Melvin Van Peebles and Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber in Residence at BRICstudio
November 17, 2009
BRIC Arts|Media|Bklyn is pleased to announce that celebrated actor, novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles and music ensemble Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber will be in residence at BRICstudio to develop a musical theater adaptation of Peebles’ 1971 film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song (the Hood Opera).
During the artistic residency, Mr. Van Peebles will work with Burnt Sugar and a large cast of actors as they prepare the new piece to premiere at the Sons d’hiver Festival in Paris. The residency will culminate with two work-in-progress showings each followed by a moderated artist/audience dialogue on February 3rd and 4th, 2010.
“BRIC has a growing legacy of providing emerging and established artists with residency opportunities to advance their work at all stages of development. We are delighted to host Mr. Van Peebles and Burnt Sugar as they prepare to take this seminal film from screen to stage. Equally important, audiences will have an opportunity to gain insight into the process of these ground-breaking artists” said Jack Walsh, Director of BRIC’s performing arts programs.
A fiercely independent artist whose work on Broadway has earned him eleven Tony nominations, Mr. Van Peebles financed, wrote, directed, scored, and starred in the original film version of Sweet Sweetback, paving the way for the success of future independent black films. An important work in the history of African-American cinema, it tells the story of a deprived African-American man on his flight from the white authority in satirical, realistic and often humorous detail. The original musical score was performed by Earth, Wind & Fire.
Burnt Sugar has been described as a “funk-rock-electronic-samba-soul-jazz-fusionwhatever ensemble” and counts among its influences Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis, Funkadelic, Bad Brains, Band of Gypsys, Sun Ra and Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi. Bandleader Greg Tate “plays the band” using a technique called conduction, which gets its name from the field of physics, and was developed by jazz conductor Butch Morris. Employing a series of gestures, baton twirls, eye contact, and facial expressions that are used to communicate directions to the band, the bandleader can change the melodic and harmonic structure, creating a one-time composition that could not have been predicted nor repeated.
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BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn is a multi-disciplinary arts and media non-profit dedicated to presenting contemporary art, performing arts, and community media programs that are reflective of Brooklyn’s diverse communities, and to providing resources and platforms to support the creative process. All of our offerings are free or low cost, to enhance the public’s access to and understanding of arts and media. Each year, upwards of a million people in Brooklyn and citywide are served through our programs. www.bricartsmedia.org
BRIC Performing Arts presents emerging and established artists in music, dance, theater and multidisciplinary performance to broad audiences from Brooklyn and throughout New York City, and supports the development of new work. Signature programs include Celebrate Brooklyn!, a performing arts festival that presents over 25 free performances each summer at the Prospect Park Bandshell, and BRIClab, a commissioning and residency program presented at BRICstudio.