AIKEN NEWS NETWORK JANUARY 30TH & 31ST

[Marilyn]

HERE IS AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE SHOW "FELA" ON BROADWAY. (ITS ABOUT AFRICA) TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THE AUDIENCE THAT THE DANCERS ARE PASSING BY. RECOGNIZE ANYONE??

The man himself does all the talking, providing snippets of his life history in between the songs and ecstatic dance numbers. But the storytelling is scattered and sometimes indistinct. (You learn more about the sociopolitical situation by reading the newspaper headlines in the video projections on the set.) I suspect that if the show struck a greater balance between pure dance and cogent storytelling — or managed to weave the two together a bit more consistently — my sense that the exotic was being overemphasized (even fetishized) would evaporate.

NY TIMES

[Marilyn]

From the CH:


QUOTE ("Pink Armchair")
So...yesterday I went to my station's quarterly pledge meeting, where we screen clips of the upcoming new shows for the next pledge drive and talk about promotional priorities, target audiences, etc. I've been going to these meetings for almost 10 years...so that's a lot of meetings!

We watched all kinds of clips, including a couple from programs that International Media has produced, including a brand new one: Vai DaCapo: Songs of Delight, featuring three dynamite African-American male singers (if you want to get an idea, there's a clip from the special here).

The production values were fantastic -- great camera work, gorgeous lighting, beautiful setting, terrific sound, just crystal clear everything, big audience going bananas. Top notch. Even though I've seen a lot -- and I mean a LOT! -- of this sort of thing over the years, I was very impressed.

Then it struck me: in three months, I'll be sitting in this same meeting watching Clay doing the same thing. After six and a half years of pushing for it. And then I started to get really, really excited for him. I guess it was the first time I really thought about what this could mean for him, how many people it's going to reach, and how finally, finally, Clay is getting the showcase he deserves. And how the rest of the world is at last going to get to see what WE see.

[Marilyn]

CLAY ASKED US QUESTION THIS WEEK-TRACKING PERFORMANCES. THE SITE BELOW WAS QUOTED MANY TIMES. WHAT A FANTASTIC JOB FOUNTAINDAWG AND EVERYONE AT THAT SITE HAS DONE- TAKE A LOOK AROUND, YOU WILL BE AMAZED

CLAYAIKEN KIDS