| |
NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Cambridge, MA, United States, 2011/08/01 - Come see the next generation of slam legends at National Poetry Slam, Thursday, August 11 in Cambridge, Mass - NPS2011.com.
|
| |
Teenage word warriors will sling arrows of verse through the summer air on the afternoon of Thursday, August 11, when a youth poetry slam will be held as part of the festivities for this year’s National Poetry Slam in Boston and Cambridge. All 18-and-under slammers daring enough to take the stage are invited to do so at 1:00 pm. at the Democracy Center, located at 45 Mount Auburn St. in Cambridge, and audience of all ages is encouraged to come watch and support.
The slam will be hosted by Mass LEAP (Massachusetts Literary Education and Performance) co-founders Alex Charalambides and Jade Sylvan, along with the bombastic and ever-enthusiastic Brandeis Dean of Student Life, one-time Nuyorican slam champ Jamele “Harlym1two5” Adams. Youth slammers will be subject to the same rules as the adults-- no props, costumes, or musical accompaniment-- but “youth rules” means they’ll be given up to three and a half minutes to wring points out of the randomly selected judges.
The youth slam will be, as Sylvan says with anticipation,“a chance for the young writers of Boston to show off their skills in front of a national audience of poets and poetry-enthusiasts of all ages. Some of them will literally be performing for their heroes.” With over 300 adult poets competing at the National Poetry Slam during the evening events, more than a few will be on hand to scout the next rising stars. Most will be quite relieved that these powerful young voices are still underage for NPS.
Audiences accustomed to the adult slam might be surprised at both the emotion and maturity of the writing that pervades the youth slam. “Whenever someone tells me that they think Poetry Slam has plateaued, reached the limit of its outreach potential, I tell them to take a look at the youth scene,” says Charalambides, who is also the founder and director of the Worcester Youth Poetry Slam. Having just returned from Brave New Voices (the national poetry slam competition for youth) with the triumphant semi-finalists from Worcester, Coach Charalambides is still riding high on the enthusiasm and joy of the tournament. “These poets just bring so much passion to their work and so much energy to the stage. We haven't even scratched the surface yet!”
Youth slam followers take note: Mass LEAP and the National Poetry Slam will also host a one-night screening of Louder Than a Bomb the next evening at The Brattle Theatre. This award-winning documentary follows four high school teams as they compete in Chicago’s flourishing and remarkably diverse youth slams. The screening is set for 11:00 pm. on Friday, August 12 at The Brattle Theatre. Admission is $10 at the door, or free with a festival pass.
WHAT: The Youth Slam at the National Poetry Slam
WHERE: The Democracy Center, 45 Mt. Auburn St. in Cambridge
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 11 at 1:00 pm
COST: $3 or free with festival pass. Festival passes can be purchased at nps2011.com/festival-passes/
About the National Poetry Slam
The National Poetry Slam (nps2011.com) is America's biggest team poetry slam. Held every year since 1990, it is the definitive showcase for competitive performance poetry. Billed as "the competitive art of performance poetry," Slam was invented in Chicago in July 1986 by construction worker-turned-poet Marc Smith. It is a fast-paced competition where poets have a limited amount of time to impress judges randomly selected from the audience. Storytelling, lyricism, and stand-up comedy all come together in what’s evolved to a modern oral tradition. This year, the 22nd annual National Poetry Slam will be held in Boston, Massachusetts, and expects to draw a record number of teams.
About Mass LEAP
Mass LEAP (massleapcollective.org) is a network of poets, teachers, and students working to create a vibrant youth poetry community in Massachusetts. Sponsored by Mass Poetry, it holds regular youth writing workshops, all-ages open mics and teen poetry slams, and trains poets and teachers in techniques to incorporate spoken word into the classroom.
|
michelle[.]nps2011.com 
