Glorious Spring and Happy National Poetry Month!
In honor and celebration of poets near and far, we welcome to the April General Meeting a very special craft talk with slam samples by award-winning poet and performer Boris “Bluz” Rogers: Slam On! Useful Performance Poetry Techniques. What better way to spring into the season with both feet!
Please join us as we gather via Zoom for social time as always at 6:30 p.m. Our nimble and gracious president will call us to order at 7:00 p.m. with a welcome and some brief announcements.
We will then turn the virtual floor over to Bluz, introduced by our very own Angela Haigler.
Club business and member announcements will follow Bluz's talk. If you have something to share, please use the Zoom hand icon.
The link to join the meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87466798144?pwd=SSt1T2NlUldpZmJRMU9CVXVqaHUxQT09
Meeting ID: 874 6679 8144
Passcode: 200263
Slam on! Useful Performance Poetry Techniques
Boris "Bluz" Rogers, the bard of Charlotte and an Emmy Award winning performance poet will show us how to create and present powerful slam and spoken word poetry as we celebrate National Poetry Month. His craft talk Slam On! Useful Performance Poetry Techniques will help writers improve their poetry for the stage and the page. As a bonus, Bluz will engage us with sample slams.
When Boris “Bluz” Rogers sits down to write, he sets out “to take words, shape them, and put them in places where they don’t necessarily belong” in order to create visuals that will allow his audience to see the world in new ways. The long list of awards and recognition he has garnered provides ample evidence of how thoroughly he has succeeded: four Emmys, six Poetry in Motion Awards, three times National Poetry Slam Champion as well as Southern Slam Grand Champion.
“People sometimes forget,” Bluz contends, “that Charlotte is a really cool town.” A community builder, a community booster, Bluz sees his voice as a progressive tool to foster transformation; he strives to create “work that uplifts people when they hear it, encourages them to take pride in where they live and who they are.”In Charlotte, he has done just that. Bluz has worked with Blumenthal Performing Arts to host the Slam Charlotte and Breakin’ Convention, led and facilitated workshops as part of ASC’s Connect with Culture Days, represented Charlotte as Poet Delegate at the All-America City Awards, and written poetry for Opera Carolina’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. He has hosted the CIAA Fan Fest, done voice-overs for the Carolina Panthers and Raycom Sports, performed at the Foundation for the Carolinas Anniversary Luncheon and the Jazzy Holiday Gala at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture at the Levine Center for the Arts.
We look forward to seeing you!
