Poetry performance on tap this weekend

If you’ve been wondering what’s up with kids these days, head to the Wisconsin Union Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, for the sixth annual Wisconsin Teen Poetry Slam Finals to hear top youth poets from Madison and Milwaukee rip it up with passion, courage, insight and writing craftsmanship.

The participants in the finals are the winning writers and performers from semifinal competitions held earlier in Madison and Milwaukee. These 20 competing poets hope to earn one of six spots on Wisconsin’s national team, which will represent Wisconsin at the Brave New Voices National Youth Poetry Slam this July. Award-winning actor, playwright and educator Will Power will be the emcee for the evening.

The teen poets represent a big slice of contemporary high school culture and bridge ethnic, racial, gender, orientation and socioeconomic differences. Expect to hear everything from personal confession pieces and love poetry (or woes on the lack of it) to comedic works and those that are rich with youthful social commentary and reflections on their journey to adulthood.

Expect, too, to be impressed by their insights and the caliber of writing and performance. Writing sophisticated, honest poetry is one thing — standing alone on stage to perform it, with just a microphone for company, is quite another.

During a poetry slam, poets are evaluated on what they’ve written and also how they perform their writing. Judges bestow numerical scores but the audience can influence the judges by showing they like or dislike a poet’s performance. The judges, too, are judged by the audience, especially when the audience disagrees with their scores. Slams are not stuffy, sit-with-hands-politely-folded-in-lap affairs. They bust with infectious energy and camaraderie.

Despite all the judging going on, the mood at the teen slam will be supportive and encouraging, even though the stakes are high. The audience wants every one to do her or his best. The competitors may say it’s about the poetry and not the points, but it’s great to do well, and the Wisconsin team does just that, earning better and better scores at the nationals each year.

All this youth expression doesn’t just happen. The Wisconsin Teen Poetry Slam comes from a program from the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) and its First Wave Spoken Word and Hip Hop Pre-Collegiate Program. Held in area high schools, the pre-collegiate clubs meet one or two times each week and are a blend of writing circle, freestyle cipher and vibe session. The meetings are facilitated by a teacher liaison and poet-mentors, some from UW–Madison’s First Wave program. The purpose of the clubs is to provide an opportunity for artistic self-expression and to nurture academic growth. By writing and performing, the student poets discover the power of language done well.

Mary Swenson is the primary adviser to the club at Madison West High School, where she teaches English and literature classes. While she is amazed at the progression and improvement in the writing of the students, she says there are benefits that transcend the classroom. “The students learn about preparation and organization and what it takes to do a good job,” says Swenson.

West High junior Dan Bunn will be competing on Saturday with his poem about immigration and borders in America. He says his participation in the club has helped him grow as a person and gave him focus. The club is also a safe haven. “The unparalleled love here is not found in other communities. All my friends are from Youth Speaks,” says Bunn. “I hope I can show that young people are not ignorant. We speak more eloquently than a lot of adults.”

In addition to mentoring high school poets, UW–Madison First Wave students also write, perform and compete. Many of them are members of the Collegiate UW Poetry Slam Team, which is sponsored by the UW–Madison MultiCultural Student Coalition. Although freshmen and sophomore First Wave students would be eligible to compete for spots on the Brave New Voices team because of their age, they forego trying so that the high school students may have a better chance of making the squad.

No matter, really. Madison’s collegiate team just returned to campus with second-place honors earned at the Collegiate Slam Nationals. Last year, the first year the team competed at nationals, the team placed third and also won “Best Sportsman Like” and “Most Innovative” awards. Again, in the interest of opportunity, UW–Madison students are allowed a spot on the team only once during their college years so their fellow students may have the experience of going to nationals. That the college and high school teams do so well is testament to the talent in spoken word and hip hop on the UW–Madison campus.

Emcees have a lot of influence in setting the tone and pace of the slams and the teen slam will have a pro. Power is considered a pioneer in hip-hop theater, developing his own performance style that uses music, rhymes and choreography to produce a fresh, new way of communicating that entertains and challenges. In addition to the stage, Power has appeared on television and in film. He was a featured performer on “Last Call” with Carson Daly and Russell Simmon’s “Def Poetry Jam” on HBO. He was the lead male in the film “Drylongso,” a hit at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and was featured in the documentary “All Fathers are Sons.” In reviews of Power and his work, descriptions such as “electrifying” (Newsday), “dynamic performer” (Variety) and “exhilarating” (USA Today) are typical.

In addition to his emcee duties, Power will showcase a mini hip-hop theater piece during the slam. While in Madison, he will also give presentations and workshops for university and high school students.

Tickets to the Wisconsin Team Poetry Slam Finals are $5 for students and $10 general admission. They are available at the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office, in person during regular box office hours, or online at http://uniontheater.wisc.edu/. For more information about OMAI, the Wisconsin Teen Poetry Slam or poetry in high schools, contact Willie Ney at wney@facstaff.wisc.edu or 890-1055.