Production: Block by Block
Artists: Campo Santo with Felonius and special writings by Junot Diaz
Theater: De Young Museum
City: San Francisco, CA
Date and Time Seen: 11/19/2011 7pm
Strong piece of Performance Art: Hip hop theatre at it’s finest celebrating a great city. I had no idea what to expect from watching this show. I thought that it would have some sort of narrative that would snake it’s way throughout the museum, like Panunuluan did so many years ago with Teatro Ng Tanan. I was wrong. The setting was in an auditorium at the De Young Museum that sat about 200-300 guests in these big orange seats. There were even these ball thingies that were in front of the front row where people can sit. Prior to the beginning, some good beats were being played via a DJ, so that set the mood – a hip hop feeling kind of experience. Then to warm up the audience, an amazing beat boxer did his thing. THEN the show started with a drumming group entering from stage right with Carnaval Dancers w/ the elaborate headdresses descended down the aisles of the theater to the pulsating beat! Enter more performers from stage left errupting with what can be best described as a step routine.
The narrative began as a person spit out some spoken word about being shot fading into various urban dance routines. I really started getting into the narrative written by one of my favorite dialogue mixologists, Junot Diaz. He has his style which I haven’t heard in a long minute, but was immediately drawn into. One of my closest friends, Brian M. Rivera, portrayed one-half of a brother cast as he was the narrator of their story. Very reminiscent of his portrayal of Oscar from Fuku Americanus produced by Campo Santo a few years/months ago. The melding of his narrative and the dialogue between the brothers is unmistakable of Diaz’s writing.
Death in the City that they love: a theme I saw in the production. Whether violently or from disease, these stories weaved into the fabric that made the City of San Francisco. Each block threaded into the quilt I’ve come to just call, the City. The video art projected on the back wall of the various neighborhoods filled me with nostalgia of having lived in my nook of Noe Valley. I felt proud to have called this city home – a childhood dream.
Rapping, dancing, and deep hitting music basically defined more clearly to me what Hip-Hop Theatre is. Sean San Jose’s organic direction lent itself so succinctly into the fibrous theme of block by block I couldn’t help but feel the pride of each artist as they represented their city.
By the end of the evening Block by Block had everyone up on their feet in celebration of a City I love – a true Block Party!