Casal is a spoken-word superstar.
Two young spoken-word artists will attend UW-Madison under a new, full-tuition scholarship from the university's First Wave program.
High school students Hiwot Adilow of Philadelphia and Miona Short of Chicago became the first recipients of the First Wave/MC Lyte Scholarship on Nov. 25. The scholarship gives both students the opportunity to participate in First Wave's intersection of hip-hop, theater, spoken-word, poetry and dance. Both Adilow and Short specialize in spoken word.
The scholarship's namesake, MC Lyte, helped fund the scholarship through her Hip Hop Sisters Network. She also visited Madison recently as part of the First Wave curriculum.
Since First Wave launched in 2007, its students have spawned everything from straightforward hip-hop recordings to theater pieces and breakdancing performances. Thirteen other students will enter the program in the fall of 2013, according to UW's Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives.
In addition, several First Wave students will join former UW artist-in-residence Rafael Casal for a Dec. 8 showcase at the Memorial Union Rathskeller at 8 p.m.
