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Created by The Living Word Project / Marc Bamuthi Joseph
Directed by Michael John Garcés

A multimedia excursion across planet hip-hop, the break/s dramatically realizes the living history of the hip-hop generation through the performed personal narrative of poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph. the break/s is a deeply honest investigation into the conflicts between Bamuthi’s public identity as successful spoken word artist, and his private identity as young man coming of age in our globalized, multieverything era. A life-long performer, he leaves it all on stage—simultaneously devouring the space with everything from shamrocks to attitude turns and eloquently spitting rhymes spoken from the heart.

Joseph is the real deal, swinging with such confidence that you grasp for adjectives to capture his skills.” -Star Tribune

In the break/s, the medium is also the message. In this “mixtape for the stage,” Bamuthi performs in a call-and-response format with turntablist DJ Excess, and beatboxer and percussionist Tommy Shepherd (aka Soulati). The multiple layers of meaning in their exchange are intensified by video projections, created by filmmaker Eli Jacobs Fantauzzi, composed of interviews and documentary footage of hip-hop culture throughout the world.
Bamuthi drew inspiration for the break/s from Jeff Chang’s 2005 American Book Award winning publication, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, which definitively captures the birth of hiphop as a local movement inspired by a generation’s longing to make culture that impacts the world.

A remarkable team of artists and creative advisors contributed to the break/s, led by director Michael John Garcés, and including dramaturg Brian Freeman, choreographer Stacy Printz, video and set designer David Szlaza, lighting designer James Clotfelter, and composer Ajayi Lumumba.

Click here to view the embedded video.

a few links…

MAPP International Productions

the break/s press kit PDF

Schedule…

For more information contact:
Cathy Zimmerman
Co-Director & Producer
MAPP International Productions
140 Second Avenue, Suite 502
New York, NY 10003
T: 646.602.9390
E: cathy@mappinternational.org

A big thanks…

Lead commissioning and development support for the break/s was provided by the Humana Festival/ Actors Theatre of Louisville, Walker Art Center, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and National Black Arts Festival. Additional residencies were held at Painted Bride Art Center; University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Z Space. The project has received generous support from the Wallace A. Gerbode Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation, Creative Capital, The James Irvine Foundation, Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant Program, The MAP Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Emerging Playwrights 2006 Initiative, and Association of Performing Arts Presenters Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Theatre Initiative.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) and Youth Speaks have commissioned poet and spoken-word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph to create Scourge, a full-length work of hip hop theater. Scourge blends the traditions of Afro-Caribbean jazz, spoken word, and hip hop into a compelling historical narrative tracing the social and diplomatic trajectory of Haiti. Bamuthi is joined in his creative process by a dynamic team of artists including 2-time Grammy-nominated Latin Jazz composer John Santos, three youth poets from Youth Speaks, hip hop dance legend Rennie Harris, director Kamilah Forbes, and dramaturg Roberta Uno.

Scourge digs at the root of current cultural tensions through a Homeric lens, using oral poetry and myth as the primary narrative devices. Through a fusion of spoken word, live music and dance, the piece suggests a series of historical factors that led to Haiti’s present-day situation. The work is divided into four parts and jumps between significant markers in Haiti’s past, blurring history with speculation and myth. Through the musical traditions of jazz, gospel, Afro-Haitian spiritual, carnival, soul, and hip hop, Scourge traces the cultural and political connections between Haiti, the United States, Africa, and the other nations of the Caribbean.

Amidst a back drop of political chaos, Haiti celebrated its 200th year as an independent nation in January 2004. This tenure ranks second only to the United States in the post-Columbian “new world.” And yet while the U.S. is clearly the planet’s most powerful nation, Haiti languishes as the poorest country in the hemisphere, plagued by a crumbling infrastructure, political turmoil, and unimaginable debt. How could two countries born of the same revolutionary spirit spiral so dramatically in opposite directions? Drawing from this point of inquiry and inspired by artists ranging from Maya Deren to Katherine Dunham to Ntozake Shange, Scourge advances our dialogue about the historical impulses that have left a great nation far behind its peers. It is the natural progression from Joseph’s last work, wherein he moves from one voice to five, three musicians to ten, and autobiography to allegory.

