The last slam was SOOOO fresh! Well, here comes an another one. On May 31st at 7pm, Salt City Slam will be hosting the 2nd slam in our series! The cover for the night is only $5 (Only$5). You will get:

-Great Poetry!
-Free Door Prizes
-Inspiration
-Networking

Who will win the night?!

Featuring Arthur Flowers, Syracuse University professor, award winning writer, griot, and performance poet. Flowers will have an electrifying performance guaranteed!!!

$5 COVER!*

*All funds go to paying for future artists,venue space, and administrative costs. SC Slam is a volunteer org under the umbrella of the Underground Poetry Spot and Poets, a poetry collective.

Come Support Syracuse Art!

The slam will take place at 7pm, May 31st, Art Rage Gallery:

505 Hawley Avenue. Syracuse, NY

Wanna slam, got questions, want pre-tickets: slamsaltcity@gmail.com

Underground Poetry Spot’s next open mic:

Blame It on the Poetry, Sex, and Alcohol!

This is a night for all the freaky poets, we know you’ve all been patiently waiting for this! It’s for a mature audience only, so bring your freakiest pieces. Open Mic All Night!

The Warehouse Gallery
Thursday, May 17th at 7:00pm.

-Open Mic is back on the first and third Thursdays of the month at the Warehouse!

-Salt City Slam II will be here May 31st.

-Mic tha Poet and Rae Sunshine are headed to the BNIPS slam in Buffalo in June.

The night started with Seneca Wilson, the host for the night, doing a short poem and welcoming everyone to the first Salt City Slam Series.

The lights were dimmed with two spotlights hitting the stage setting the mood for a great show. We felt the energy in the room with every seat filled and many people standing in the back. It was a packed house. Then, Seneca brought up the first of three tablers to speak on the behalf of their organization or cause, Partnership for Onondaga Creek. The Partnership for Onondaga Creek teaches about and prepares low-income communities for jobs within Green Infrastructure and making the water and environment in and along Onondaga Creek meets the highest standards. For more inform contact Aggie, 478-4571.

Next, Seneca explained the rules of the slam “The slam will consist of 8 slammers, 3 rounds with 4 slammers advancing to the second round and 2 slammers facing off in the final round. Once we have picked the slammers, the slammers will go in the order they were picked 1-8. The second round will go in the reverse order 4-1, and the final 2 will face off with a flip of a coin.”, and then he called up a random audience member to pick the slammers out of a cup to see what order they will perform. The order was (first to last) Stephanie, Janelle, Emily, Mic tha Poet, OTS, Words, La Steph, and Owl. Before the slam started, Mozart (Salt City Slam project manager) picked five random judges to give scores to the 8 slammers. Seneca explained, “The judges will give each poem a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest or “perfect” score. They will be encouraged to use one decimal place in order to preclude the likelihood of a tie. Each poem will get five scores. The high and the low scores will be dropped and the remaining three scores will be added together. Scores will be based on originality, content, stage presence, crowd reaction, and delivery.” Yaya participated as the sacrificial poet to give the judges practice before they had to score the slammers.

First Round:
Stephanie – 26.3
Janelle – 28
Emily – 28.7
Mic Tha Poet – 29.5
OTS – 27.6
Words – 27.8
La Steph – 26.7
Owl – 25

It was a great first round with Janelle, Emily, Mic Tha Poet, and Words advancing to the second round. While the scores were tallied up, Seneca called up another tabler, Syracuse Habitat for Humanity: Women Build, allowing them to speak about their cause. Women Build is a non-profit ecumenical agency whose mission is to eliminate substandard housing in the world. Women and girls as young as 10-12 years old are taught and included in the building process. Brenda Muhammad | E:Womenbuild@syracusehabitat.org | P:315.422.2230.

