New York Teens Use Hip-Hop, Dance, Music, Poems for Dialog on Urban Problems with Springfield Teens at STCC
Teens from New York City will present a dramatic performance of hip-hop, music, spoken word, and more, to Springfield teens from area high schools, on Friday, May 2 at Springfield Technical Community College.
The Respect Project is presented by the Sankofa Project Youth Outreach Program of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Outreach office and STCC, and will be held from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in the gymnasium of STCC.
Invited guests include junior and senior students from local high schools, and community agency youth groups; as well as the chancellor, former chancellor, and senior administrators from UMass. According to Myra Smith, Vice President for Human Resources and Multicultural Affairs at STCC, the UMass Outreach Office was interested in collaborating with STCC and the STCC Diversity Council to bring the performance to the Springfield community.
“The Respect Project weaves together issues such as teenage pregnancy, absentee parents, date rape, racism, poverty, peer pressure, illiteracy, cultural identity community, gang crime, and violence,” according to the project’s website. The Respect Project is developed in after-school workshops in New York City, where the personal stories of young people bring to life urban problems, and can lead to possible resolutions.
George Faison, director of the Respect Project, is the first African-American choreographer to win a Tony award in that discipline, in 1975, for his work on The Wiz. He has choreographed more than 30 plays and musicals, and produced the 30th anniversary TV special for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He also won an Emmy for his choreography of the HBO special The Josephine Baker Story.
The teen participants in the Respect Project, selected by audition, have been enthusiastically received in NYC schools, juvenile detention centers, shelters, and community centers for their message of choosing a positive life course.