ONLINE: Rock Steady: The Revolutionary Soul of Nikki Giovanni

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Maureen Janson Heintz

UW Dance Department student Akiwele Burayidi.

Let us not forget the revolutionary poetry of Nikki Giovanni. A founder of the Black Arts Movement of the late ’60s, Giovanni is the subject of Fermat’s Last Theater’s latest livestreamed production, Rock Steady: The Revolutionary Soul of Nikki Giovanni. The play, featuring Quanda Johnson, Melvin Hinton, Akiwele Burayidi and Ari Smith, includes poetry, dance, story and song and will introduce the audience, or remind them, of Giovanni’s work: direct, angry, playful, powerful.

press release: Rock Steady: The Revolutionary Soul of Nikki Giovanni will be Fermat’s Last Theater’s live-streamed tribute to the legendary Black poet who has written inspired verse from her early days as a founder of the Black Arts Movement in the late ‘60s to today.

The evening of poetry, story and song will be Thursday, April 8, at 8 PM.  The live stream link is facebook.com/FLTCo/live.  The evening will feature Quanda Johnson reading and singing, Melvin Hinton reading (he and Giovanni are both Class of ’67 graduates of Fisk University), Akiwele Burayidi dancing and Ari Smith playing bass. The live stream will be from Audio for the Arts.

Ms. Giovanni’s work includes many volumes of verse, poetry recordings, essays and children’s books. She is currently a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech University. Jazz and soul music have been an important parts of her life and work.

Quanda Johnson is an actress and singer who has appeared on and off Broadway, was with the City Opera of New York for three years, and is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies at UW-Madison and a Fulbright scholar. Melvin Hinton, as noted, is a graduate of Fisk University, received a Fulbright scholarship to study abroad in Paris and Madrid, and hosts WORT’s Radio Literature of the Air. Akiwele Burayidi is a junior in the UW-Madison Dance Department. She has received several scholarships to train at summer programs such as the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Paris Summer Academy, and most recently Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School. Ari Smith is a bassist, composer, improvisor, and engineer based in Madison, WI, where he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in industrial engineering at UW-Madison. Prior to moving to Madison, Ari received a bachelor's degree in math and a bachelor of music degree from Oberlin College and Conservatory.