Dot performers strut on RCC stage tomorrow night

In celebration of Black History Month, Anna Myer and Dancers and Roxbury Community College will present a still-evolving modern dance/rap opera featuring some teen Dorchester performers tomorrow night on the college’s main stage.

“Street Talk, Suite Talk” combines poetry created by young rappers, music from a classical tradition, and the unique choreography of Anna Myer to create a new art form dedicated to fostering social change.
The November 2009 premiere at the Strand Theater of Act I of “Street Talk, Suite Talk” drew a large, racially diverse, and enthusiastic audience. Act I, which will be repeated at tomorrow’s performance, has ten distinct sections: some mix viola, rap, and dance, some are for a lone poet, and one is a prelude for solo violin.

“By combining artistic traditions, ‘Street Talk, Suite Talk’ challenges its performers and touches a broad audience,” says Anna Myer, who conceived and choreographed the project. “These diverse art forms together express the challenges of urban living in a world that is often fragmented and still racially separated and distrustful.”
Act II, a work-in-progress, tells the story of the personal as well as social struggle to overcome anger and despair and find ways to reach out and connect with a widening ring of communities.

While being very complimentary about the whole November show at the Strand, Boston Globe reviewer Thea Singer reserved her highest praise for a Dot poet: “Surprisingly, the most integrated - and hence powerful - sequence springs not from a movement or music expert but a spoken-word poet, Tu Phan. As the Dorchester native releases his chilling, gleaming words, he uses his body as a kinesthetic instrument.”

Tu Phan, who still lives in Dorchester while attending Northeastern, will repeat this acclaimed performance. Also from Dorchester is19-year-old Anthony Marshall, half of the rap duo New Legends. All Marshall wants to do is “let the world hear what we have to say and make the fans happy with the music we make.” One of the show’s dancers, Joe Gonzalez from Mattapan, is currently a sophomore at the Boston Conservatory.

For more information about the 8 p.m. performance at the RCC Main Stage, call 617-513-9314.