Hip-hop’s next class shines The...wife, Toni Pierce-Sands. She is also a former dancer with Alvin...
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C1 • ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • SEPT 26 - OCT 2, 2013 Jonathan and Bettye Reed had much to celebrate in Los Angeles last month. Immediate family members and St. Louis friends living in L.A. gathered twice in one weekend. First they celebrated daughter Stacy Reed Mevs’ birthday at Mr. Chow’s, a favorite Beverly Hills hot spot. A couple of nights later the family celebrated daughter Michelle Karen Reed, MD.’s engagement at a private party in L.A. A few of the people attending have St. Louis connections including sisters Dana Reed (New York) and Stacy Reed Mevs, MD (New York), Candace Bond McKeever (Malibu), Karen Longley Gordy (L.A.) and Betty Jean Wilkerson (L.A.). The St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to POTPOURRI WITH DANA G. RANDOLPH Within the first two minutes of ‘Baggage Claim,’ audiences will predict with psychic precision how every minute of the film unfolds. However, even with the annoyingly obvious storyline, typical gospel stage play formula and implausible plot the film isn’t a complete waste of time. www.stlamerican.com •Only Online • Excess ‘Baggage,’ but not a complete bust Check out this week’s PARTYLINE Page C12 Reed sisters celebrate in L.A. Karen Gordy Longley, Dana Reed, Michelle Karen Reed, MD., Candace Bond McKeever and Stacy Reed Mevs, MD, celebrated Dr. Reed’s engagement at a private party in L.A. See POTPOURRI, C4 By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American The swag, bling and blah that have become commonplace in the diluted rap element of the urban music scene were nowhere to be found at the Fox Theatre Thursday night as two anti-rap stars teamed up and illustrated true hip- hop in its finest form. With Wale as the featured guest, J. Cole and his “What Dreams May Come” tour reminded the audience that true talent and substance have the power to trump the clever packaging and industry tactics that have been churning out hip-hop acts and gimmicks at a pace that could rival any assembly line. Ironically, his guest verse on “No Hands” would kick off Wale’s set. The guilty pleasure Wacka Flocka Flame radio and club hit, also featuring Roscoe Dash, introduced Wale to the masses thanks to its heavy rotation, but his hour-plus-long set proved that there is much more to him than the average rapper – including his peers on that particular track. He stands alone as a D.C.-based Hip-hop’s next class shines Wale and J. Cole brought their “What Dreams May Come” tour to the Fox Theatre on Thursday night. Photos by Lawrence Bryant Dana G. Randolph Marty Ehrlich’s Rites Quartet will perform 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 4 at at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand, as part of the New Music Circle’s 2013 series. Marty Ehrlich’s Rites Quartet plays New Music Circle series Oct. 4 By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Jazz composer and bandleader Marty Ehrlich hasn’t lived in St. Louis since he left University City High School for college in 1972, but his hometown will deeply color his performance here 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 4 at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand, as part of the New Music Circle’s 2013 series. Ehrlich will lead the Rites Quartet, which features Michael Formanek on bass, Michael Sarin on drums, James Zollar on trumpet and himself on saxophone and clarinet. He owes the quartet’s name to a strong St. Louis connection, the brilliant late composer and bandleader Julius Hemphill, co-founder of the Black Artists’ Group (BAG) in St. Louis. “I got the name ‘Rites Quartet’ from a composition by Julius Hemphill, ‘Rites,’ which refers back to his record Dogon, A.D.,” Ehrlich said. “Along with working with Julius for many years while he was alive, after his passing I have done all I could to keep his music in the public eye, including trying to record a lot of the music he wrote that didn’t get recorded in his lifetime.” After an initial performance with the Rites Quartet featuring previously unrecorded music by Hemphill, Ehrlich “liked it so much I kept it going,” he said. “I like the connection to ‘rites,’ in the religious sense, but when you hear it said, it also could be ‘rights,’ as in human rights. It’s an By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American “I’m not doing a narrative -based work about her at all,” said world- renowned choreographer Uri Sands. “I’m not trying to tell a story at all about Henrietta Lacks’ life or the impact that she’s had on the medical field. I simply want to say, ‘This is for you.’” Sands was commissioned by Dance St. Louis Executive Director Michael Uthoff to create a piece connected to Lacks for Dance St. Louis’ presentation of PNC Arts Alive New Dance Horizons II on October 4 and 5 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The