Miami / Project Hip Hop

From Sep 27th through Sep 30th, 2007By the end of September, Miami Light Project will present a group of leading Hip hop theater artists, activists and educators form all over the US during its 5th Annual Miami / Project Hip hop. The event will feature studio performances by innovative local and national artists and organizations that explore the social and cultural influences of Hip hop Culture. Miami / Project Hip hop promises to be a weekend plenty of provocative dialogues, live performances, visual arts and films. Among participants this year is Miami-based Youth Expressions, an organization engaged to help at-risk urban youth develop into self assured, focused, productive and skilled adults through arts. YE will perform an original work developed during their MLP residency, led by artist Teo Castellanos. Another attraction will be Live From the Edge, performed by NY-based theater company Universes, that fuses theater, poetry, Hip hop and Gospel with a unique style that turns the poem into a communal action. Hip hop, beyond Beats and Rhymes is a documentary that examines representations of gender roles in hip-hop and rap music through the lens of filmmaker Byron Hurt. Conceived as a “loving critique” from a self-proclaimed “hip-hop head,” Hurt examines issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today’s Hip-hop culture. The event will close with a book signing and discussion hosted by Jeff Chang, an author that has written extensively on race, culture, politics, the arts, and music. The author has also edited an anthology entitled Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-hop, released in February, 2007. As Hurts’s film, MLP also brings Hip Hop beyond beats and rhymes. As stated by its artistic and executive director Beth Boone, “MLP is a cultural forum exploring issues that define contemporary society”. For more information, please call: 305.576.4350