The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University will officially kick off the 2008-09 season with Hip-Hop performance poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph s newest work, the break/s: a mixtape for stage, in a four-performances-only New York premiere September 23, 25, 26 & 27 at 8 PM. Tickets are $40.

Marc Bamuthi Joseph in the break/s.  Photo credit: Bethany Hines
Marc Bamuthi Joseph in the break/s. Photo credit: Bethany Hines

The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University will officially kick off the 2008-09 season with Hip-Hop performance poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s newest work, the break/s: a mixtape for stage, in a four-performances-only New York premiere September 23, 25, 26 & 27 at 8 PM. Tickets are $40.

the break/s is a multimedia excursion across planet Hip-Hop, presented in verse, dance, and film, which dramatically realizes the living history of the Hip-Hop generation through the performed personal narrative of poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph. the break/s draws its inspiration from the artist’s emergence in a time of globalization and Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, a 2005 American Book Award winner, which captures the creation of Hip-Hop as a local, political, and artistic movement inspired by a generation’s longing to make culture that impacts the world. The piece explores Joseph’s travels from Port-au-Prince to Paris, Tokyo to Minneapolis while emphasizing a synthesis among performer, score, and projected image that puts Hip-Hop culture into personal, historical, and political perspective. Both sound score and visual projections are mixed in real time while onstage Tommy Shepherd, aka Soulati, and DJ Excess collaborate with Joseph to sample style, meaning, and presentation to create something wholly new and unique.

the break/s is a featured co-presentation with the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, directed by Michael Garcés, and executive produced by MAPP International Productions. The show co-premiered at the 2008 Humana Festival and the Walker Art Center.

The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, now in its fifth year, is the premiere venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for NYU and lower Manhattan. For a current listing of the Skirball Center’s 2008-2009 season of events visit: www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Center’s website, by phone at 212.352.3101, or in person at the Skirball Center’s Shagan Box Office. New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is located at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South).


Please note: Press tickets are available for the Sept. 23 performance. Media wishing to review this event should call Richard Pierce at 212.998.6796, or email richard.pierce@nyu.edu to make arrangements in advance.

Press Contact

Richard Pierce
Richard Pierce
(212) 998-6796