'Hip-Hop Project' offers in-depth view of vibrant culture

URBANA – Ask people what hip-hop means to them and you tend to get answers like bling, saggy pants or baseball hats worn to the side. Some folks might even make beat-box music.

All those water down a vibrant culture that has spread across the globe in a short amount of time, with roots that go far beyond Grandmaster Flash and other hip-hop pioneers to African and Caribbean music and culture, said Millicent Johnnie, a hip-hop scholar and dance professor at Southern Methodist University.

As "physical historians," she and guest director Aaron Todd Douglas will offer in a production opening Thursday at Krannert Center a more in-depth, inclusive view of hip-hop culture than what pop culture gives.

"The Hip-Hop Project," written by Steve Broadnax, a Penn State University theater professor, offers high-energy, movement-heavy insights via dance, songs, rap, spoken word, poetry, capoeira, video projections, etc.

The "party will get cranking" early, with a deejay in the Colwell Playhouse before the cast of dancers, poets, actors and emcees come on stage to "expose the political, social, economic and religious truths lived by the hip-hop generation," according to a Krannert Web site blurb.

The production, directed by Douglas and choreographed by Johnnie, features a large ensemble cast of performers, most of them University of Illinois theater and dance students but some from outside those departments – among them members of a UI salsa dance group. Also in the cast is Blessing Adeoye, a dancer and a junior at Champaign Central High School.

As collaborators on the production, Douglas and Johnnie aim to make "The Hip-Hop Project" not only an authentic piece of hip-hop but also an authentic piece of theater.

"We try to be as honest as possible and to utilize our cast members' talents to the best of their abilities," Douglas said. "We don't want an inauthentic move. We don't want a rapper up there who is not a good rapper."

The production has no linear plot; it's thematic, with drama, comedy and "some heart-felt moments," according to Johnnie. Acting as sort of a narrator throughout is B-Boy All Star, an emcee.

The production can be divided into four thematic movements that look at the genesis of hip-hop, the premise that hip-hop is dead, the hype over hip-hop, and love, sex and other issues embedded in the culture. It also covers how hip-hop manifests itself in different regions.

"The regional section is very important," Douglas said. "Whoever's on top at the time is able to dictate the historical timeline. Right now the kings are Lil Wayne and Jay-Z."

With playwright Broadnax's blessing, Douglas and Johnnie have added to, subtracted from, cut and pasted sections in the original script.

Before revising, Douglas met a couple of times with Broadnax, who embraced all of the director's and choreographer's ideas, Douglas said.

"Todd gave me a video of the Penn State production and ours looks nothing like it," Johnnie said.

And it probably looks nothing like the production of "The Hip-Hop Project" that was presented in 2005 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of its American College Theater Festival.

"The Hip-Hop Project" (not to be confused with a film documentary of the same title) also has toured nationally.

Douglas, who lives in Chicago, graduated from the UI Department of Theatre with a master's of fine arts degree. He's an adjunct theater professor at Loyola University, a founding member of the Congo Square Theatre Company and a freelance actor and director.

A native of Lafayette, La., Johnnie received bachelor's and master's of fine arts degrees in dance at Florida State University. She recently joined the Southern Methodist University faculty and served on dance faculties at Tulane and Dillard universities in New Orleans after touring as resident choreographer and rehearsal director of the Urban Bush Women in New York City. She co-founded the Phlava Hip Hop and Jazz Dance Company in Tallahassee. She received a Prague International Dance Festival "Best Choreography" award and a "First Place International Dance Title" for her hip-hop choreography "Wrath."

If you go

What: UI presents "Hip-Hop Project: Insight into the Hip-Hop Generation," written by Steven Broadnax, directed by Aaron Todd Douglas and choreographed by Millicent Johns.

When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15-17, Oct. 22-24 and 3 p.m. Oct. 25.

Where: Colwell Playhouse, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., U.

Tickets: $15 for adults, $14 for senior citizens, and $9 for UI students and youths high school age and younger. Tickets are two for the price of one on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Information: 333-6280 or 800-527-2849 or visit the ticket counter from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Online: www.krannertcenter.com.

Note: The production contains adult themes.

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