"Soul in One" celebrates
black experience
By Julie Glaser
Staff Writer
This weekend, students will have the chance to
witness what it might have been like if Martin Luther King Jr. and
Malcolm X had engaged in a conversation.
The Black Cultural Center will host a show called
"Soul in One" as a part of its Coffeehouse series.
The show, featuring the New Directional Players
and the Jahari Dance Troupe, will begin at 7 p.m. Friday in Matthews
Hall, Room 210.
According to Michael Adams, a junior in the School
of Technology and the student coordinator of the New Directional Players,
the show will consist of dance performances by the Jahari Dance Troupe
with six scenes of monologue and dialogue performed between the dances
by the New Directional Players. One of the scenes will be a fictitious
meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, depicting what
a conversation between the two might have been like.
Founded in 1971, the New Directional Players
is a student theatrical company devoted to presenting thought-provoking
subject matter related to the black experience. Productions are put
together by students with the help of a professional actor, who is
a mentor to the company.
Some goals of the New Directional Players are
to help students become more confident when expressing themselves
and to learn about the history of black theater and its place in American
drama.
"I became involved in 1997 because I was afraid
to get up in front of people," said Adams. "Being a part of the New
Directional Players has really helped me to overcome my fear."
Also performing Friday is the Jahari Dance Troupe.
Like the New Directional Players, the Jahari Dance Troupe was founded
in 1971, and it has professional dancers who act as mentors for the
group and a student coordinator. The Troupe's repertoire includes
African, ballet, Caribbean, folk, jazz, modern dance and music video
dance.
The Jahari Dance Troupe strives to provide aesthetic
and kinesthetic awareness to its audience and participants alike.
According to Stephany Spaulding, a graduate student
and the program coordinator for the Black Cultural Center, the Troupe
will perform a combination of modern dance, hip-hop and ballet on
Friday.
The student coordinator of Jahari Dance Troupe,
Midori Angevine, a senior in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences,
promises an energetic performance.
"Anything that expresses cultural diversity here
on campus should be appreciated," said Spaulding. "If anything, just
that is a great reason to go, but it's going to be entertaining, too."
