From March 19 through 23, 2012.
Words are powerful tools for self-expression and for changing the world. WordSpeak, a project for teens, includes workshops, slams and performances in a Miami residency by Josh Healey. Oakland-based Healey is a spoken word poet, writer, community organizer, arts educator and comedic powerhouse. He comes to Miami to launch the seventh year of Tigertail’s WordSpeak, an ongoing spoken word program for South Florida teens. Healey will be in Miami from March 19th to 23rd, 2012 for a residency that includes school and community-based workshops and readings. All events are free.
A cultural activist, Healey has shared stages and picket lines with Amiri Baraka, Naomi Klein, and Flavor Flav – before the reality show. He is the author of the poetry collection Hammertime (OMAI/First Wave Press). Born and raised in Washington, DC, Healey has performed and led artistic and activist workshops at universities, high schools, and conferences across the country. He is the co-founder of the First Wave program at the University of Wisconsin, the first college hip-hop arts program in the nation. Healey has been featured in The New York Times, on NPR, and on Al-Jazeera. He has shared his work at UC-Berkeley, Harvard, the National Poetry Slam, the Wisconsin Book Festival, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the Arab Cultural Center. Healey is the recent Youth Development Program Director of the nationally recognized, San Francisco-based youth literacy organization Youth Speaks and was key staff for Brave New Voices, the annual Olympics of spoken word.
During his residency week, Josh Healey will perform and lead workshops for students at DASH, Miami Arts Charter and Miami Northwestern Senior, among others. These WordSpeak events provide Miami teens the opportunity to learn more about spoken word as a way to express themselves, in an appealing medium that blends poetry, theater and hip hop culture.
Josh Healey’s Miami visit includes an exciting WordSpeak open mic and slam for teens led by Josh and South Florida-based guest artists at the at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, 2000 Convention Center Dr., Miami Beach, on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. A second open mic and slam will take place at the same location, Thursday, March 29 at 6:00pm led by Teo Castellanos. This is an opportunity for teens from 13 to 19 years old to read and perform their poetry in front of an audience. The slam is the first in a series of competitions to win a place on the Miami team sponsored by Tigertail Productions that will travel to the San Francisco Bay area this summer for the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival.
“This team has helped me grow spiritually and intellectually. I’m surrounded by geniuses with diverse personalities and they all have a way with pushing you to be greater than you already are. Tigertail and WordSpeak were selling a dream and I bought it with poetry. I am forever grateful,” said Giovanni Garced, a 2011 WordSpeak team member.
Josh Healey will also give a reading and perform free for the general public at the Coral Gables Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, on Friday, March 23 at 8:00 pm. Said Mary Luft, Tigertail Productions’ Executive Director, “WordSpeak is an astounding transformative project and Josh Healey is an artist who will challenge and inspire.”
Tigertail
842 NW Ninth Court
Miami, FL 33136
305.324.4337
www.tigertail.org
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