Carl Hancock Rux: Poesia Negra: Race, Sex and the Myth of the American Mytopia

As mentioned in class, please make efforts to go see Carl Hancock Rux's show, Poesia Negra, at REDCAT this week. Special thanks to Mona Heinze for allowing us to videotape Carl's talk in her class so we could share it with you. For further information on his artistry and ideas, please check out these resources (courtesy of Mona):

Carl Hancock Rux, “Eminem: The New White Negro”
http://www.carlhancockrux.com/index.php?action=view_article&id=5&module=articlemodule

POESIA NEGRA is in conversation with the following:

1. Teorema by Pier Paolo Pasolini (1968) DVD 2142, VHS 2926, VHS 1379

2. Portrait of Jason by Shirley Clarke, DVD 2928

“The subject and constant object of this film is male prostitute Jason Holliday giving a stream-of-consciousness "confession" of his life. He performs a pas de deux with the process of making the film: questions from the director and crew are heard, the crew laughs with him at his jokes, at times the camera runs out of film but the sound continues, with black leader replacing the picture. The film itself was shot over a twelve-hour period.”

3. James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket by Karen Thorsen (1989), VHS 1239

“. . . uses striking archival footage to evoke the atmosphere of Baldwin's formative years - the Harlem of the 30s, his father's fundamentalist church and the émigré demi-monde of postwar Paris. Newsreel clips from the '60's record Baldwin's running commentary on the drama of the Civil Rights movement. The film also explores his quiet retreats in Paris, the South of France, Istanbul and Switzerland - places where Baldwin was able to write away from the racial tensions of America.

Writers Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, William Styron and biographer David Leeming place Baldwin's work in the African-American literary tradition - from slave narratives and black preaching to their own contemporary work. The film skillfully links excerpts from Baldwin's major books - Go Tell it on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, Another Country, The Fire Next Time, Blues for Mister Charlie, If Beale Street Could Talk - to different stages in Black-white dialogue and conflict.”

4. Swimming to Cambodia by Spalding Gray (1987) VHS 173

Recommended sources:

Any of “Rux Articles” on website
http://www.carlhancockrux.com/index.php?section=24

Interviews on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTL0UYoKQ04&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7sqc9vPp78&feature=user

Good Bread Alley video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WOFfoQNRsc&feature=user

Check out Carl Hancock Rux’s website at: http://www.carlhancockrux.com

Where Extra Credit Comes From

Extra effort.

If you missed an assignment this semester, or turned anything in late, there is a chance to improve your final grade.

There are two options for extra credit. If you choose to take on one of these assignments, they need to be submitted NO LATER THAN MAY 5.

OPTION ONE

This week, attend Carl Hancock Rux's Poesia Negra at REDCAT.

Write a 2-page response paper on the show.

OPTION TWO

If you have crew commitments, and can't get down to REDCAT, the other option is to do an artist interview.

Identify a student artist who worked in a major way on one of the shows this semester : Machine Orchestra, Henry V, Adam and Eve, Kenwood Wilderness, Dice Thrown, Sun, or Bitter Tears of Petra van Kant.

Formulate 10 questions you'd want to ask that artist about themselves, and about the project.

Conduct the interview. Write a 2-page response paper. Instead of transcribing their answers, process what you heard and include your thoughts/reactions.

Response Assignment 5: Final Paper Topics (Due 4/21)

Now that you have chosen a play to write your final paper on, read it, and had a chance to discuss your ideas in class; your fifth (and last) response paper assignment is to articulate your final paper topic in writing.  This response should be at least one paragraph long, typed, printed, and turned in at class next week. 

Note: If you for any reason did not turn in Response 4, it is very important that you do choose a play, read it, and submit a final paper topic.  

To help you in drafting your final paper topic, here are some ingredients to consider in a thesis statement:  You can think of one as having 3 parts: Description, Argument, and Methology...

Thanks to Dice Thrown!

Thanks to the Dice Thrown team members for joining us for a great conversation in class today, as well as a chance to see some of scenic and costume designs, and hear about what to expect when the full opera premieres next week in the Mod Theater.

A reminder, everyone is invited to the preview performance NEXT WEDNESDAY, April 21.

Article on the Premiere of Dice Thrown

Interview with John King

John King's Site

Speaking of upcoming work, John Jasperse Company with ICE will be at REDCAT this weekend, and next weekend is Carl Hancock Rux's Poesia Negra: Race, Sex and the Myth of the American Mytopia.

Response Assignment 4 (Due 4/14)

For your final papers, you will have the option to write about one of the following three plays you have seen/will be seeing this semester: Adam and Eve (Bulgakov), Henry V (Shakespeare), or The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (Fassbinder).

In preparation for your final paper, your assignment this week is to choose which of those three plays you are going to write your final paper on. Read the whole play, and write about why you chose that play, and what specific elements of it (ideas, themes, questions, etc.) you may want to write about.

Your response should cite specific examples from the text. The response should be at least 300 words. Please type, print out, and hand in at the top of class next week.

Copies of these plays have been put on reserve in the library. Because there are limited copies available, we recommend that you consider xeroxing personal copies for yourself, or purchasing your own copies from local or online booksellers.

As mentioned in class, Zoe is using a custom translation of Bitter Tears in her production. There is also a published edition of that play available in the library. Both versions are acceptable to us. Zoe's version can be downloaded here: BitterTearsScript.pdf

Note: This response doesn't need to be your exact paper topic. We are more interested in hearing about what interests you in the text. This assignment should generate possible topics/ideas that you can later refine into a formal thesis.

If you end up having a very specific topic that you wish to write on, that's fine too. Use this response to discuss that topic and related ideas.

P.S. - As mentioned in class, Douglas Sirk's melodramas are not to be missed and available in the library here or at most quality video stores. Written On the Wind is exceptional. Here's an article on his work:

http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/04/sirk.html