Thu, Nov 19 at 8 pm
Sat, Nov 21 at 8 pm
Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
$30; Members $25; Students $15; Day of Show $35
As part of the yearlong Extremely Hungary festival, Fire + Fire is a collaborative and conceptual music-theatre work that will explore and underscore the dual histories of musical expression and political oppression that mark Black American and Roma peoples in, respectively, the USA and Hungary. It will feature an ensemble of 16 performers from both cultures who are both deeply rooted in their ancestral traditions and intensely experimental in their expression of them. The ensemble employs a fusion of spoken word, movement and “jam sessions” to create a brand new vernacular that will spring this tale of two cultures to life.
On the Black American side these include drummer, percussionist and Gullah musicologist David Pleasant; Delta blues guitarist, vocalist and banjoist Valerie June; vocalist and violinist Mazz Swift; guitarist, banjo and kora player Ayodele Maakheru; electronic vocal maven LaTasha Nevada Diggs; and visual artist Marilys Ernst.
From Hungary’s Gypsy community we’ll be welcoming vocalists Fatima Mohamed and Ági Szalóki; members of the brilliant band Budapest Bar: violinist Robert Farkas, cimbalom player Mihály Farkas, and bassist Richard Farkas; as well as pianist Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, percussionist and dancer Zsolt Farkas; vocalist and guitarist Gusztáv Balogh; and visual artist Kiégő Izzók.
Fire + Fire is curated by Andrea Gáncs (Hungary) and Greg Tate (USA). Gáncs is an independent music producer and manager who founded the successful Budapest Bar with gypsy musicians and Hungarian rock singers. Tate is a longtime staff writer at The Village Voice, author of the acclaimed essay collection Flyboy In The Buttermilk, and leader of the conducted improv ensemble Burnt Sugar who are currently preparing for a Parisian stage revival of Sweet Sweetbacks Badass Song with the legendary Melvin Van Peebles.
In collaboration with Musical Director Melvin Gibbs, a New York composer, producer and bandleader celebrated for his work with a diverse range of artists, Dramaturge Eisa Davis, a playwright, musician and actor recently seen on Broadway in Passing Strange and whose play Bulrusher was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2007; Curacao-born dancer and filmmaker Gabri Christa who will orchestrate multi-media projections as well as pull together the various elements of the piece as Choreographer and Director.
Fire + Fire is part of Extremely Hungary, a yearlong festival showcasing contemporary Hungarian visual, performing, and literary arts at leading cultural institutions in New York City and Washington, DC, throughout 2009.
“There are compelling parallels between the Gypsy and African-American experience, that energy and struggle is reflected in jazz and Gypsy music-both are intense, explosive, individual and raw.”
-Greg Tate, Co-Curator Fire + Fire
“European Gypsies are discriminated against in much the same way as African-Americans have been. The U.S. civil rights movement, with such leaders as Dr. Martin Luther King, rewove the fabric of U.S. society and culture, bringing opportunities and pride to African-Americans. European Gypsies need a similar movement for equality, but they lack good leadership and have little solidarity, so the near-term prospects for change are small. One bright spot is a project such as this, which gives Gypsies a new sense of empowerment.”
-Andrea Gáncs, Co-Curator Fire + Fire
“Now is a crucial moment for Gypsies in Europe, as wide-spread discrimination and racism proliferates in Hungary. The synergy between the Gypsy and jazz musicians is electric. Both have mined musical strength from political oppression.”
– Jakab Orsos, Director, Hungarian Cultural Center
