November 21, 2005

Purdue's Cultural Arts Festival focuses on African-Americans in film

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The four arts ensembles at Purdue's Black Cultural Center will dramatize what they learned about African-American images in film this semester at their yearly Cultural Arts Festival, Fade to Black, on Dec. 2.

Renee Thomas, director of the Black Cultural Center, said this year's festival is the culmination of a semester's focus on African-American images in film and media. The theme was "Fade to Black: African-American Images in Film and Media."

"The Cultural Arts Festival is a way to showcase the talents of our students and let them show what they learned during a semester-long look at African-Americans in film," Thomas said. "They took this topic seriously and learned a great deal about the business."

The show begins at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center's Loeb Playhouse. Tickets are $7 for general public and $5 for Purdue students.

Bill Caise, BCC assistant director, said the groups will look at the African-American experience in the media and share their creative response to the research.

"It's important to remember, that though we are looking at the images of African-Americans in film and media, the media, especially in America, has a long history of painting people or groups of people with a very broad brush so that the individuals within any group lose their individuality and the group becomes a kind of monolith which can be explained away in generalities," Caise said. "These generalities become stereotypes, which have long been used to dehumanize and marginalize certain groups. The experience is common to all of us who call ourselves American; it happened to the Italians, it happened to the Irish, it has happened to Jews, it has happened to Catholics as well as Latinos and Muslims."

The BCC's four performing arts ensembles are the Black Voices of Inspiration, a choir that specializes in gospel music, spirituals and contemporary songs by African-American composers; Haraka Writers, a group of student poets, essayists and short story writers; Jahari Dance Troupe, which performs a repertoire including African, ballet, folk, jazz, tap and modern dance; and the New Directional Players, a theater group with a focus on presenting drama about the African-American experience.

"The cultural arts festival is quite an experience to work on and in," said McKenya Dilworth, director of the project. "The audience will bear witness to a collaboration of artists' work that focuses on more than adequately encapsulating the images of African-Americans and the experience we had and have dealing with those images."

The Jahari dancers, directed by artists-in-residence Kevin Iega Jeff and Elana Anderson, will perform interpretive excerpts from historic black stage and film productions. They include "Good and Bad Hair" from Spike Lee's "School Daze," the title song "Dream Girls" from the broadway musical "Dream Girls" and a rendition of the Fats Waller classic "Black and Blue," as performed in the Broadway musical, "Ain't Miss Behavin'."

Haraka Writers, directed by Khari Bowden, will address historical images of Hollywood from a literary standpoint.

"Haraka will wholeheartedly combat the hate with verbal heat, illuminate the issues and harmonically present palatable solutions for a more holistic, heightened, upheld humanity," Bowden wrote.

Caise said he's excited about the whole show.

"All of the ensembles are doing some pretty amazing work," Caise said. "Jahari has a piece set to Fats Waller's 'Black and Blue' that may break your heart. Black Voices of Inspiration has a 'Minnie the Moocher' that may have you asking 'Cab Calla who?' New Directional Players have a couple of pieces that take the knife to the 'talk' shows that so often exploit folk instead of truly help them. And finally there is Haraka Writers, who serve as the conscience and heart of the piece, saying those things that we sometimes don't have the words for or the courage to speak."

This major annual stage production began in 1975 to commemorate the establishment and dedication of Purdue's Black Cultural Center, which was started at Purdue in 1969. For information, call (765) 494-3091.

Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu

Sources: Renee Thomas, (765) 494-3091, rathomas@purdue.edu

Bill Caise, BCC assistant director, (765) 494-4630, wpcaise@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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