This Three-Day Festival and Conference took place October 29-31, 1999 and was amazing! Here are a couple of photos. Don't miss the next one! |
|
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
SHELLEY ROBERTS, NJPAC, 973-297-5834
For Immediate Release
NJPAC Presents Sacred Circle/Spoken Word, an International, Intergenerational Three-Day Festival Celebrating the Spoken Word
Performers and Panels Members Include Amiri Baraka, Asha Bandele, Mutabaruka, Roger Bonair-Agard, Sekou Sundiata and Sonia Sanchez
Newark, NJ (October 15, 1999) The New Jersey Performing Arts Center presents Sacred Circle/Spoken Word, an international, intergenerational three-day festival and conference celebrating the spoken word and featuring a wide variety of hip-hop artists, MCs, writers, poets, critics and historians from Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and throughout the U.S. Among the writers, poets and performers scheduled to appear are Amiri Baraka, Asha Bandele, Mutabaruka, Roger Bonair-Agard, Sekou Sundiata, Sonia Sanchez, Sarah Jones, Miguel Algarin, Will Power, Roger Robinson and Reg E. Gaines. Sacred Circle/Spoken Word, which takes place from Friday, October 29 through Sunday, October 31 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, One Center Street in Newark (see attached schedule of events), is presented as part of NJPAC’s World Festival III, sponsored by American Express and Pfizer. Additional support has been provided by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Instituto Cam�es. Tickets are $5-$20, and may be purchased by telephone at 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722), or at the NJPAC Box Office at One Center Street in downtown Newark.
|
The Sacred Circle/Spoken Word festival is interdisciplinary and intergenerational in nature. The range of artists
The Sacred Circle/Spoken Word festival opens on Friday, October 29 with a performance in NJPAC’s Rehearsal Banquet Hall at 8:00pm. Artists scheduled to perform on Friday evening include Imani Uzuri and Marvin Sewell; Will Power; WordBand; Shaheen Ariefdien and Isaac Pule Chokwe; and Craig Harris and Sekou Sundiata. At 11:30pm, the festivities continue with an Open Mic at the Robert Treat Hotel, hosted by the Verse 4 Verse poetry group.
Activities on Saturday, October 30 begin at 12:00pm with a panel discussion titled The Power of the Spoken Word: Politics, History and Aesthetics, which will take place in NJPAC’s Rehearsal Banquet Hall. Panelists
include moderator Ras Baraka, Amiri Baraka, Willie Sanchez, Vanessa Richards, Khefri Riley, Reg E. Gaines, Roger Robinson and Asha Bandele. This discussion will also include readings by Wilfredo Bonilla, Vanessa Richards, Laini Mataka, Shaheen Ariefdien and Isaac Pule Chokwe. At 5:00pm, Jessica Care Moore and Reg E. Gaines will conduct a workshop titled Production and Performance, also in NJPAC’s Rehearsal Banquet Hall. At 8:00, the Victoria Theater will host performances by Live Language, Roger Robinson, the Watts Prophets, Freestyle Union and the M’Zawa Danz company. Another Open Mic session follows at the Robert Treat Hotel at 11:30pm, this time hosted by the famous Nuyorican Poets Caf�.
On Sunday, October 31 at 12:00pm, a second panel discussion titled Spirit of Performance: Content, Cooperation, Competition will take place in the Rehearsal Banquet Hall. Panelists include moderator Wilfredo Bonilla, Sonia Sanchez, Sarah Jones, Tracie Morris, Miguel Algarin, Toni Blackman and Sekou Sundiata. This panel discussion will also included readings by Amina Baraka, Sarah Jones, Sekou Sundiata, Sonia Sanchez and General D. Following the panel, at 3:30pm in the Rehearsal Banquet Hall, a workshop titled Distribution and the Internet will be conducted by Troy Johnson and Davey D.
Also on Sunday, a performance by Fo Deuk Revue is scheduled for 5:00pm in the Victoria Theater. Fo deuk Revue, an ensemble that combines jazz with traditional African drumming, Senegalese rap and spoken word performance, is comprised of founder David Murray, saxophone; Amiri Baraka, spoken word; Doudou N’Diaye Rose, sabbar/drums; Craig Harris, trombone; Jamaaladeen Tacuma, bass guitar; Jimaine Nelson, keyboards; J.T. Lewis, drums; Positive Back Soul, a Senegalese rap group; and Dieuf Dieul, a new band from Dakar. Also appearing will be special guest artist Mutabaruka, and Roger Bonair-Agard, 1999’s National Slam Individual Champion. Following the performance, Kalamu Ya Salaam will moderate a post-performance discussion titled From Stage to Page.
For a detailed breakdown of the Sacred Circle/Spoken Word schedule and bios on the participating artists, please see the attached documents.
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located on the Newark Riverfront near Gateway Center, Newark's Penn Station, and the Ironbound District in downtown Newark, NJ, is the first major performing arts center to open in the Northeast in more than 30 years and the sixth largest performing arts center in the United States.
Funding has been made possible through a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/ Department of State and funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sacred Circle/Spoken Word NJPAC NJPAC NJPAC
Friday, October 29, 8pm-11:30pm
Saturday, October 30, 12pm-11:30pm
Sunday, October 31, 12pm-7pm
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center presents Sacred Circle/Spoken Word, a international, intergenerational three-day festival celebrating the spoken word featuring a wide variety of hip-hop artists, MCs, writers, poets, critics and historians from Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and throughout the U.S.. Among the writers, poets and performers scheduled to appear are Amiri Baraka, Asha Bandele, Mutabaruka, Roger Bonair-Agard, Miguel Algarin, Sekou Sundiata, Sonia Sanchez, Sarah Jones, Will Power, Roger Robinson and Reg E. Gaines. Sacred Circle/Spoken Word is presented as part of NJPAC’s World Festival III, sponsored by American Express and Pfizer. Additional support has been provided by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Instituto Cam�es.
Tickets are $5-$20, and may be purchased by telephone at 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722), or at the NJPAC Box Office at One Center Street in downtown Newark. For further information, please call 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722).
-end-