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Press Release
For Immediate Release
January 22, 2003
AWE CONTACT:
Lisa Becker
Executive Director
(414) 933-3877
HUMBOLDT PARK SCHOOL
Dan Harwood, FAVE teacher
Eugene Vlies, Vice Principal
(414) 294-1706
Old African Tale Gets A Hip-Hop Update
MILWAUKEE, WI – Sixth grade students participating in the FAVE program (Fine Arts Vocational Education) at Humboldt Park School are working collaboratively with artist and puppeteer Max Samson to create puppets and props for a play that they will perform for parents, staff and the student body on November 20, 2002. The play they are producing is based on an old African fable of Ananse the Spider, but has been uniquely updated to include pop music, break dancing and rap dialogue. The project is sponsored by Artists Working in Education, Inc.
In “Why We Tell Stories About Ananse the Spider”, the trickster spider character seeks fame and asks Nyame the Sky God to make him a hero of folklore. A 12-foot tall puppet of the Sky God, worn on a harness by a sixth grade student, and voiced by another, sends Ananse on a quest to complete five impossible tasks.
Though the story has been updated to include contemporary elements such as rap and break dancing, it has a moral that transcends any age. After tricking each of the animals in order to get his prize, Ananse is warned by the Sky God and the Chorus:
“Ah little spider you’ve returned / But as a zero, not a hero /
It’s clear that you still haven’t learned the rule. / Don’t you see you got your way by being cruel?”
(FISH, COW, LEOPARD, PYTHON AND BEES CIRCLE BEHIND ANANSE)
“It’s true that the stories will now be told of you / But be careful it’s not a pleasure you will rue.”
Rehearsals for the play will be in progress from 1:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on November 11 and 13 in the Humboldt Park School auditorium. There will be two performances on November 20, at 2:00 p.m. and at 2:45 p.m. in the auditorium.
Artists Working in Education, Inc. (AWE) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide youth in the Milwaukee area with arts enrichment programs to enhance human potential, advance learning and cultivate community.
AWE’s programs are supported in part by The Windhover Foundation, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin, Inc., Matrix Foundation, City of Milwaukee Arts Board, Wisconsin Arts Board, Forest County Potawatomi Community Foundation, Herbert H. Kohl Charities, Jewish Community Foundation of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Manpower, Target, Orion Corporation and Meridian Industries Inc. For more information contact Lisa Becker, AWE Executive Director, (414) 933-3877.
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