Transcending cultures with rhythm and poetry
Shanghai Start | Updated: 2007-02-01 08:54
Barbadian performance poet JA |
"I had this vision, a dream that this thing called rhythm poetry performed to just one drum in Barbados, that I could evolve it, internationalize it to the point where I could perform around the world," explains JA. "First when I suggested it, people in Barbados could not believe it, saying this can't happen. They didn't believe that it could."
Nonetheless, JA has won over crowds at festivals in Europe, North America and Africa, performing alone or with his band.
Utilizing the sound and rhythm of his Barbadian dialect, a form of English with strong West African influences, JA projects an energy on-stage that transcends cultures and makes people dance.
(Shanghai Start 02/01/2007 page4)
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