These are the throwaways, the statistics, the rebels without applause
and we’re supposed to teach them how to write
when they can’t formulate a sentence past 25 to life.
-Jamie Kennedy

The Kings’ underdog aesthetic builds empathy and compassion for the forgotten elements of society, fearlessly speaking ugly truths using intricately beautiful imagery and verse. The trio has received national accolades for their ability to take risks, and combine poetry, vaudeville, and confession to push the boundaries of spoken word theater. The plot turns on the day after a school shooting in an un-named American town. As school administrators ask themselves the perennial question (“What went wrong?”) they discover a note that implies that three poetry teachers in the school might have the answer. The ensuing inquiry incites several compelling questions:

• How the rebel heir of Scientology ,a tattooed Jew who used to run with Nazi’s and an immigrant ex-Crip punk rocker end up TEACHING POETRY in PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS?
• What does their journey say about education in the U.S., shifting male identities and archetypes, the intersection of hip hop and punk, performed whiteness, and most importantly, survival?

All three of In Spite’s principals have appeared on Def Poetry twice, performed and taught at Universities throughout the country, and are easily leading the aesthetic curve of spoken word poetry in the Bay Area. Given that they are making the leap from the poetry slam stage to an evening length theatrical work, they’ve crafted a timeline with equal measures of workshop rehearsal, public in-progress showings, and post-premiere development. This will be succeeded by another Work-in-Progress staging in February, followed by the “national” debut of the full piece at the Hip Hop Theater Festival in May ‘06. After this debut, the principals will execute a developmental residency week at New World Theater in Massachusetts to further hone the piece, while simultaneously working the youth of Project 2050 on performance skills, myth making, and wholistic health and stability.

Unfortunately, our current social condition is such that a man might be ridiculed for walking out on a family, but is not socially condemned for it. While women continue to fight for their right to make choices about their bodies, the elements of patriarchy and male privilege give a man the social right to choose domestic absenteeism, refraining from offering either emotional or financial support. WBF critically, lyrically, and choreographically examines this phenomenon. In the process we confront the intersection of the physical reality and mythology of the black male body from the cotton field to the athletic field to the digital plantation and all spaces in between.

Though it is performed as a solo work by National Poetry Slam Champion Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the fullest breadth of the work is the process of collaboration between the poet and the primary partners on the piece, dancer/choreographer Adia Whitaker, and composers Paris King, Sekou Gibson, and Ajayi Jackson. Bamuthi is hailed by many as the Bay Area’s most passionate and engaging spoken word performer, in large part because of his ability re-define the parameters of the spoken word by punctuating his language with directed and technically proficient dance. Word Becomes Flesh fully showcases the unique crossroads of searing politics, theology, poetry, photography and endless avenues of Black dance, including Tap, Modern, Hip Hop Movement and West African Dance.

The absent father has become a stock type in our modern mythical canon. Joining sambos, bucks, and pickanninies is the post-post modern caricatured experience of African American paternity, commonly referred to as the “baby daddy.” Scholars and social critics have deconstructed the environment that would allow such a social phenomenon to exist and preachers and demagogues berate absent fathers for their behavior, but an essential element of this discourse is the voice of the father himself. This piece attempts to fill this critical void in our musings about the trajectory of Black manhood in America.

Word Becomes Flesh also draws from an observation Bamuthi made while in Bosnia and correlates to a similar circumstance that seems to be pervasive in present day Oakland. While in Mostar, Bamuthi noticed that most social occasions were inclusive of the very young and a host of elders, but there was an entire portion of the population that seemed to be missing: men in their mid 20’s and 30’s. It occurred to him that this was the generation of young boys who went to war a few years earlier and had never come back. Among the collaborating artists, downtown Oakland looks the same way. The proliferation of incarcerated or jobless Black men suggests that the wars on crime, drugs, and education are turning out significant casualties in our community.

