Hi All,
It is time mark your calendars for the 3rd annual:
West Philly Art Rising Showcase
May 24th, from 4:00 to 6:30 PM
Studio34 (4522 Baltimore Ave.). $5 at the door.
This is that great talent showcase of West Philly youth that list
folks raved about last year! Many people were upset they missed it.
Read the article below to find out why. Oh, and this year there will
be a raffle for a 1-year membership with Fit Gym!
West Philly Art Rising Showcase – Celebrating Rising Artists From Our
Community
Formerly known as the University City Talent Show, the West Philly
Art Rising show will again feature visual artists, dancers, musicians
and actors. Reflective of our name change, this year’s show has been
further enriched by the participation of established artists,
collaborating to help bring emerging artists to the stage. The truly
satisfying thing is that all the artists live or work in West
Philadelphia, giving evidence once again of the richness and vitality
of our community. The expectation is that new collaborations will
arise and continue in an organic fashion as a result of working
together on this performance! We invite you to witness the process
and enjoy the results of the current work. And we will share with
you what has happened as a result of last year’s show.
As artists, we are unified by our common pursuit of the truest
expression or ourselves through our art: who we are and what
motivates us. The pleasure of witnessing that expression in others
compels us to want to support and encourage one another as we each
work towards this goal. In a very real way, artists can be the
leading lights in community building, and the artists featured in
this show especially embody this in many ways. Let me tell you how:
Let’s begin with Studio34! It is with great pleasure that we find
ourselves here for our event. The founders – Angela Norris, Steven
Fisher and James Peniston - “ envision a community that nurtures
individuals and families in their pursuit of physical, emotional, and
spiritual wellness. We will celebrate, connect and create communities
through healing and creative arts.” In the short time since its
opening, Studio34 has pursued this vision actively, and we feel
privileged to be part of the fulfillment of that mission. Their
welcoming support of us and our show has meant a lot to us, and we
look forward to what our new relationships will bring forth.
Owen Brown, a jazz vocalist and violinist, opened our show for us
last year. Over the years as vocal coach and mentor he has been
involved in the launching of many successful recording artists’
careers, both solo singers and groups. Since last year’s show, he
has worked with Chelsea Bulack, and they will present several songs
together for us. We appreciate the dedication with which he continues
to mentor and teach musicians and performers. Owen will also solo
over one of Jon Bulack’s tracks, giving us a taste of his own talent.
A collaboration that came together specifically for this show began
with the writing of a one-act play called “Waiting for Oprah”, by
Joseph Blake. This thought-provoking look at race relations/self-
awareness in America today will be brought to the stage by Chelsea
Bulack, Mike Taylor and Justin Valentine, directed by Connie Norwood.
Don’t miss it – its relevance given the current Democratic race will
give you food for thought, and insight into the mindset of real
segments in our society. Joseph is an experienced playwright,
journalist, community activist, and educator and has long been active
in West Philadelphia. Connie is a long-term resident of West
Philadelphia, and an experienced actress, writer and director. We
are privileged to have this collaboration between experienced
dramatists and emerging performers make its debut here at our show!
Tuphace (aka Mike Taylor) has truly entered into the spirit of
collaboration for this show. He took on the challenge of being in
“Waiting For Oprah”, as well as bringing himself and his back-up
musicians to perform for us. He is working with several of the other
performers on an ongoing basis, to further their art. Tuphace is an
up and coming recording artist who blends hip-hop, rock and dance
music to bring his thoughtful message to the music scene. Since
performing at our last show, he has continued to develop important
relationships in the music world, including becoming closely
associated with the Roots. He will soon be releasing an EP through
Okayplayer, a ground-breaking online music community started by the
Roots. He will be headlining his own show on June 14th at the
Trocodera, and invites his home community to come out and see him at
our show before you go to see him at the Troc!
Vice Versa appeared in our last show, having taken a beat/rap Beacon
class that Tuphace taught. Khalif Thompson and Chad Howard have
since gone on to perform at schools through Project Peace, a City
Year sponsored program. They have also performed at numerous open
mikes, building a solid fan base with their positive message (go to
their myspace page at [EMAIL PROTECTED]). They are now working
on their first album, and preparing to enter 10th grade. We are proud
to welcome them back.
Chosen Dance Company, with Clyde Evans as artistic director, has
worked tirelessly in the last year teaching and performing at area
schools, promoting tolerance and respect as well as teaching the
history and roots of hip-hop dance. They also performed in the
prestigious DanceBOOM Festival at the Wilma for “Men Dancing”.
