SPECIAL: Brave New Voices amd the Get Lit Players

Hi.  In early 2009 I read a feature story in the LA Times about the

Get Lit Players, a group of teenage poets going around to schools

promoting poetry from Walt Whitman to rap, including their own.

Intrigued and having just begun a series of community shows, I

tracked them down, talked with their founder, Diane Luby Lane,

and zounds, found common esthetics, enlisted them in my project

and vice versa and have never since ceased to be amazed by the

kids, their poetry, delivery, humanity and value.  And their director.

 

They've just put on a fabulous fund raiser at the Gilmore Adobe,

hosted by Tim Robbins, and here, a week later, hosting this

international all-star poetry competition.  I'm proud to have turned

Diane on to the LA Theater Center and to have gotten the desserts

donated by generous LA Farmers Market vendors for the benefit. 

What a role, or roll.

 

Swear, come to this and your hopes for the world will ascend. We

need these kids .. all of them.

 

Ed

 

 

From: Diane Lane

                          AND BRAVE NEW VOICES  INFO

               Dear Teachers, Artists, Youth  Leaders, and Friends:

VERY EXCITING NEWS!!!  

BRAVE NEW VOICES IS COMING TO LOS ANGELES!!!  

July  19-July 25, 2010
This year the international teen poetry slam,  BRAVE NEW VOICES is being held in LOS ANGELES!!! This is a week long  event that will bring over 600 teens to our city!  (This was  chronicled in a 7 part HBO series you may have seen earlier this year.  HBO will be filming this year as well.)  

Get Lit is helping  to host this event for Youth Speaks (out of San Francisco) and the Get  Lit Players are representing Los Angeles. This is an opportunity to  expose all of our teens to spoken word and get them truly inspired.   The goal is that when the festival is over, our teens are charged  and we can continue this great work in and after school – so next year  we can have a city wide spoken word competition, involving many many  schools!

There are so many ways to get involved.  (See  below.)  Please email me back ASAP for any/all that you are  interested in.  Seats are filling up FAST!!!

THESE ARE THE EVENTS THAT ARE STILL OPEN – if you would like to attend! All tickets are FREE.

C. Semi  Finals: Thursday, July 22nd, Location - LA Theater Center 514 S. Spring  Street, Los Angeles
10 AM – 1 (TOP 16 TEAMS COMPETE)

D.  Speak Green: Thursday, July 22nd, Location – Club Nokia,  800 West Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles
7 PM – 9  PM-ish (Sundance in partnership with Robert Redford presents – 15 teens compete with poems  about their environment)

E. Finals: Friday, July 23rd, Location – Sabon Theater, 8440 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills
7 PM – BUT MUST ARRIVE AT 6 PM TO GET TICKETS ARE THEY WILL BE GIVEN AWAY!!!
(This is the BIG SHOW – RAPPER, COMMON will host – top 4 teams compete; HBO films)

3. TEACHER WORKSHOP WITH YOUTH SPEAKS  FOUNDERS AND LEGENDARY EDUCATOR, PEDRO  NOGUERA
Saturday, July 24th 10 AM, Location – Occidental College,  Los Angeles
Cost $50 & includes free ticket to Brave New Voices  FINALS

WORKSHOP:
Join James Kass, Michelle Lee, Hodari  Davis and other Youth Speaks staff for a pedagogical and curricula  exploration of the power of spoek word, using the Youth Speaks  Methodology in conjunction with our 7-part HBO series Brave New Voices  DVD, an electronic teachers guide, and lunch.
 
Attendees of  this 4-hour professional development opportunity will receive the HBO  produced DVD, an electronic educational guide, and will be provided with  lunch.


Thank you great teachers for your participation and  enthusiasm!


Looking  forward to seeing you there!


Diane Luby Lane
Founder,  Executive Director Get Lit-Words Ignite
Www.getlit.org
310 962  6696

Go to  www.bravenewvoices.org for more information