Black boys are leaving our social strata shortly after their 18th birthdays, and fewer and fewer are coming back. Witness that of the 100+ homicides recorded in Oakland this year, more than half are black men between 16 and 30. WBF advances from the posng of the rhetorical question which asks how many of those murdered men grew up in the home with their fathersor for that matter, how many of those murdered men were fathers themselves.

Word Becomes Flesh takes a candid, philosophical, and richly textured position on this phenomenon, intelligently addressing the concerns and aesthetic of the hip hop generation without conforming to the two dimensional contours of the mainstream media’s portrait of young black men on the cusp.

Cause
Directed and Choreographed by Robert Moses
Dramaturgy by Paul S. Flores & James Kass
Lighting Design: Jose Maria Francos,
Featuring Robert Moses’ KIN, Katri Foster, Kirya Traber, Jason Mateo, Luke Brekke-Miesner, Emiliano Bourgois-Chacon and Ise Lyfe
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum October 9-10, 2004

“Rare is the dance artist who can pull off the mix of art and politics. Local treasure Robert Moses, with his dance company, Kin, not only creates some of the most gorgeous movement onstage anywhere, but also is committed to tackling ideas of race, class, culture and gender, and he does so successfully. “Cause,” …Created in collaboration with Youth Speaks, a local nonprofit spoken-word organization, Moses explored the “first stirrings of hate” using the emotional and provocative live performances of poets Emiliano Bourgois-Chacon, Luke Brekke-Meisner, Katri Foster, Ise Lyfe, Jason Mateo and Tristan Ching.” SF Chronicle

For Mr. Moses, the genesis of Cause occurred while he was reading Jonathan Glover’s book Humanity: A Moral History of Hate in the 20th Century. “I felt compelled to create a dance about the first stirrings of hate, why it is and how it is passed on to the next generation. Unfortunately, I believe there is something seductive about hate.”

Artists of the company for the 2005 home season include: Ramon Ramos Alayo, Aramis Pazos Barrera, Tristan Ching, Bliss Kohlmyer Dowman, Todd Eckert, Amy Foley, Tianne Frias, Zenobia Moore, Robert Moses, Michael Separovich, Raissa Simpson and Katherine Wells.

Since founding Robert Moses’ Kin dance company in 1995, Robert Moses has created over 65 works for his San Francisco-based company, in addition to ballets for Cincinnati Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Lawrence Pech Dance Company, Robert Henry Johnson Dance Company, Savage Jazz Dance Company, and the Transitions Dance Company of the Laban Center in London. He has collaborated with many notable artists including Julia Adam, Margaret Jenkins, Alonzo King, Sara Shelton Mann, SoVoSo, Marcus Shelby, Keith Terry, and Frank Boehm.

Prior to establishing Robert Moses’ Kin, Moses was a highly regarded performer with Twyla Tharp Dance, ODC/San Francisco, Long Beach Ballet, Walt Disney World Productions, and Gloria Newman Dance Theater. His impressive credits include an association with Stanford University since 1995 as a lecturer, and as a master teacher or guest faculty member at Bates Dance Festival, Colorado Dance Festival, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, University of Texas, University of Nevada, Mills College, the American College Dance Festival and others.

His repertory and performances over the years have captured the attention and praise of the dance press, including “Nothing short of electrifying,” commented the Chicago Sun Times. The Los Angeles Times praised Robert Moses for creating “jewel-like dances built on classical form and enhanced by swivels, quirks and reverent pauses. Whether he’s using richly romantic taped music or rap, his carefully crafted lyricism contains moments of calm for reflecting, questioning or gathering strength.”