event will feature four of the nation’s most notable choreographers creating pieces for four area dance troupes. A former principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Sands founded TU Dance in Minneapolis in 2004 with his wife, Toni Pierce-Sands. She is also a former dancer with Alvin Ailey. Recognized in 2005 by Dance Magazine as one of the “25 Choreographers To Watch,” Sands is known for blending high physicality with fine technique while drawing on a broad range of dance traditions. He says that audiences can expect a performance from Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company that will be very clear, very simple and “extremely full.” In her 2010 best-selling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, journalist and author Rebecca Skloot introduced the masses to a poor black tobacco farmer who in 1951 unwittingly changed the landscape of modern medicine and science. Her cells were taken without her permission while she was being treated for the cancer that would take her life months later, and those cells would become one of the most important tools in medicine. HeLa See HIP HOP, C5 See JAZZ, C4 The ‘Rites’ stuff Wale, J. Cole do justice to new school at Fox Uri Sands uses movement to honor woman behind HeLa cells A dance for Henrietta cells would be vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization and more. Skloot’s book illustrates that while Lacks’ cells have been bought and sold by the billions, the cell donor remained essentially anonymous – and her family couldn’t afford health insurance. While Sands intentionally shied away from recreating her story through movement, he drew inspiration from his research into Lacks’ story. “I’ve drawn on different elements from things that I’ve read,” Sands says. “As far as the movement within the work, I was just thinking about feelings. I was thinking about Ms. Lacks’ daughter Deborah. I would find myself thinking about the feelings she had. I would use those feelings to help me generate movement.” The medical relationships inspired him. “I thought about the anxieties that Deborah had when the doctors reached out to the family in an attempt to draw more blood and do more studies and how that stressed the family,” he said. “So I would say, ‘What is stress – and what does it make your body do?’” Lacks has been the subject of articles, books and documentaries. But Sands and Dance St. Louis are embarking on unchartered territory See DANCE, C4 Choreographer Uri Sands Photo courtesy of V. Paul Virtucio
Transcript of Hip-hop’s next class shines The...wife, Toni Pierce-Sands. She is also a former dancer with Alvin...
C1 • ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • SEPT 26 - OCT 2, 2013
Jonathan and Bettye Reed had much to celebrate in Los Angeles last month. Immediate family members and St. Louis friends living in L.A. gathered twice in one weekend. First they celebrated daughter Stacy Reed Mevs’ birthday at Mr. Chow’s, a favorite Beverly Hills hot spot. A couple of nights later the family celebrated daughter Michelle Karen Reed, MD.’s engagement at a private party in L.A.
A few of the people attending have St. Louis connections including sisters Dana Reed (New York) and Stacy Reed Mevs, MD (New York), Candace Bond McKeever (Malibu), Karen Longley Gordy (L.A.) and Betty Jean Wilkerson (L.A.).
The St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to
POTPOURRI WITH DANA G. RANDOLPH
Within the first two minutes of ‘Baggage Claim,’ audiences will
predict with psychic precision how every minute of the film unfolds.
However, even with the annoyingly obvious storyline, typical gospel stage play formula and implausible plot the
film isn’t a complete waste of time.
www.stlamerican.com
•Only Online • Excess ‘Baggage,’
but not a complete bust
Check out this week’s
PARTYLINE
Page C12
Reed sisters celebrate in L.A.
Karen Gordy Longley, Dana Reed, Michelle Karen Reed, MD., Candace Bond McKeever and Stacy Reed Mevs, MD, celebrated Dr. Reed’s engagement at a private party in L.A.See POTPOURRI, C4
By Kenya VaughnOf The St. Louis American
The swag, bling and blah that have become commonplace in the diluted rap element of the urban music scene were nowhere to be found at the Fox Theatre Thursday night as two anti-rap stars teamed up and illustrated true hip-hop in its finest form.
With Wale as the featured guest, J. Cole and his “What Dreams May Come” tour reminded the audience that true talent and substance have the power to trump the clever packaging and industry tactics that have been
churning out hip-hop acts and gimmicks at a pace that could rival any assembly line.
Ironically, his guest verse on “No Hands” would kick off Wale’s set. The guilty pleasure Wacka Flocka Flame radio and club hit, also featuring Roscoe Dash, introduced Wale to the masses thanks to its heavy rotation, but his hour-plus-long set proved that there is much more to him than the average rapper – including his peers on that particular track.
