^ o rtlaitò © hseruer__________________ ______ PaseA7
lune io. 2009
Northwest Dance Project Moving In
co m p an y ’s executiv e director,
“ but the p atien ce and p e rsis
ten ce has defin itely paid o ff.”
T he o rg an iz atio n w ill start
d an cin g in the space on June
15 w orking on new cre atio n s
T h e N o r t h w e s t D a n c e f o r o u r a ll- w o r ld - p re m ie re
P ro je ct has a new hom e and show s A ug. 14 and 15 at the
p erform ance space opening in N ew m ark T heatre.
the h ea rt o f the M ississip p i
“ I fell in love w ith the space
d istric t.
w hen 1 first saw it one su m
A n innovative, in te rn atio n m er night on M ississip p i A v
ally rec o g n ized le ad e r in the e n u e ,” say s p ro je c t A rtistic
c re atio n and prem iere o f d y D irector Sarah Slipper, the ac
n am ic new dance w orks, the claim ed dan cer, m e n to r and
d ance pro ject is m oving into c h o re o g ra p h e r w ho fo u n d ed
the histo ric M ississippi B all the com pany in 2005. “ It has
room at 833 N. S haver St.
a very ro m a n tic , o ld w o rld
“T h is h as b e e n n e a rly a ch arm you ju s t d o n ’t see an y
th r e e -y e a r p ro c e s s fo r u s ,” m ore and it’s ce n te re d in one
s a y s S c o tt L e w is , th e o f the m ost vib ran t an d c re
Finds home
at Mississippi
Ballroom
ativ e d istric ts in the city .”
T he ow ners o f the building,
the K uriso fam ily, w ere key to
se cu rin g the deal an d e a g e r
to see dance return to the b all
room and to have a m ajo r arts
o rg an izatio n becom e p art o f
the M ississippi com m unity.
“We finally have the space
an d tim e to really d iv e into
our various program m ing e le
m ents,” S lipper says. “We can
offer m ore diverse classes, do
m ore w orkshops for dan cers,
p rovide m ore youth o u treach
and create even m ore original
w orks. We can also su p p o rt
o th er local dance com p an ies
and artists w ho are in need o f
r e h e a rs a l an d p e rfo rm a n c e
space — the local com m unity
The Mississippi Ballroom at 833 N. Shaver St. will be the new home for the Northwest
Dance Project, a Portland dance company dedicated to the creation and performance of
new dance works from established and emerging artists.
has been so su p p o rtiv e o f us
and w e are ex cited to be able
to give b ack .”
Your Care
Our First Priority^,
Dr. Marcelitte Failla
Chiropractic Physician
R a p p e r s E m b e llish B a d -B o y Im a g e
Fiction often
gets mixed
with reality
(A P) — Rick Ross sold hit al
b u m s ra p p in g a b o u t se llin g
crack cocaine but a revelation
that he once worked as a prison
guard threatened to end his ca
reer.
For a rapper cultivating a bad-
boy image, a uniform put him
on the w rong side o f the law.
U.S. rappers often sell songs
about drugs and guns based on
"real-life" stories, but increas
ingly som e o f those stories are
b eing exposed as e m b ellish
m ents aim ed at helping them
b u ild successful ca reers, ex
perts say.
"Som e o f the stories are fab
ricated and som e o f it is reality,
and w hat they are doing is m ix
ing the two," m usic executive
D evyne Stephens said. "W hen
you say you shot and killed
som ebody and you put it on a
CD , nine tim es out o f 10, you
really didn't shoot and kill any
body."
Ross is a bearded, burly M i
ami rapper who brags of a cash-
fueled, drug-boss life. His real
nam e is W illiam Leonard Rob
erts II but he takes his stage
nam e from a drug trafficker.
So he was publicly humiliated
when pictures surfaced o f him
last year through T he Sm oking
G un w ebsite looking clean-cut
Rap artist Rick Ross performs at the 8th annual BMI Urban
Awards at the Wilshire theatre in Beverly Hills, Calif.
in a correctional officer's uni
form.
Ross at first denied his past,
then adm itted it but m aintained
his dru g -d ealin g tales o f the
street were true.
His third album , released in
April and featuring titles such
as "Rich o ff C ocaine,” still sold
well.
S te p h e n s , w h o h a s b e e n
h ailed as an im age b randing
king and has w orked with art
ists including M ary J. B lige,
U sher, Sean "D iddy" C om bs
and Nelly, said many rappers
m ix lines in th eir songs that
aren't literally true but draw from
real experiences or stories they
have heard.
He says "pro b ab ly 85 per
cent" o f rappers em bellish sto
ries in songs and calls the cur
rent trend "reality music" which,
like reality television, is som e
thing o f a misnomer.
Stephens helped groom an
other successful U.S. rapper,
A kon, w ho has had hits like
"L o ck ed Up" fend "G hetto."
A kon w as ridiculed last year
and accu sed o f d ram atically
enhancing claim s o f belonging
to a car theft ring and having
served prison time.
T h e new cro p o f ra p p e rs
w ant to em ulate the success of
ra p p e rs -tu rn e d -m o g u ls like
All- Bollywood Dance Party
DJ Anjali, Portland's primary advocate for the many varied electronic sounds of the
South Asian diaspora, is taking over the Someday Lounge for a night of Bollywood
music. From vintage Bollywood rock'n'roll, to Bollywood funKand disco, up to
today's pastiches of techno, hip-hop, and reggaeton, it's all in the mix for the
Friday, June 19 dance party at the downtown entertainment venue located at 125
N.W. Fifth Ave.
graphics
Paul A. Neufeldt
503-875-1695
panndrw @ yahoo.com
Affordable
design and
business support
We are located at
form er New York drug dealers
Jay-Z and 50 Cent, who both
so ld alb u m s b ased on th e ir
tra n sfo rm a tio n s fro m street
h u s tlin g to p o p p in g c h a m
pagne.
"You form ulate that story to
make it ju st as interesting as the
Jay -Z story," S tephens said,
describing an outline of: "I am
a hustler, 1 came from nothing
and turned it into som ething
and now 1 am on yachts in St.
Tropez."
Jay-Z , m arried to superstar
Beyonce Knowles, is now one
of the w orld's w ealthiest m usi
cians, having signed a deal re
portedly worth $ 150 million with
concert prom oter Live Nation.
50 C ent, w hose album and
film "Get Rich or Die Try in"' was
b ased on his past as a crack
dealer w ho was shot nine times,
now runs a m ultim edia empire.
He banked about $100 million
after taxes w hen his stake in
G la c e a u ,
c r e a to r
of
Vitaminwater, was sold to Coca-
Cola, Forbes reported.
Both depart from that image
at tim es. Jay-Z has prom oted
bicycles with New York's Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and 50 Cent
recently stood alongside enter
tainer Bette M idler to promote
parks and gardens.
"Im age w ould be peo p le's
p e rs p e c tiv e ," 50 C e n t to ld
Reuters when asked what his
old fans would think. "It might
not coincide with w hat I am
doing, but this is w ho I am."
1716 N.E. 42nd Ave.
Portland, OR 97213
(Between Broadway
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appointment! (503) 228-6140
Since 1984,
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