Will Power tells his story in 'Flow'

Author: Joyce Man

When Will Power took time out for an interview with The Middlebury Campus for his upcoming "Flow" tour to the College, he was busy juggling travel plans to many more destinations in the following months: to Atlanta, then Vermont, New Jersey, Michigan, California, Minneapolis and Miami, with a trip in between to Poland on behalf of the company he collaborates with, Hip Hop Theatre Festival. But such a smorgasbord of schedules seemed to sit just fine with Power. This is not entirely surprising. After all, this energetic performer daily fuses hip-hop with theatre, music with story-telling, the 'hood with African villages of the past, and into this he pours his own life story. Apparently, Power is not just performing -- he is mixing it up.

Next week, on Sept 26 and 27, the artist who was critically acclaimed by the New York Times and Newsweek is bringing a lecture and his award-winning performance "Flow" to Middlebury College's Wright Theatre. His lecture will explore the growing culture of hip-hop theatre, including its social roots and political and spiritual influences. In Tuesday night's performance of "Flow", which Power created a few years ago, he will convey seven characters' stories through rap, rhymes and dance partnered with the musical mixing of D.J. Reborn.

What will probably surprise lovers of theatre, rap and hip-hop dance is that Power's "Flow" is all three of those combined in one genre called hip-hop theatre. This dynamic combination began in the mid-eighties and has infused the work of Hip Hop Theatre Festival since 1999, when it began. It started in the dramatic and violent urban milieu of New York and Washington, D.C. and abroad in France, Holland, Spain, Sweden and Canada. While small, the contingent of hip-hop theatre artists is finding that more and more people are identifying with their form of expression. "We are not really a network yet," said Power, "but we are definitely growing, and not just in one country. This is an international movement."

It is one that is coming briefly to rural Vermont. When the Midd audience sees "Flow," we will experience a story that is, as Power explains, not a story in the traditional sense, but more to the variations of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and rapper Jay-Z. "When people think of 'stories', they have an image of someone telling tales in the library," said Power, "but it's not confined to that. Hip hop is all about story-telling and in 'Flow', I take inspiration from everywhere."

To illustrate, Power referred to the sampling technique behind Kanye West's rap song "Gold Digger" from his August 2005 album, "Registration," which incorporated the hook from rhythm-and-blues legend Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman". "The subject matter is not super innovative," said Power, "but what is interesting is Kanye West samples; he took Ray Charles older songs and made it into his own original song. It's like he was paying homage to those who came before him, his elders. He was essentially having a dialogue with Ray Charles."

Power illustrates how he, in essence, used exactly this kind of fusion to tell his own story. When asked what the inspiration is behind "Flow," he is not specific, alluding rather generally to an inspiration and a flow of ideas that "just kinda came," but when talking about his collaboration with music mixer D.J. Reborn, he spoke with feeling.

"Historically, in the villages of Africa, there was always a drummer and a storyteller, or griot, to keep the stories alive," said Power. "D.J. Reborn and I have this kind of relationship. She is an amazing energy on-stage." Combined with this musical muse's inspiring presence, Power tells a narrative-cum-autobiography using ancient rhythms and words to take the technique of sampling to his own new level.

Power's lecture and "Flow" will both take place in Wright Theatre, on Sept. 26 and 27 respectivel.