He stands alone as a D.C.-based
Hip-hop’s next class shines Wale and J. Cole
brought their “What Dreams
May Come” tour to the Fox
Theatre on Thursday night.
Photos by Lawrence Bryant
Dana G.
Randolph
Marty Ehrlich’s Rites Quartet will perform 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 4 at at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand, as part of the New Music Circle’s 2013 series.
Marty Ehrlich’s
Rites Quartet plays
New Music Circle
series Oct. 4
By Chris KingOf The St. Louis American
Jazz composer and bandleader Marty Ehrlich hasn’t lived in St. Louis since he left University City High School for college in 1972, but his hometown will deeply color his performance here 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 4 at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand, as part of the New Music Circle’s 2013 series.
Ehrlich will lead the Rites Quartet, which features Michael Formanek on bass, Michael Sarin on drums, James Zollar on trumpet and himself on saxophone and clarinet. He owes the quartet’s name to a strong St. Louis connection, the brilliant late composer and bandleader Julius Hemphill, co-founder of the Black Artists’ Group (BAG) in St. Louis.
“I got the name ‘Rites Quartet’ from a composition by Julius Hemphill, ‘Rites,’ which refers back to his record Dogon, A.D.,” Ehrlich said.
“Along with working with Julius for many years while he was alive, after his passing I have done all I could to keep his music in the public eye, including trying to record a lot of the music he wrote that didn’t get recorded in his lifetime.”
After an initial performance with the Rites Quartet featuring previously unrecorded music by Hemphill, Ehrlich “liked it so much I kept it going,” he said. “I like the connection to ‘rites,’ in the religious sense, but when you hear it said, it also could be ‘rights,’ as in human rights. It’s an
By Kenya VaughnOf The St. Louis American
“I’m not doing a narrative -based work about her at all,” said world-renowned choreographer Uri Sands.
“I’m not trying to tell a story at all about Henrietta Lacks’ life or the impact that she’s had on the medical field. I simply want to say, ‘This is for you.’”
Sands was commissioned by Dance St. Louis Executive Director Michael Uthoff to create a piece connected to Lacks for Dance St. Louis’ presentation of PNC Arts Alive New Dance Horizons II on October 4 and 5 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The event will feature four of the nation’s most notable choreographers creating pieces for four area dance troupes.
A former principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Sands founded TU Dance in Minneapolis in 2004 with his
wife, Toni Pierce-Sands. She is also a former dancer with Alvin Ailey. Recognized in 2005 by Dance Magazine as one of the “25 Choreographers To Watch,” Sands is known for blending high physicality with fine technique while drawing on a broad range of dance traditions.
He says that audiences can expect a performance from Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company that will be very clear, very simple and “extremely full.” In her 2010 best-selling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, journalist and author Rebecca Skloot introduced the masses to a poor black tobacco farmer who in 1951 unwittingly changed the landscape of modern medicine and science.
Her cells were taken without her permission while she was being treated for the cancer that would take her life months later, and those cells would become one of the most important tools in medicine. HeLa
See HIP HOP, C5
See JAZZ, C4
The ‘Rites’ stuff
Wale, J. Cole do justice
to new school at Fox
Uri Sands uses movement to
honor woman behind HeLa cells
A dance for
Henrietta
cells would be vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization and more.
Skloot’s book illustrates that while Lacks’ cells have been bought and sold by the billions, the cell donor remained essentially
anonymous – and her family couldn’t afford health insurance.
While Sands intentionally shied away from recreating her story through movement, he drew inspiration from his research into Lacks’ story.
“I’ve drawn on different elements from things that I’ve read,” Sands says. “As far as the movement within the work, I was just thinking about feelings. I was thinking about Ms. Lacks’ daughter Deborah. I would find myself thinking about the feelings she had. I would use those feelings to help me generate movement.”
The medical relationships inspired him.
“I thought about the anxieties that Deborah had when the doctors reached out to the family in an attempt to draw more blood and do more studies and how that stressed the family,” he said. “So I would say, ‘What is stress – and what does it make your body do?’”
Lacks has been the subject of articles, books and documentaries. But Sands and Dance St. Louis are embarking on unchartered territory
See DANCE, C4
Choreographer Uri Sands
Photo courtesy of V. Paul Virtucio
