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ARTSETC.

Group proves hip-hop value

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Also by Johanna Lurvey:

WSUM: On campus, across nation, radio not dead yet (April 17, 2008)
Film documents self injury issues (February 18, 2008)
Valentine's Day around the world (February 14, 2008)
Exhibit explores planes of normality (February 7, 2008)
Super Bowl ads carry hefty price (February 5, 2008)

by Johanna Lurvey

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Using their talents in urban arts, 15 University of Wisconsin students will aim tonight to educate and entertain using subculture art forms to prove hip-hop is valuable despite the negative label it is sometimes given.

The First Wave Hip-Hop Theater Ensemble will perform — alongside Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Staceyann Chin, Rokafella & Kwikstep and Rennie Harris — as a part of the Line Breaks Showcase at the Memorial Union Theater for Hip Hop As a Movement Week, presented by the Multicultural Student Coalition.

The First Wave Spoken Word and Urban Arts Learning Community is comprised of a group of 15 freshmen from around the United States who share a gift and passion for communicating the voice of social change through hip-hop on the University of Wisconsin campus. The students’ talents span a variety of artistic fields, from rap and song to break dance and spoken word.

“As an ensemble we perform hip-hop theater which is based on all of our own [writing and choreographing],” said Kim Anh Truong, a First Wave performing artist. “We’re … a community brought together by hip-hop.”

Despite of the violent stereotype hip-hop is sometimes given, the First Wave students confirm that, through hip-hop’s many performance styles, it can be a positive mode of expressing oneself and bringing about awareness of a style and culture that, since its origin in the 1970s, has become a major piece of the inner-city United States.

“The youth across all kinds of communities, cultures and backgrounds are really getting into the hip-hop movement … using it as a positive thing,” said Gayle Smaller, First Wave singer and spoken word artist.

Throughout the year, the First Wave performers have been taking classes and rehearsing together, growing both individually as artists and together as a community. In addition to rehearsing and performing, the First Wave students participate in community outreach, helping high school students in Madison and around the country express themselves through writing. In the past, First Wave performers have traveled to Chicago, Anaheim, Orlando and New York City as mentors and ambassadors of the urban arts.

“First Wave … gives us the opportunity for our voices to be heard,” said Truong, as her unmistakable passion for the hip-hop arts became more obvious. “The biggest thing I’ve learned through First Wave is the importance of your voice and how a family can support you in that.”

All year the First Wave artists have been honing their creative talents and subsequently growing together as a group. Their spring showcase Thursday will be the epitome of their progress so far, as they perform a wide range of urban arts as both solo performers and ensembles for their excited audience.

“They can expect to go through a range of emotions … but leave feeling complete and thoroughly entertained,” Smaller explained.

Truong gave The Badger Herald a preview of the comedic poem about the “freshman 15” she will be performing Thursday with her First Wave colleague Blaire White.

“[White and I] were kind of frustrated with the whole concept, … so we wrote a piece about dieting and the image of beauty,” Truong said.

Those who join the First Wave Hip-Hop Theater Ensemble will be witness to one of many attempts at awareness and social change on the UW campus, as the performers give voice to individuals for whom urban arts is the most powerful way to make an impact.

The First Wave artists will be performing in the Line Breaks Showcase: Hip-Hop on the Main Stage tonight at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Theater. Tickets are $5 for students and $15 for guests and are available at the Union Theater Box Office.

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