ST. PAUL, Minn. (Oct. 4, 2019) — The vision that began years ago to create a special celebration to honor Hip Hop culture will come to life for an historic weekend at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 25th and 26th.

From the Ground Up: A Celebration of Hip Hop Culture, co-curated by Maia Maiden, celebrates the cultural movement that is Hip Hop through performances, workshops, panel discussions and more. Local and national artists and will be featured throughout the event.

“We are honored to bring the excellence of Hip Hop culture to the stage with award winning ROOTED in this historic presentation at the Ordway,” Maiden said.

ROOTED: Hip Hop Choreographers’ Evening Special Edition features Tish Jones, Carnage the Executioner and Desdamona. This performance will exhibit the skills and techniques of the finest choreographers in the Twin Cities.

ROOTED is a high-energy performance where audience members can share space with Minnesota’s diverse Hip Hop community. The show is at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the Concert Hall at the Ordway, 345 Washington St. in St. Paul.

Audiences are invited to arrive before the performance to learn more about Hip Hop through Friday night’s pre-show discussion, “Hip Hop as a Tool for Education.” The discussion begins at 6:30 p.m. and is free for ticketholders.

On Saturday, Oct. 26, Grammy Award-winning musician Terence Blanchard, world-renowned choreographer Rennie Harris, and visual artist Andrew Scott will explore racial tensions and injustice through live music, dance and a host of visual projections. The show examines larger societal issues, while reflecting the artists’ personal experiences and their thoughts and feelings about black lives in the 21st Century.

“Breathless, my first recording with my electric band, and my recent album LIVE, which was partly recorded in the Twin Cities, were meant to further the conversation about gun violence and to heal the wounds left in communities by these incidents,” said Blanchard. “I wanted to find a way to expand this musical statement and collaborating with Rennie Harris and Andrew Scott helped me realize that. We’ve had different experiences, but we share a lot of the same ideas and can express them in three dimensions.”

CARAVAN builds on Blanchard's vision for the production, which was influenced in part by his time in St. Paul, visiting with those affected by the police killing of Philando Castile.

For more information about Blanchard’s work read a recent story published in the Village Voice: https://www.villagevoice.com/2...

CARAVAN: A Revolution on the Road featuring Blanchard and the E-Collective, along with Harris and Scott, will take place in the Music Theater at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re thrilled to be planning this celebration of hip hop culture with co-curator and Sally-Award winner Maia Maiden,” said Dayna Martinez, Senior Programming Director at the Ordway. “We will have the best in Hip Hop dance and music on our stages throughout this groundbreaking weekend.”

Also happening on Saturday is a Hip Hop master class with Rennie Harris Puremovement. The class begins at 10 a.m. in the Ordway Drake Room and tickets are $7. Another class, “Creating with Krump Basics: Krump Dance Workshop” with Herb “Fair Warning” Johnson III will be held at 1 p.m. in the Drake Room. The class is free, but space is limited. Registration information can be found here: https://ordway.org/fromthegroundup/

The celebration of Hip Hop extends beyond the walls of the Ordway through a special Soul Bowl Hip Hop Brunch that will be happening from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sun. Oct. 20 at Graze Provisions + Libations, located at 520 4th St. N. in Minneapolis.

On Monday, Oct 21 “Hip Hop Heads” can tune in to KFAI’s Beats, Rhymes and Democracy for a radio panel discussion featuring Maia Maiden and DJ Digie, who will be joined by Jason Noer (B-Boy J-Sun), Tish Jones, and Rodney Hill from Rennie Harris Puremovement to discuss Hip Hop as a Tool for Education.

For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.ordway.org or call the ticket office at 651-224-4222.


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