On a recent afternoon, pleasant spring weather warmed the grounds here at Girard University. But even with weekends off, some high school students at the boarding school had a few hours of work to do.
Five teens began to gather around the bleachers in the gymnasium of the school, which caters to children from single-parent and orphaned families in disadvantaged areas.
In the middle of a nearby basketball court, a group of contemporary classics thread/wire The director started the sound check by the side Brooke O’Hara We consulted with the theater technology team that oversees sound amplification and video presentations. But she quickly left and welcomed her students in. A few minutes later, composer Tyshawn Srey conversed with the instrumentalists.
They were all gathered for the final rehearsal of the multimedia equivalent of Ross Gay’s book of poetry, which had been in development for several years. “Keep holding” which premieres on wednesday In the gymnasium — featuring the movements, music and behind-the-scenes work of the school’s students.
Gaye’s writing is nominally about a volleyball baseline scoop shot in the 1980 NBA Finals, improvised by Philadelphia 76ers star Julius Erving, aka Dr. J. But it’s also what the black genius left behind off the court, a shaken look at the notion of community in America—or its debacle.
Girard sophomore Adesina Tejan, 16, who contributed to the movement, praised Gaye’s poetry and said, “I especially like the way he jumps from topic to topic.” . But even when he talks about different situations, one gets the feeling that he’s still talking about “shots.” ”
Jerin Handy, an 18-year-old senior who not only plays with the members of Yarn/Wire by ringing tubular bells, but also contributes to the movement, is one of her favorite passages that doesn’t have much to do with basketball. mentioned as one. “That’s the part of the poem where he describes a painting. It’s a picture of a girl, and she’s falling with her godmother,” she said. “It’s very easy to understand because it’s detailed. And the background information for shooting Black pain: It was deep!”
After this week’s performance, it may be performed in other locations, such as New York. Then gays may participate in poetry readings. Philadelphia enlists the talents of local poets Yolanda Wisher and David A. Gaines as key speakers and movement artists in the production.
When the afternoon rehearsal turned into a run-through around 8pm, Wisher and Gaines handed over a portion of the text and performed it as a spoken word solo. At other times they echoed each other or pronounced the same phrases in phase patterns. Student collaborators even mimicked a basketball scoop shot as an ensemble of dancers. Other times, they provided cascading individual vocalizations that echoed lines read by adult performers.
During a dinner break, Wisher, Gay’s longtime friend, said that while the imagery of Dr. J’s athletic feats in the poem works well as a visual element of the work, the show is more imaginative than its predecessors. He said he was not relying on the drama only for the coup. .
“There is still something very powerful about the poem on this page, read from beginning to end,” Wisher said. “He’s switching time. From the middle passage to Dr. Jay’s clip. I think what’s going on here is how to convey that sonically rather than cinematically.”
She added as she finished her burger. “A lot of the time, we’re working against the music instead of trying to float above it. That’s what poets and spoken word artists often do.”
In this work, Yarn/Wire’s two pianists and two percussionists interpret what Slay calls a “living score”: stretches of written material that can be freely juggled and arranged. To do. The group’s Russell Greenberg wrote in an email after rehearsals on Friday: But I’ve come to think of the music in this piece as an ‘energy map’ for different builds. density. tidal; tonal/chromatic scale; metal/wood; extended/traditional, etc. They all work together to push and pull text. ”
Slay’s music here revels in a dreamy consonance as Gaye first details Dr. J heading to the basket. But as the poem explores unrelated ideas and metaphorical digressions, while drawing on his Yarn/Wire features with the experimental techniques Greenberg mentioned in his email, Slay’s score It tends to be chromatic. Then there’s a return to the opening’s beautiful energy, and the text of “Be Holding” lands on an expanded notion of communal joy.
In a phone interview, Slay praised Yarn/Wire for their ability to deconstruct his personal improvisational language, known as Autoschediam, and apply it to this new “quoted-unquoted score.” You have to direct the music.
He said the participation of Girard’s students “makes the poem even more powerful as they move and participate in some of the dialogue in the poem.”
“It amplifies the positive spirit it has. It gives it a different character,” Srey added. “If it were just poetry and music, I think it might not have affected me in the same way.”
O’Hara said her vision for gay poetry “starts very simple. We’re in the gym and someone’s talking,” before saying it’s an unusual blend of elements. . (Lighting design by Itohan Edroy, video co-designed by Matthew Deinhart and artist known for “Catching on Thieves”, sound designer by Eugene Lu).
“We’re thinking mostly mathematically” about all these layers, says O’Hara. “And then something locks you in and makes you want to cry. Or you feel really touched. That’s what I like.”