Chosen will draw from their repertoire for our show, and invites you
to come to the premiere of their next show called “Hip Hop With A
Conscience”, at the Microsoft School of the Future, May 30 and 31 at
7 pm. Prepare to be mesmerized by the incredible skills they have
acquired, and the pure joy with which they perform.
LYFE (which stands for Leading Youth For Eternity), is a gospel hip-
hop dance ministry which began 3 years ago. This group has
encouraged its members to express their spirituality through hip hop
dance, and their unique blend of movement has found audiences at area
colleges, and at gospel events including one recently in Las Vegas.
Lyfe has performed in West Philadelphia and has close ties with our
neighborhood through Cynthia Preston, long-time resident and Town
Watch organizer. She is grandmother to one of the performers, and
mother to Pastor G. Kevin Allen, pastor of the Effectual Prayer and
Worship Center, which is the home base of Lyfe. Co-pastor Gwen Allen
is the director of Lyfe, and has provided much of the foundational
spiritual and artistic guidance for these performers. We look
forward to being inspired by these young people as they bring their
message to our stage.
Jon Bulack and Justin Valentine, both members of Chosen, have also
begun producing music: first to help them in their dancing and
teaching, and now to find other audiences. We are happy to feature
their music in this show, with several performances using Jon’s music
for accompaniment, and Justin’s music for pre- and post-show
listening/dancing. These dancers also were part of the cast of
“Tuesday”, which won a Barrymore for Best Ensemble in 2006, and
Justin will be in “Waiting For Oprah” for our show.
Those who know Christine Myer remember that she has been taking a
break from dance which she pursued for many years at Gwendolyn Bye
Dance Studio. What could call her out of retirement? The
opportunity to work with Jaye Allison! Jaye is a nationally
recognized tap dancer and choreographer, and teaches at Gwendolyn
Bye. We are pleased to have been the reason for Christine to get her
tap shoes out again! Jaye’s generosity with her time and talent to
work with Christine truly embodies the spirit of collaboration I have
been speaking of. This generosity extends to choreographing the piece
to Jon Bulack’s music. Dancing with Christine are Nikki Johnson and
Tamika Boyce, from Gwendolyn Bye Studio. TCP, a tap trio directed by
Jaye, will also be performing on her behalf. Jaye is planning an
event called “Jaye Allison’s Philly Tap Challenge”, from June
19-21st. This event invites tap dancers of all levels to come and
take workshops, to compete, and to enjoy performances by the stars of
tap today. Come get a preview of tap talent from our community, and
then don’t miss the Tap Challenge!
Chelsea Bulack last appeared on the stage with Curio Theater Co. as
Marie in “The Nutcracker” in December. She has broadened her focus
over the last year beyond acting to singing and dancing. Besides
working with Owen Brown, she has also begun an internship at Koresh
Dance Studio, taken classes with Jaye Allison, and returned to
training in latin ballroom at Take The Lead Dance Studio with
Garincha Hillaire. We look forward to sampling where all her hard
work has gotten her, both in her performance with Owen and in
“Waiting For Oprah”.
Paige Chin has continued to study painting at Studio Incammanati,
after winning an award from the National Foundation for Advancement
of the Arts. She has also begun painting commissioned portraits,
started attending Univ. of Penn and continued modeling. We feel
privileged to have several of her paintings for our show!
Stefan Keitzman will also be displaying his work at our show, and
labored to create the logo for West Philly Art Rising, as well as the
flyer. His faithful friendship to several of the performers has
helped to provide the ground from which their art grows.
Katie Motyka, daughter of Liz Campion, will display several of her
photos, some of which have been published. We congratulate her on
graduating from Penn this year!
Alan Massey will also display photographs, as he did last year.
Allan’s artistic gifts have contributed to his success in his first
year as an architect with Civitas Architects Inc.
Shanae Rudd will be presenting Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, which
she has steadily worked on for several years, in between school,
working, and studying Mandarin. We are pleased that the opportunity
to perform has pushed her to completely learn the piece, and also we
are pleased that she will be introducing her playing in Mandarin
Chinese, which she has managed to maintain to near-fluency level!
Jumatatu Poe has graciously agreed to perform for our show, making
known that his wonderful talent resides here in our neighborhood.
Jumatatu is currently performing for Merian Soto, in her
groundbreaking work celebrating the seasons entitled “The One Year
Wissahickon Park Project”. He also teaches at Temple, and has
performed and toured recently with Tania Isaac for her piece entitled
“Standpipe”.
We hope that you will come spend part of your Memorial Day weekend
with us, and celebrate yet another reason why staying in town was
better than going away! We’ll see you there!
May 24th, from 4:00 to 6:30 pm, at Studio34 (4522 Baltimore Ave.).
$5 at the door. For more information, call Patty Bulack at 215 906-0243.