No Man’s Land
Written and Performed by Beau Sia, James Kass, Paul Flores and Marc Bamuthi Joseph
Directed by Kamilah Forbes
Technical & Lighting Director Christopher Studley

The finished work was presented at ODC Theater in San Francisco on September 20 and 21, 2002. The first night featured the full production, and the second presented excerpts followed by poetic responses from teenaged poets who participate in Youth Speaks programs. The collaborators intend to continue developing this work, entitled No Man’s Land, for future presentation.

While No Man’s Land marked a new direction for the poets and for Youth Speaks, the collaborators wrote at the outset, “We present this proposal as artists unable to separate ourselves from our roles as activists, organizers, and educators…we hope to engage in a collaborative learning experience.”

Youth Speaks has become a leading Bay Area platform for developing and presenting spoken word poetry. Its founder and Executive Director James Kass, instructor/mentor Paul S. Flores and Program Director Marc Bamuthi Joseph have dedicated significant effort to developing it as a cultural, educational, and leadership development program for San Francisco Bay Area youth. In creating No Mans Land, these three poets collaborated with another dynamic spoken word artist, Beau Sia, and “turned the tables” on their usual process. Rather than teaching and mentoring teenaged artists, over an 18-month period they developed their own spoken word material and in the final six months sought criticism, production ideas, and support from the teenagers. In the project’s final stages, Kamilah Forbes, director of the New York Hip Hop Festival, helped them to shape No Man’s Land into an integrated theatrical presentation.

All four collaborating artists are young (aged 25-32), and each comes from a different cultural background. Lead artist Beau Sia is a Chinese-Filipino literary performance artist, poet, and author, originally from Oklahoma who arrived in San Francisco after achieving critical success in New York City, at the Sundance Film Festival, and on the National Poetry Slam Stage. Shortly before the premiere of No Man’s Land, Sia appeared in Russell Simmon’s Def Poetry Jam at Theater on the Square in San Francisco. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a first generation Haitian-American who moved from a childhood on television screens and Broadway stages to stints with the Senegalese National Ballet and to becoming a National Poetry Slam Champion. Paul S. Flores is a Mexican-Cuban-Serbian novelist, performance poet who grew up on the border towns of Tijuana/San Diego and formed Los Delicados, a traveling Latino Poetry Troupe. Flores produces events at La Peña Cultural Center and—as part of a different Creative Work Fund grant—published his first novel, Along the Border Lies with Zyzzyva. James Kass grew up in New York, a descendant of the Jewish intellectual scene. He is a fiction writer and poet who founded and directs Youth Speaks. He also chaired the (Inter)National Youth Poetry Slam & Festival Executive Committee, and co-authored the teacher’s Resource Book and CD-ROM Brave New Voices – Spoken Word in the Classroom.

Their hope was, as four men from these differing backgrounds, to dissect maleness in a fresh, intimate, and honest manner. Working from the premise that each of them had been nominated for the “New Millennium Man Arts Residency,” the writers worked with concepts of competition and definition of what “makes a man” in today’s multicultural America. The collaborators played with the idea of this “Millennium Man” award as a way to ask, “What in our personal and cultural histories has brought us together in the early 21st Century” How do we model a new paradigm of maleness for the youth that we mentor?” A further project goal was to produce a different kind of spoken word performance. Rather than a series of poets each presenting 10-20 minutes of his work, they wanted to weave their narratives together so that their voices were distinct yet layered–directly challenging, supporting, and conversing with one another.

Founded in 1996, Youth Speaks fosters development of the spoken-word poetry genre and support systems for young poets who previously have not been invited to develop and present their voices to the public. The organization’s philosophy is that creative writing should be presented to young people as a socially functional skill, one that creates avenues toward building relationships and cohesiveness among social groups.

Youth Speaks has created significant opportunities for spoken word artists—from participating in the Bay Area Book Festival, Second Sundays, and the Bringing the Noise Reading Series, to Brave New Voices: The (Inter)National Youth Poetry Slam Festival. Acknowledged leaders in the field, Youth Speaks and The Living Word Project have been major players behind the rise of poetry/spoken-word literary arts.