Word
Weavers is one of the first spoken word poetry shows to fully
integrate a wide variety of artists. Modern dance, live music,
vocals, beat-boxing, set design, lighting, choreography all play a
role making Word Weavers a unique and fully realized multi-sensory
experience.
Though Kinetic Affect’s poetry alone stands strong, the collaboration with other artists heightens the feeling of each piece and helps to make Word Weavers a truly genre defining performance.
A thanks goes out to all those artists who have collaborated with us in the past and who continue to work with us today.
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JAMAL
LARKINS
grew up in Grand Rapids and while attending a private
Catholic school learned how to walk long distances on his hands. His
uncanny ability for balance is also evident in his superior singing
talent. A home-grown vocalist highly influenced by Hip Hop, Jamal
began his singing career in Detroit with a band called the Gorilla
Funk Mob and took part in the Detroit Electronic Music Festival.
Currently working to complete his first major solo project before
the age of 30, Jamal spends endless hours volunteering his time
working with youth and inspiring them in their artistic endeavors.
Having worked with Gabriel Giron and Kirk Latimer previously in more
intimate environments, Jamal looks forward to reaching a wider
audience and challenging himself to write and sing vocals that
complement Kinetic Affect. |
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MICHAEL
MILLER,
Wellspring's Artistic Associate, has been teaching, choreographing
and performing with Wellspring since 1991. He began his movement
studies as a competitive gymnast in Royal Oak and went on to explore
music and dance at Western Michigan University. He taught Modern and
Jazz Dance technique at WMU from 1992-2000. Michael has received two
Emerging Artist Grants from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.
Since 1991, he has been working with Wendy Rogers, a well known
choreographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. The current project
with Wendy is a four-year sight specific work studying the
architecture of Julia Morgan. The piece will be performed in San
Francisco and New York City in the near future. |
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LEVI STRICKLAND,
a member of Kalamazoo’s unique modern music quartet,
Blue Dahlia, started with Ska in his first band, Tom Collins and
the Cocktail Shakers, releasing his first recording, Pick it Up.
He then moved to heavy world beat music, playing with West
African musician Nathan Njinhrina in his West Michigan band,
Yoroka. Levi helped Yoroka produce the successful album, The
Road is Long. In 2000, he released another self-titled album
with the Kalamazoo-based, Pound and Beers. Strickland is
influenced by jazz, a broad array of traditional music and
deep-pocket-snap-your-backbone funk, including Jaco,
Marcus Miller, Joni Mitchell, Bela Fleck, and Miles Davis. Among
his other talents, Levi is a webmaster and owner of Better Geek,
LLC, an information technology company. |
