Submitted by Lianne Card, Palo Alto Subud
Nearly 140 members attended an action-packed 2015 Subud California Congress at the Airtel Hotel over Memorial Day weekend. The hotel, boasting an aviation theme, is adjacent to the Van Nuys airport where the final scenes of the movie “Casablanca” were filmed.
2015 Congress Chair Harlan Gleeson and his team organized a full schedule of business, kejiwaan and cultural activities to keep everyone engaged and busy throughout the weekend. It has become customary to include a quarterly council meeting before each annual gathering to maximize travel budgets for center representatives. Thus the council and regional helpers “prepared the site” and could greet us when we arrived.
Subud Santa Cruz conducted an ongoing auction to help defray some of their loan payments after a significant restoration of the house two years ago. Susila Dharma ran the “Naked Ladies” clothing exchange. Members donated clothing then shoppers choose these items and made a donation to SD. Mohammed Isman Kanafsky and team presided over a gallery of art, books and artisanal items made by Subud artists. A champagne and cider opening reception formally opened the gallery gift shop after the entertainment Friday night.
This was a business congress year. Three plenary sessions yielded a new chair, Robert Mertens of Subud San Joaquin Valley and vice-chair, Elizabeth Trudell of Subud Palo Alto (Santa Clara Valley). Lincoln Meyerson of Subud Los Angeles will bring his considerable event planning experience to the role of 2016 Congress Chair.
There were three latihans each day. The regional helpers were “on duty” 24-7 with assistance from four national helpers: Benedict Herrman, Marius Harold, Alexandra Boyer, and Lianne Card. Following the morning latihans, general testing and small group testing were offered; these sessions were well attended. Four sessions of workshops also provided opportunities for focused discussion and sharing.
Two nights of spectacular programs and an open mic night capped off each evening with exuberant entertainment. The Kejiwaan Kabaret dinner club, produced by Michael Menduno, kicked off the weekend. The program ranged from classical to popular music and jazz improvisation. Opera arias were performed by Cherie Valaray Richman and Elizabeth Trudell, accompanied by Howard Richman. Cellist David Schepps from Albuquerque performed in a duet with Howard Richman. The second half of the program featured chanteuse Christina Linhardt accompanied by Bryan Pezzone on keys, with songs ranging from opera to a Marlene Dietrich medley. Se was also accompanied by jazz saxophonist Carole Chaikin and Michael Menduno on bass. It was “true culture” we were all grateful to witness. Grants from SICA International and SICA USA helped make the shows a reality. Here’s a link to Arthur Barrett’s photos of the evening:
Harlan Gleeson hosted Sunday night’s performances and shared poignant over-the-top memories of growing up in Subud Los Angeles, including a story of how 19 kids lived for several months at the Gleeson home. He also described how the LA Subud teenagers invaded Portugal for the first-ever Subud Youth Camp. Laksar Reese on sax and keyboard player Nate Middleton provided soaring jazz. Now familiar to Subud California audiences, David Zasloff had us exercising our laughter forces. Barry Neikrug, new to us as a stand up comic delivered his own excellent monologues. The two Davids, Zazloff (Japanese flute) and Schepps, (cello) concluded the evening with their surprising improvisation.
The weekend ended Monday with a closing circle and a group photo under the suspended airplane in the lobby.