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Entertainment

Performers deliver an extravaganza of words

Continuing an ancient tradition, poets and storytellers capture audiences at an oral extravaganza.

By ROBERT SAMUELS
Published March 13, 2005

The poets' words attempt to take the audience away from the walls at The Studio@620

Khomeni Hopkins called for rain, hoping that his listeners could brave through storms and proclaim themselves "weathermen."

Ronald Porter brought them to the confines of his grandmother's house, where he demands that she make him a quilt.

A jazz scat and the snap of her finger was all it took for Venus Jones to morph The Studio@620 into a blues club. "Doo-dee-dee-boo-boo," she said.

Lyrical testimonies told in a rhythm a cappella can be heard throughout the middle of March as a part of the studio's celebration of words. The extravaganza, aptly titled "Say What?," will herald local creative energy through a mix of dance, workshops, art and poetry from now to Saturday.

"The whole purpose of this event is to celebrate the richness and diversity of spoken word in Tampa Bay," said David Ellis, the event's artistic director. "We want to bring artists and groups of people together who don't normally hang out with each other and get them involved all at once."

Art galleries and Eckerd College have hosted spoken word events in the past, and there is a thriving program at the University of Tampa, poets say. In south Pinellas, the spoken word movement is not as widespread as bigger cities, but it is growing.

"From what I see, people are really passionate here," said Angel Caisse, a poet and "Say What?" attendee. "There's a lot of emotion going in, and everyone is really respectful of everyone else's work."

In this art form, poets perform their pieces with a theatrical flair, rather than simply reciting words on a page

"It's kind of a more in-your-face, funny, raunchy style," said renowned poet and longtime St. Petersburg resident Peter Meinke. He added that this style of poems is meant to be heard not read, so it focuses less on hidden meanings and subtle literary technique. Meinke will perform during "Say What?" with Tampa poet laureate James Tokley on Wednesday.

Some scholars trace spoken word's roots as far back as the oral telling of Homer's epic, The Odyssey. Modern spoken word began in the '50s with poets such as Robert Frost and Dylan Thomas, who invoked their personalities into their readings, Meinke said.

Beat poets, such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, transformed the genre, focusing on antiauthority politics and social issues in the '60 and '70s.

In the mid '80s, urban sectors clutched on to spoken word poetry in competitions called slams.

Today's spoken word draws from the musings of Frost, fusing it with hip-hop inspirations and issues of the present.

Still it struggles to break out of its bohemian shell, drawing mainly "artsy college students" to spoken word nights, said Walter "Wally B." Jennings, the first "Say What?" performer on opening night, which was March 3.

"It's more than just talking coffee houses," Jennings said. "We all have different styles and forms of expressing ourselves."

Instead of the fast-talking, preachy vibe that sometimes characterizes spoken word, Wally B. opened his poem by declaring, "We all have faults."

"Some of us have become so philosophical that we can't even hear a word," he said. "I have faults."

Dressed in an Indian sari, Caisee stood under dim lights and began to chant. Her words slurred into one another as she proclaimed that she, and everyone in the audience, were warriors for trying to change the world.

"I am a warrior," Caisse said. "Do you believe in me? Or do you believe in reality, what you see?"

Around her, paintings depicting plants growing near lakes had words such as "water" and "loving" inconspicuously blended into the fixture. Cracked eggshells painted red on the inside led to a child's dress hanging on the wall. On the dress, a scarlet A.

Using words in unusual ways is a common theme throughout the event. The art pieces were chosen to exalt the forms of letters, not just their literal meanings, Ellis said. This theme should help draw people with different artistic interests into one of St. Petersburg's community spaces.

Artist Betsy Lester thinks it's working.

"You have me as an artist coming and meeting these young poets," Lester said. "And we've come from such different lives and I'm empowered when I hear them. I'm excited about this community building."

"Say What?" is an extravaganza of dance, workshops, art and spoken word poetry going on now through Saturday at The Studio@620 620 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg. Some events require admission. For more information, call 895-6620 or go to www.thestudioat620.com

[Last modified March 13, 2005, 00:22:15]