*LOS ANGELES, CA – Greenway Arts Alliance (Whitney Weston and Pierson Blaetz, Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors), in association with Da Poetry Lounge, presents the 3rd ANNUAL LA GET DOWN FESTIVAL, celebrating hip-hop and spoken word.
The festival takes place during National Poetry Month, from April 5 – 27, 2019 at the Greenway Court Theatre 544 N. Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Da Poetry Lounge Co-Founder Shihan Van Clief serves as Festival Artistic Director.
The 3rdANNUAL LA GET DOWN FESTIVAL will play host to the 11th Anniversary of InkSlam L.A.’s National Premiere Poetry Festival with awards sponsored by Greenway Arts. The festival also features: Atlanta based Poetry vs. Hip-Hop; invitational team and indie slams from all over the country from youths to adults; showcases; workshops; and other events.
“Greenway has been a gathering place for who’s who in the spoken word poetry movement. The Get Down Festival is a curated window into this revolutionary art form. We are thrilled to be celebrating National Poetry Month in April with our Festival presentation, so if you are a playwright, screenwriter, actor or anyone interested in being inspired by original expression, come hang out with the poets,” said Greenway Arts Alliance Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director, Pierson Blaetz.
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“The LA Get Down Festival allows teams from all over the country to compete against each other, during our Ink Slam competition,” said LA Get Down Festival Director, Shihan Van Clief. “The hope this year with the festival is to broaden our range of poetic programming, giving opportunities for poetry to be presented in a way that expands on what and how poetry can be consumed by an audience. We have themed nightly events, such as Poetry vs Hip-Hop, we also have Heart storms, which is poetry packaged as an ensemble piece based around one poet’s work. We also have the team competition in which eight teams from around the country compete against each other for cash prizes.”
“Poetry is very much a niche art form, but with the Get Down we have the ability to show folks that the best way to find an appreciation for it is to experience it in a different capacity than what they’ve been used to. And hopefully, that’s what they get from this year’s festival,” he concludes.
3rd ANNUAL LA GET DOWN FESTIVAL FULL SCHEDULE:
Weekend 1
FRIDAY, APRIL 5
PERFORMANCE: Poetry vs. Hip-Hop LA 2!!
Presented by Poetry vs. Hip-Hop, LLC & The LA Get Down Festival
Headlining Viral Hip-Hop Sensation G Yamazawa, Live Music by Kevin Sandbloom
Plus featured Poet Christopher Michael from ATX!
Then a friendly “battle” of poet vs mc in a 1:1 duo of wits and stage presence
and the audience chooses the winner of each round. Someone goes home with cash
and Poetry vs. Hip-Hop swag and prizes. Doors open at 8:30 pm $15 online | $20 at the door
SATURDAY, APRIL 6
WORKSHOP: Write Better with Donny Jackson
Begins at 12:00 pm $10 online
WORKSHOP: Your Voice is an Instrument – Writing Workshop
Facilitated by Alyesha Wise and Matthew “Cuban” Hernandez
Begins at 2:00 pm $10 online
PERFORMANCE: Poems are Gay!
Hosted by Edwin Bodney A Night of LGBTQIA+ performances
Begins at 8:00 pm $10 online – General Admission
Weekend 2
FRIDAY, APRIL 12
PERFORMANCE: Salome: Ten Poems About One Thing
By Donny Jackson Directed by Jasmine Williams
Da Poetry Lounge and Get Down Festival veterans return to the Greenway Court Theatre stage with a new collaboration. Directed by 36th St. Blues’ Jasmine Williams, and written by One Man Shown’s Donny Jackson, Salome: Ten Poems About One Thing is the theatrical expansion of the poetic declarations of 5 women, as they plumb the beauty and terror and triumph of venerating selfhood in a world built to deny them of it. From pole dancer to new mother to inmate to lover, the women of Salome… endeavor to represent the path to glory out loud. Begins at 8:00 pm $10 online – General Admission
SATURDAY, APRIL 13
PERFORMANCE:
New Voices: The California Repertory Company Production ofA Live Mixtape
By Tahirih Moeller Directed by Bruce A. Lemon Jr.
In 2016 Moeller received 2nd place from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s Hip-Hop Theater Creator Award for her play A Live Mixtape, which she further developed in a 2018 residency at California Repertory Company, California State University, Long Beach.
The rhythms of Los Angeles County come alive in Tahirih Moeller’s A Live Mixtape. A high school girl uses the geometry of desire to calculate the distance between love and heartbreak. A college kid fights for his identity in an epic battle between art and commerce. A homeless man raps about the end to the sounds of the streets, in hopes of being heard. And all the while the neighborhood news network keeps us up on the latest. With a new perspective on every track, this exploration of love, friendship, and the American Dream brings us closer to the neighbors we thought we knew.
A Live Mixtape is directed by Watts Village Artistic Director, Bruce A. Lemon Jr. He is an actor, director and radio host who works to re-imagine his community through his work. A storyteller born and raised in Watts, California, Lemon has worked with numerous theatre companies in Los Angeles including LA Opera, Son of Semele, Company of Angels, Illyrian players and many more. Begins at 8:00 pm $10 online – General Admission
Weekend 3
FRIDAY, APRIL 19:
PERFORMANCE:
Heartstorms: And the Hood Criatura in Transit
With Féi Hernandez Directed and created by Arianna Lady Basco
Produced by Arianna Lady Basco and Evangeline Monroy of @palmsupacademy
Their expedition between countries, body and gender.
Heartstorms: a show. about an open mic, the people who come, the stories they share.
Heartstorms is Lady B’s love letter to the open mic.A play welcoming both the novice and the veteran to shine a bright light on these sacred spaces.
Lady B has developed two new renditions of Heartstormsincluding And the Hood Criatura in Transit withFéi Hernandez Begins at 8:00 pm $10 online – General Admission
SATURDAY, APRIL 20:
PERFORMANCE: Heartstorms: The Boi with Blue Nails
With Figgy Baby Directed and created by Arianna Lady Basco
Produced by Arianna Lady Basco and Evangeline Monroy of @palmsupacademy
Exploring toxic masculinity and his part in that as a queer artist and community leader.
The Boi with Blue Nails is a new rendition of Lady B’s Heartstorms.
Begins at 8:00 pm $10 online – General Admission
Weekend 4
FRIDAY, APRIL 26
PERFORMANCE: inkSlam Invitational Team Semi-Finals
The return of the national legendary team competition for bragging rights and a $3000 prize pool.
Begins at 8:00 pm $10 online – General Admission
SATURDAY, APRIL 27
WORKSHOP: How to Build a Feature/Set
With Yesika Salgado Begins at 8:00 pm $10 online – General Admission
PERFORMANCE: inkSlam Invitational Team Finals
Hosted by Shihan Van Clief Begins at 8:00 pm $20 online – General Admission
NOTE: The above performances are subject to change.
The 3rdANNUAL LA GET DOWN FESTIVAL is presented with the support of the City of West Hollywood’s WeHo Arts program. For more information, please visit www.weho.org/arts or follow via social media @WeHoArts. Additional support is provided by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; and by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
The 3rdANNUAL LA GET DOWN FESTIVAL will take place from April 5 – 27, 2019. All workshops and performances will be held at Greenway Court Theatre, 544 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles.Free parking is available next door at the Fairfax High School parking lot. The full festival schedule, and tickets and passes are available online at GreenwayCourtTheatre.org/LAGetDown2019 or by phone 323-673-0544. Single ticket prices range from $10 – $20. Full festival passes are also available for $75. Patrons 25 or younger can select five events for $25.
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