OMAI
& The UW Arts Institute Presents
LINE BREAKS
A Lecture and Performance Series on Spoken Word and Hip-Hop featuring Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Friends – February 24 to April 26
Monday events are at the Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street, and are free and open to the public.
Saturday,
February 24th
Wisconsin Union Theater - 7 pm
Series Kick-Off: An Evening With Marc Bamuthi Joseph (8:30pm) preceded by Youth
Speaks Wisconsin Teen Spoken Word Finals (7pm). Tickets: (608) 262-2201
Monday,
February 26 - 7 pm
Rennie Harris, Choreographer of the award winning “Rome and Jewels” and “Facing
Mekka”, and Jeff Chang, American Book Award Winner and author of Can’t
Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Saturday,
March 3
Great Hall, Wisconsin Union - 8 pm
The First Annual DanceFest, A
Benefit for First Wave Scholarships featuring “In Black N’ White”& SambaDá.
Tickets: (608) 262-2201 or on-line here. Web
site: DanceFest
Monday,
March 5 - 7 pm
Alix Olson, Queer Spoken Word Artist-Activist
Monday,
March 12 - 7 pm
Kamilah Forbes, Executive Producer, Russell Simmons’ HBO Def Poetry Jam
Monday,
March 19 - 7 pm
Danny Hoch, Obie Award Winner and co-founder of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival
Monday,
March 26 - 7 pm
Dennis Kim, Lead MC of Chicago’s Typical Cats and Mayda del Valle, star of the
Tony Award winning “Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry on Broadway”
Monday,
April 9 - 7 pm
Lauren Whitehead, Spoken Word Artist
Monday,
April 16 - 7 pm
Rafael Casal and Dahlak Brathwaite, Youth Speaks Spoken Word Stars
Thursday,
April 26
Music Hall - 8 pm
Omar Sosa and his Afreecanos Quartet, A Benefit For First Wave Scholarships and
Isthmus Jazz Series Kick-off.
Tickets: (608) 262-2201
Overview
· The Arts Institute is proud to welcome Marc Bamuthi Joseph to the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Spring 2007 Artist in Residence. The Arts Institute Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Program brings world-class artists to campus to teach semester-long, interdepartmental courses and to publicly present their work for campus and community audiences.
· Internationally-renowned spoken word artist, Marc Bamuthi Joseph is one of an emerging class of hip-hop theater artists who combines a variety of art forms in his work. He has been a featured artist on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry on HBO, is a National Poetry Slam champion, Broadway veteran, and an inaugural recipient of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship (one of three Arts Institute Artists in Residence to be so honored). Bamuthi uses theater; West African, tap, and modern dance; spoken word poetry; and live music to stretch the bounds of traditional hip-hop and create a new forum for expressive performance art. His works challenge audiences of all ages to reevaluate the relationship between spoken language, body language, and the body politic. He is redefining the possibilities of the integrative arts and is demonstrating the revolutionary potential of hip-hop culture to serve as a vehicle to address issues of social injustice, political hegemony, institutional racism, and other social maladies.
· Bamuthi will kick off his residency at the Wisconsin Union Theater on Saturday, February 24th by hosting the Fourth Annual Youth Speaks Wisconsin Teen Poetry Finals and then presenting “An Evening with Marc Bamuthi Joseph,” featuring different components of his award-winning one man shows. Tickets are available at the Wisconsin Union Theater box office (262-2201).
· Starting on Monday, February 26th, Bamuthi will host a free public series Line Breaks: A Lecture and Performance Series on Spoken Word and Hip-Hop Featuring Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Friends, featuring special guest artists Rennie Harris, Jeff Chang, Alix Olson, Kamilah Forbes, Danny Hoch, Dennis Kim, Mayda del Valle, Lauren Whitehead, Rafael Casal, and Dahlak Brathwaite. He will also teach an accompanying interdisciplinary arts course for university students, which will focus on writing and performing spoken word and hip-hop theatre.
· Bamuthi’s residency is hosted by the Department of Afro-American Studies, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI), and co-sponsored by the Dance Program, the Wisconsin Union Directorate Theater Committee, the Integrated Liberal Studies program, Madison Metropolitan School District, and Wisconsin Humanities Council.
More Info:
HOME (Residency home page)
LEGACY (by Jeff Chang – recommended reading)
YOUTH SPEAKS WISCONSIN (UW Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives)