us. She believed in me.”The Dominican perf...