BAM Presents Poetry 2012: Grand Slam! on March 9
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BAM presents Poetry 2012: Grand Slam! on March 9 Dynamic, multi-artist spoken-word performance hosted by Baba Israel and DJ Reborn—featuring jessica Care moore, Ishmael “Ish” Islam, Jamaal St. John, “Mighty” Mike McGee, NeNe Ali, and The Strivers Row Poets BAM’s 150th anniversary celebration continues through Dec 2012 Bloomberg is the BAM 2012 Winter/Spring sponsor Poetry 2012: Grand Slam! Directed by Monica Williams BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St) Mar 9 at 7:30pm Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased by calling 718.636.4100 or at BAM.org Brooklyn, NY/Feb 2, 2012—In a special one-night-only performance on March 9, BAM presents Poetry 2012: Grand Slam!—a cross-generational, interdisciplinary performance directed by Monica Williams. The program features groundbreaking poets and beat-box artists who demonstrate the vitality of the spoken word. Hosted by Baba Israel (who has appeared on MTV, BET, and VH1, and serves as artistic director of Manchester, England’s Contact Theatre), and the acclaimed DJ Reborn (who has spun at shows by The Roots, Talib Kweli, Common, and John Legend), the program speaks to diverse influences, including the Beat writers, the Black Arts Movement, hip-hop culture, and a wide range of theatrical experiences. Featured performers include jessica Care moore, Ishmael “Ish” Islam, Jamaal St. John, “Mighty” Mike McGee, NeNe Ali, and The Striver’s Row Poets. Grand Slam! is the exciting outgrowth of a BAM program that exposed New York City students to professional spoken-word performers. BAM’s Education Department launched its poetry program in 2004, giving students an opportunity to explore their own voices and use poetry as a tool for self-expression. Along with school-based residencies led by BAM teaching artists, students attended an annual performance featuring some of the best poets in the country. These shows began to attract interest beyond a student population, leading to the creation of this year’s evening event—open to the public and staged at the BAM Harvey Theater. About the Artists jessica Care moore is an internationally renowned poet, publisher, activist, playwright, and actor and five-time Showtime at the Apollo winner. moore was featured on Nas’ album Nastradamus and was a returning star of Russell Simmons’ HBO series Def Poetry Jam. A native of Detroit, she fuses a rock band with hip-hop and poetry. Her band, Detroit Read, blends soul and rock inspired by Prince, Janis Joplin, The Temptations, and Marvin Gaye. moore is also the founder of Moore Black Press, a publisher of the work of famed poets including Saul Williams, Sharrif Simmons, Def Poetry Jam’s co- founder and artist Danny Simmons, NBA player Etan Thomas, and activist/poet Ras Baraka, among others. She appeared in the independent films Hugh’s Harlem Dream, His/Herstory, and Under the Gun, and stars in Slamnation! Ishmael “Ish” Islam, a student at Kingsborough Community College, is a 19-year-old Brooklyn native and spoken-word artist, poet, MC, filmmaker, and graphic artist. “Ish” was named 2012 Youth Poet Laureate of NYC for his poem “Daydreaming at the Voting Booth.” He was one of the 2010 Brave New Voices Slam champions and took 3rd place at the 2011 Knicks Poetry Slam. Islam is also half of the Brooklyn hip-hop duo HumUni, and the award-winning producer of the short film Departure from a Love. He has most recently created a one-man show entitled The Self Spell in partnership with Urban Word NYC and Dance Theater Workshop. Performance poet/spoken word artist Jamaal St. John hails from New Rochelle, NY and attended Northeastern University where he majored in criminal justice. His unique style blends old school hip- hop rhyme schemes with cunning wordplay—addressing relevant social, cultural, and economic topics. St. John is a five-time Nuyorican Poets Café Grand Slam Finalist (most recently in 2010) and won the coveted title of Nuyorican Slam King in 2000. He is a six-time Champion of the Toronto International Poetry Slam. St. John, who cites inspiration from Last Poets, Watts Prophets, and Gil Scott-Heron, has released three recordings of his work, the most recent is Southpaw Stance. He has also authored The Status Quote, due for release in 2012. “Mighty” Mike McGee is a well-traveled, hobo-poet from San José, CA. He has been a force in Bay Area spoken word since 1999. McGee is the first slam poet to win both the American National Slam Individual Grand Championship (2003) and the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship (2006). McGee has performed at venues and in festivals in Europe, Canada, and the US, and has appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. He has become a favorite performer in schools across the United States and was one of the first Americans to perform at the University of Paris (La Sorbonne) and at the UK’s Glastonbury music festival. He has released numerous