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'Ebony Embers' to showcase 'Renaissance'
By Beth Kerns
The music and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance will come to the Paramount Theater in the presentation of Ebony Embers, Feb. 6.
"It's wonderful," Ellen Nelson of the Paramount Arts district said.
The Harlem Renaissance has been called a "spiritual emancipation." Around 1918, African-Americans began to break free of the social bonds that lingered since before the Civil War both in the North and the South.
African-American artists began to express themselves more openly in music, poetry, prose, art and literature. It started in a small suburb of New York known as Harlem, and was originally called the "New Negro Movement."
Ebony Embers will feature music by jazz musician, Duke Ellington and poetry by the poet, Langston Hughes.
"It's a combination concert and play," Nelson said. "There's this party going on and the host walks in and recites one of Hughes' poems. Then they play some of Duke Ellington's music."
"It's a corroboration. There are three musicians and an actor, all with outstanding resumes," Nelson said.
There will also be an exhibit of the photography of James Vanderzee. Vanderzee was a photographer that documented and colonized the Harlem Renaissance.
Duke Ellington was born in Washington D.C. in 1899. At a young age, baseball was more important to him than the piano lessons his parents enrolled him in. His interest in music did not begin to bloom until his late teens. He dropped out of high school three months from graduation and began playing in nightclubs with his band, "The Duke's Serenaders." From there, his career in music grew to be legendary. He had performed in more than 20,000 concerts by the time he died in 1974.
Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Mo. in 1902. He grew up with his grandmother after his parents' divorce. Later he lived with his mother and his stepfather. He began writing poetry when he was in the eighth grade and went on to write prose and drama as well. Hughes disliked distinguishing his life and his stories from typical African-American life. To him, his life was no different from that of any other African-American living at that time. Hughes died of cancer in 1964.
The Harlem Renaissance lasted until 1940, but its impression on future civil rights leaders was lasting. Ebony Embers joins poetry and music in an effort to capture the flare of this high point of American artistry.
"Critics say it's 'Outstanding, creative, innovative.' And yeah, it's really wonderful," Nelson said.
Plan your weekend
For tickets to "Ebony Embers" call the Paramount Box Office at 259-5463. Tickets for students of all ages are $11, adult tickets are $22.
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