VWC Celebrates African-American Heritage
Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance Comes to Campus on Feb. 21
February 10, 2011
(NORFOLK/VIRGINIA BEACH) Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance will be performed at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 21 in Boyd East Dining Hall on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College.
Of Ebony Embers is a one-actor, three-musician touring show which celebrates the music and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance. Set in 1935, it connects the audience to the lives and works of three African American poets — Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay — as seen through the eyes of the great painter and muralist Aaron Douglas.
The musical score for the performance is drawn from great composers of the Jazz Age, including Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and Jelly Roll Morton. The performance also features pieces from great African-American classical composers like Jeffrey Mumford and George Walker.
Of Ebony Embers is written and directed by Akin Babatunde. Babatunde has been a resident company member at Trinity Repertory Theater in Providence, Rhode Island, the Alley Theater in Houston, Texas, and the Dallas Theater Center. He is nationally known for his regular appearances on Public Television’s children’s program Wishbone. Reviews of the performance noted that, “for 90 minutes, Akin Babatunde lived and breathed for some of the greatest names of that era, and it was hard not to be scorched by his fiery passion for their work.”
Of Ebony Embers is sponsored by the VWC International and Intercultural Events (ICE). The event is open to the public. It is free to VWC students, faculty, and staff and $10 for all others at the door. For more information, call 757.455.3116.