recordings of his work, most recently Sweet Nuggets, a collection of recordings made from 1997—2007. The Strivers Row Poets are a performance collective born from the collision of passion and page. Assembled in the fall of 2010, the troupe has already, on an individual level, performed on stages ranging from Broadway’s Amsterdam theater to Poetry Africa to the Sundance Film Festival to President Obama's Evening of Music and Poetry at the White House. Beyond the stage, Miles Hodges, Jasmine Mans, and Joshua Bennett are not only artists, but rigorous students as well (Joshua Bennett a PhD candidate at Princeton University, Jasmine Mans and Miles Hodges at University of Madison-Wisconsin and University of Pennsylvania, respectively). For them, performance poetry is infinitely more than just a form of entertainment, it is a vehicle for transformation. Baba Israel (emcee) was raised in New York by parents who were core members of the Living Theatre. He developed as a young artist exploring spoken word, hip-hop, and experimental performance. He has toured across the US, Europe, South America, Australia, and Asia, performing with artists such as Outkast, The Roots, Rahzel, Ron Carter, Afrika Bambaataa, Vernon Reid, and Bill Cosby. Directorial work includes Project 2050 (New World Theatre), Countryboy Struggle (Maxwell Golden) and Sharpening SAWDS. He was co-founder and artistic director of Playback NYC Theatre Company which brought theater to under-represented communities. Israel holds an MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard. In 2009 he became Artistic Director /CEO of Contact, an English theater with young people at its core. Baba Israel has also served as a lead teaching artist for BAM’s Brooklyn Reads education program. Contactmcr.com babaisrael.com DJ Reborn is a Brookyn-based DJ who has been moving audiences for more than a decade with her mellifluous blend of soul, hip-hop, reggae, house, Latin, electronic, and Afrobeat. She has spun at shows by artists including The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, John Legend, and India Arie, and at museums including the Whitney, the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, and Brooklyn Museum. DJ Reborn has also spun exclusive events for Maxwell, Metallica, and Lauryn Hill, as well as for visual artists Kara Walker and Wangheci Mutu. DJ Reborn has appeared on BET’s “Rap City” and served as the 2004–2005 international tour DJ for Russell Simmons’ Def PoetryJam. She was musical director and DJ for actor/playwright Will Power’s off-Broadway hit “Flow.” As a youth mentor and arts educator with Urban Word NYC, DJ Reborn created a workshop for teenage girls that explores DJing, creative writing, and critical analysis of women’s images in media culture. NeNe Ali has a passion for the healing power of words and the ability to deliver mind-blowing performances. She is the youngest recipient of Miami Heat Superstar Dwayne Wade’s “Keeper of the Village Award” for her outstanding work through her Rethink Poverty campaign initiative. NeNe has become a headline artist and has performed at many venues throughout the United States. Ali captures her audience with a certain magical force all her own. After each performance NeNe gets nothing less than a standing ovation and walks away with the inspiration to continue to make this world a better place. Credits Bloomberg is the BAM 2012 Winter/Spring sponsor Leadership support provided by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and The SHS Foundation Development of new BAM Education and Community initiatives for the BAM Richard B. Fisher Building supported by The Achelis Foundation; Altman Foundation; Booth Ferris Foundation; Brooklyn Community Foundation; Ford Foundation; The New York Community Trust; The Rockefeller Foundation New York City Cultural Innovation Fund; and The Skirball Foundation Programming in the BAM Harvey Theater is endowed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Winter/Spring Season supporters: Bank of America; Bloomberg; Chase; Con Edison; The Howard Gilman Foundation; The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation; mcgarrybowen; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Donald R. Mullen Jr.; Stavros Niarchos Foundation; New York State Council on the Arts; The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation; Mikhail Prokhorov Fund; R/GA; The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; The SHS Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Skirball Foundation; The Starr Foundation; Target; The Wall Street Journal; Time Warner Inc.; The Winston Foundation, Inc.; Friends of BAM and BAM Cinema Club. Sovereign Bank is the BAM Marquee sponsor. Yamaha is the official piano for BAM. R/GA is the BAM.org sponsor. New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is the official hotel for BAM. General information BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp Building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn.