seen?

last night, i went to check out a show at the public theater, emergence-see! just so you know my opinion of the show right from the top, it was the truth. a one man show, the brainchild of poet-actor-opera singer-extraordinaire daniel beaty, the fantastical show was about a slave ship that suddenly rises from the hudson river, right in the shadow of the statue of liberty.

beaty examines various reactions to past and present history through the voices of the characters he takes on, but the drama centers mainly around one family: a father, haunted and possibly driven crazy by his past, and his two grown sons who are tryin to figure out who they are in life. the father somehow makes it onboard the ship, and his sons go after him to bring him back to land.

beaty takes on stereotypes head on, but then slips in a subtly subversive note. what's funny, is also touching, what's touching is also absurd. one of the funniest moments in the show: a pseudorasta, a young black man, declares that he is, in fact, a white man. his reasoning has everyone in stitches (when his girlfriend says he should get a job, he decline, because he's actually a rich white man, and he's waiting for the universe to tell that to the bank). but then he slips in some telling questions.

the premise does ask that the audience to suspend its disbelief - a slave ship randomly surfacing from the hudson? all on its own? - but then plays to it. yes, this is strange. many of his characters don't even believe it. but that is the whole point. by the time the sons find their father, one of the sons says to the other, "maybe we're all crazy, and tryin not to show it."

in life, i'm inclined to agree.

Labels: performance arts

Posted by call me aja at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

one year anniversary of jam on it poetry off broadway showcase. good performances, good poetry, good audience, good music, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (i'm really serious about that), so i suggest you check it out.

JAM ON IT POETRY: "The Anniversary Jam " October 21st 2006 @ 8pm The Chasama Theater 217 East 42nd Street Directions by train: To Grand Central www.jamonitpoetry.com

featuring:

Lemon :

Born and raised in New York City, Lemon Andersen has been a regular on HBO's Def Poetry. He was also one of the original cast members and writers for the TONY Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. After coming a drama desk nominee Lemon was chosen to be the poet to help sign Lebron James to Nike. Lemon's extensive theatrical work is not limited to Broadway productions. He has been featured in several Spike Lee films including "sucker free city," "She Hate Me" and most recently "The Inside Man." Lemon has also taught performance art workshops at such universities and venues including Harvard, Princeton, UMASS and Sing Sing prison. For more info on Lemon

Taylor Mali:

Performance poet Taylor Mali is the most successful poetry slam strategist of all time, having lead six of his seven national poetry slam teams to the finals stage and winning the championship itself a record four times before anyone had even tied him at three. A native of New York City, Mali was one of the original poets to appear on the HBO original series "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry." He was also the "golden-tongued, Armani clad villain" of Paul Devlin's 1997 documentary film "SlamNation," which chronicled the National Poetry Slam Championship of 1996, the year of Mali's first national team championship. For more info on Taylor

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo:

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is a Nigerian-American poet/singer residing in Boston, MA. She is a Winner of a 2006 New England Urban Music Award for Best Female Spoken-Word Poet. Iyeoka was also awarded the title "Performance Poet of the Year" along with "Slam Poet of the Year" at the 2003 Cambridge Poetry Awards. For the past 5 years she has been a strong member of the Boston Slam Team 2000-2005. Iyeoka was also a member of the wonderful group "Blackout Boston." Iyeoka has also been been featured at the House of Blues in Boston, the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, the Embassy, Avalon and Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam airing on HBO. For more info on Iyeoka

Jared Paul:

In 2004, after years of local and national performances Jared traveled the U.S. on the 32 venue "DIY Fight The Tide Tour" registering poets in various spoken word communities to vote and raise awareness about voter fraud. The tour was swallowed and redirected when it met up with Sage Francis and his "FUCK CLEAR CHANNEL TOUR." Jared stayed with the FCC tour for an additional 20 dates, helping to register over a thousand people to vote, and assist in spreading the word about the dangers of the corrupt, money driven, and community destroying media ownership empire Clear Channel. Jared was next enlisted as a featured hip hop/spoken word act for all 40 dates on Sage Franciss 2005 A Health Distrust Tour. For more info onJared Paul

Labels: events, performance arts, poetry

Posted by call me aja at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments

couple of interesting stories i read today:

*an english woman filmmaker, penny woolcock, has interpreted the biblical account of exodus for a modern context, scripting it as a political struggle over immigration, and staged it as a massive public art performance involving an entire english town. sculpture, music, and theater - very interesting. i think it is quite intriguing. and while many people find the bible to old to be relevant, this project just goes to show that, in the end, human nature and the themes of our existence remain the same. there is nothing new under the sun...which is also a biblical phrase...so perhaps we should be learning something from the story.



*sunday, october 1 marked the 44th anniversary of the integration of university of mississippi, good old ole miss. james meredith, the first black student to enter the university, and morgan freeman were on hand for the commemoration.



Labels: never forgetting, performance arts

Posted by call me aja at 6:36 PM | Permalink | Comments

found this on trace212.com

Piece of Mind: Mos Def arrested at VMA's by Josefina Guzman

Though it resulted in his arrest for disorderly conduct, big ups to Mos Def for having the best performance at this year's MTV Video Music Awards. The rapper/activist pulled up in front of Radio City Music Hall on a flatbed truck and boldly unleashed his politically charged "Katrina Clap", a song that targets Bush and his poor response to the devastation left in New Orleans. Unplanned and without the official MTV stamp of approval, the show went on even when asked to stop by NYC authorities, all of which led the arrest of Mos Def and most of his entourage. The revolution was not televised as part of MTV's programming but Mos Def's people did catch the events on tape and are working on publishing it for all to see.

"katrina clap" is on the beat of juvenile's "nolia clap," which is ridiculously fitting. listen here:
http://www.nobodysmiling.com/hiphop/promotional_audio/85087.php

http://www.trace212.com/data/news/200609061850.html

Labels: musica, never forgetting, performance arts

Posted by call me aja at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments