By Lucy Levinson
On the night of Friday, February 4th, seniors Nysa Gandhi and Olamide Oyenusi welcomed a sold-out crowd to A Protest Through Performance. They shared that despite having raised concerns about the marginalization of students of color in the school’s performing arts programs and the school’s attempts to address some of these concerns as the upper school musical approached, these efforts ultimately failed due to a lack of racial diversity in the cast.
Gandhi continued, “this resulted in several performers dropping out and ultimately, the cancellation of the show. In its place, we urged the school, and specifically higher administration within the upper school to host a performing-arts showcase for its BIPOC students, but we were not able to agree on a production that both prioritized healing and acknowledged the flaws in our school’s performing arts program.”
So, students took matters into their own hands. They secured performers, created a budget, found a venue, and sought volunteers to provide technical, administrative, and art support.
The showcase itself was, simply put, a triumph. Held at Creative Alliance, a community performance space located in Highlandtown that strives to bring together artists and audiences from diverse backgrounds in the name of great art, the excitement amongst attendees was palpable from the moment they entered the venue. This energy only seemed to intensify as people proceeded into the gallery area.
The gallery featured photographs, paintings, and other forms of visual art, all contributed by BIPOC tri school students. With an incredible display of talent and skill, guests found it difficult to peel away and enter the theatre.
Before the commencement of the show, Oyenusi emphasized that “while the main focus of this performance is to uplift and highlight BIPOC performers, we are also actively peacefully protesting the prejudices within RPCS’s performing arts department and administration.” And then it began.
The showcase kicked off with several video performances, including a poem reading by Erin Hoskins. All the way from France, Hoskins prefaced her poem entitled “Lack,” which she wrote for Juneteenth of 2020: “I really want you to consider how relevant it was then, and how relevant it is now.”
There is not nearly enough page space for adequate appreciation of each brilliant performer, but in summation: this showcase was overcome with sublime poetry, enchanting music, and beautiful dance.
It would not be an exaggeration that the general consensus exuding from the crowd as we filed back into the gallery for intermission was awe. Perhaps not only in regard to the immense talent but also the degree to which details were attended. From Kendall Brown’s live painting during intermission to the paper programs: it was all excellent.
The performance concluded with an engrossing a capella rendition of “Put Your Records On,” sung by Nysa Gandhi, Olamide Oyenusi, and Kirsten Powell, and its subsequent standing ovation.
After a plethora of outstanding performances, and with every poet, dancer, singer, and contributor up on stage, Gandhi and Oyenusi left the audience with some final remarks.
“Despite our institutions telling us that we are not good enough, we deserve to and are capable of shining on stage just as much as our white peers. With all the effort that went into preparing for this beautiful show, we hope to open further dialogues revolving around the work that our schools need to do in making the arts a safe space for people of color.”
They continued that after having exceeded the original fundraising goal by over two thousand dollars, the showcase decided to donate the remaining funds to various arts organizations in Baltimore, including Baltimore Youth Arts, the Asian Arts and Culture Center at Towson University, and Creative Alliance.
In what feels like the peak atop a mountain of achievement, Gandhi stated, “Lastly, we have decided to donate our final $500 to ensure that our legacies continue on as we venture on to college next year. We plan to do our part to make sure that the RPCS community lives up to its anti-racism statement by providing funding to further establish artistic engagement for its students of color…We hope that by providing this funding, we can begin to shift the focus of our arts programs to a multicultural and more inclusive environment.”
This showcase was, again, entirely student-led. One of those students was the senior class president at RPCS, Sydney Sauls, who worked nonstop for months coordinating the logistics of the showcase and was ultimately an integral factor to the fruition and success of the night in every domain.
Upon reflection, Sauls shared, “I think the most important thing that came out of this protest was just the immense amount of joy. So many people came up to us after the protest and said it was the most amount that they had smiled in a long time, and that really did something. It really amplified the message that while this was about spreading black joy and joy of people of color, it showed that by amplifying and highlighting those people, you can bring joy and healing to others as well.”
Performers: BCC Knight Illusions, Nysa Gandhi, Olamide Oyenusi, Erin Hoskins, Isabel McFarland, Mily Jenkins, Makenzie Pridgen, Samiyah Norris, Blessing Darden, Caroline Knight, Curtis Lawson, Yiyun Li, Meilin Yuan, Austin Lansey, Laila Carroll, Armaan Uppal, Kenna Mitchell, Salma Badr, Krisha Gandhi, Amani Shannon, Zavier Richardson, Trinity Bristol, Chloe Miranda, Mekhi Lee, Kirsten Powell
Visual Artists: Jayden Barksdale, Kendall Brown, Christina Christie, Allison Cox, Madi Hayes, Zuri Hurley, Grayson Mickel, Micheal Morfaw, Kaisha Snowden, Ellis Thompson, Katie Zhu
Technical Team: Alayna Nwadike, Charlotte Corcoran, Daniela Roberts, Eli Asiedu, Ellen Salovaara, Kayla Norris, Lily Milstone, Adam Cooke, Natasha Tylea
Production Team: Nysa Gandhi, Zuri Hurley, Olamide Oyenusi, Sydney Sauls, Charlotte Corcoran.
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