Art
Projekt Rhythm heats up
by Aja Monet
Tuesday November 29, 2005
A culture was born in 1979, Bronx, N.Y. Initially, an urban form of expression through music, hip-hop became its own genre and eventually inspired a whole new lifestyle. This lifestyle was expressed through a variety of creative arts such as dance, beat, rhythm and spoken word. The combination of hip-hop with urban experience and creativity created terms like beatboxing, B-Boy-ing and emceeing.
On the evening of Nov. 11 in Reisinger these terms became all too relevant as hip-hop engaged the campus through Projekt Rhythm.
The show brought two of the most influential hip-hop artists to campus: The Rock Steady Crew and Crazy Legs.
Both Crazy Legs and The Rock Steady Crew are synonymous with the birth of hip-hop as a culture. The Rock Steady Crew is the initial group that set the stage for hip-hop dancers back in the day. Crazy Legs is a historical influence on all dancers and an original member of the Rock Steady Crew.
Sophomore Susanna Berger was excited about Projekt Rhythm’s ability to create cultural awareness through the initing of these two legendary acts to perform at Sarah Lawrence.
"The thing about Projekt Rhythm is that [each year] it is changing in nature, and to bring two famous crews that meant so much to hip-hop—to get this campus mildly educated is amazing," Berger said.
The night began with Sophomore I’Nasah Crockett hyping up the crowd in preparation for the performances in store. She reminded the audience that the event was for entertainment as well as raising money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The show began with performances by Junior Danielle Grand, Senior Matt Weiss, First-year Alexa Hazelton and Sophomore Jake Esocoff.
Student spoken word performer Sophomore Jorge Monterrosa followed the dancers. His performance addressed an encounter with racial prejudice and his anger towards white racism.
He was then followed Senior Alisha Desai who sang her rendition of The Fugees’ "Killing Me Softly," accompanied by Sophomore Sean Vigneau-Britt on piano.
Sophomore Frances Grimstad and First-year Sarah Hassan followed them with a belly-dance to untraditional music.
Spoken word performer First-year Aja Monet was up next. Monet’s first poem dealt with the discomfort of discussing religion and God on campus and the second poem addressed racial ignorance and inequality.
After finishing her poem she informed the audience of a student-led effort for an Ethnic Studies program.
Monet invited Seniors Sarah Ihmoud and PernaLynn Baier, two of the members of the Ethnic Studies Coalition, onstage to briefly discuss the campaign.
Afterwards, Sophomore Brynne Filer sang along with Sophomore Joanlie Shiah who played the guitar.
Filer also commented on the need for an Ethnic Studies program and incorporated this request into her performance.
"I didn’t know Brynne was such a rock star—Joanlie was too! Their voices were beautiful," said Sophomore Alanna Coby of Shiah and Filer’s performance.
Next came the most memorable act of the show: The Rock Steady Crew and Crazy Legs–for many, this was the "favorite" performance of the evening.
"My favorite part was the Rock Steady Crew, nothing compares to the Rock Steady Crew!" Sophomore Ana Appel readily confessed.
The break dancers’ choreography was precise and uniquely creative. The act was inspirational for many dancers.
"I wanted to go in my room after that and just dance by myself in front of the mirror," said First-year Jeremy Pheiffer.
The dancers brought a bit of hip-hop culture to the campus with their excitement and execution of dance.
"As a dancer/choreographer, it was inspiring. I wnt to put more elements of politics and hip-hop culture into my work… the whole event–it was a great combination of spoken word and dance," said Senior Katie Lyon-Hart.
The Crew allowed for an auction to raise money for Hurricane Katrina to interrupt their performance. Crazy Legs took of his jacket and donated it to the auction; it was purchased by a sophomore for approximately $200.
The act following the memorable break dancing crew was a spoken word performance by Junior Teo Beauchamp. His poem was riveting and addressed racism and American ignorance. His performance received a standing ovation. At the end of his poem he commented on revolution: "the revolutions in the mind, son! The revolution is in the spirit."
Then Sarah Lawrence graduate Autumn Brown and Junior Will McEvoy performed a song.
"It was so soulful. The lyrics were touching." First-year Hannah Palmer said. "She sang with such emotion and the combination of the cello was unique. It was a good flow for the event."
The song touched on the perspective of a woman who was the product of slave-rape and it was chilling to hear: "My hair is wooly/my back is strong/strong enough to take the pain…my skin is yellow."
The event then transitioned back into hip-hop via a performance by Senior Matt Weiss as he emceed a brief free-style and involved the crowd in beat-boxing. Following was a dance performance by Esocoff and Junior Julia Planine-Troiani who impressed the crowd with their incorporation of step dance and vibrant moves.
The event concluded with a performance by J-Live, an underground DJ and emcee who has incredible skill and talent with turn tables and lyrics. He stunned the crowd with his ability to DJ and rhyme simultaneously.
The Projekt Rhythm members invited the audience onstage to dance while J-Live continued to perform.
J-Live ended his performance by inviting students to the Projekt Rhythm after-party where he would be spinning.
After the event many students were enthusiastic about hip-hop culture and energized by the night’s performances.
First-year Frances Hartmann, described how she was intrigued by every performance throughout the night, "I liked that people were doing what their best at, expressing themselves without being afraid of being judged, that was refreshing."
First-year Brianna Bobola saw the event as a rejuvenation of campus energy, "Nothing really excites me here…but that was exciting. The energy in the room excited me and the event set the tone for the rest of the night. Students were enthusiastic about socializing and dancing and having a good time."
Projekt Rhythm was an educational experience for those who did not necessarily know about or appreciate hip-hop culture prior to attending the show.
Whether or not students knew the history behind the Rock Steady Crew and Crazy Legs, students were grateful for the opportunity to experience such talent.
"I thought that the amount of talent that came into the Projekt Rhythm event was amazing. I was blown away by students," said First-year Eric Glover.