Next, the host introduced the first of two features of the night, Black Man Preach.
Cedric Bolton joined the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Syracuse University from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities where he was an Educational Specialist in the African American Learning Resource Center. He chairs the Black History Month committee, instructs a premiere spoken word poetry program, Verbal Blend, and facilitates the Black Men’s and Women’s Think Tank. He has brought a host of National talent to Syracuse through Verbal Blend Poetry Program and Nu Rho Poetic Society. Cedric, a native of Paterson, New Jersey and alum of Western Washington University, currently resides in Syracuse, New York with his wife. Dr. Gwendolyn D. Pough, professor and author.

Second Round:
Words – 28.9
Mic Tha Poet – 30
Emily – 29.3
Janelle – 28.8

It was another great round with Mic Tha Poet and Emily facing off for the finals. Between the rounds, Seneca called up the last tabler, K.A.M Delights. Designed Cup cakes, chocolate covered treats and fruits and baskets for special occasions delivering within a 30mile radius! Sweet Owner, sweeter treats. Be sure to “like” Sweet KAM Delights www.facebook.com/Sweet-KamDelights

Also, the last feature was introduced, Crystal Leigh. Crystal Leigh Endsley, is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in Africana Studies at Hamilton College from Penn State’s Women’s Studies Department where she also served as Interim Assistant Director for the Paul Robeson Cultural Center. Endsley originally hails from Louisiana and Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is internationally recognized as a spoken word artist, activist, and actor, performing and presenting workshops and lectures both in the United States and abroad. Her performances and current research focus on issues of performance and identity and the ways they intersect with feminist pedagogy, race, and popular culture.

Before the third round, the host flipped a coin to see who was going first. Emily won the toss and decided to go first.

Third Round:
Emily – 29.8
Mic Tha Poet – 30

It was a very close round with Mic Tha Poet becoming the first Slat City Slam Champion. Congrats Mic Tha Poet! Mic Tha Poet will come back in September to compete for the overall Salt City Slam Champion. Below please see the winning performance. Next Slam will be May 31, 2012.

Underground Poets Mozart Guerrier and Seneca Wilson presented at the Salt City Dishes and won a $1,000 for the Underground Poets to put on a series of poetry slams called the “Syracuse Salt City Slam” at ArtRage Gallery!

The competition essentially seeks to register Syracuse as a nationally recognized poetry slam venue and send local poets to compete in annual international and national slam competitions.

The event info is as follows:
- April 19: Underground Poetry Spot’s Syracuse Salt City Slam
- Featuring Blackman Preach and Crystal Endsley
- 505 Hawley Avenue at Art Rage Gallery
- Free to the Public

Here are the official Syracuse Salt City Slam Rules:

Slammers
1. There will be a sign up list for anyone who wants to participate in the slam. The sign-up list will end at 7:30pm. All of the names will be placed in a hat and randomly picked by an audience member. The slam will consist of 8 slammers, 3 rounds with 4 slammers advancing to the second round and 2 slammers facing off in the final round. Once we have picked the slammers, the slammers will go in the order they were picked 1-8. The second round will go in the reverse order 4-1, and the final 2 will face off with a flip of a coin.

Performance
1. Poems can be on any subject and in any style.
2. Each poet must perform work that s/he created (original work).
3. No props.
4. No musical instruments or pre-recorded music.
5. No costumes.

The Three-Minute Rule
No performance should last longer than three minutes. The time begins when the performance begins. After three minutes, there is a 10-second grace period (up to and including 3:10:00). Starting at 3:10:01, a penalty is automatically deducted from each poet’s overall score according to the following schedule:

3:10 and under no penalty
3:10:001 – 3:20 -0.5
3:20:001 – 3:30 -1.0
3:30:001 – 3:40 -1.5
3:40:001 – 3:50 -2.0
and so on [-0.5 for every 10 seconds over 3:10]

Judges
The judges will give each poem a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest or “perfect” score. They will be encouraged to use one decimal place in order to preclude the likelihood of a tie. Each poem will get five scores. The high and the low scores will be dropped and the remaining three scores will be added together. Scores will be based on originality, content, stage presence, crowd reaction, and delivery.

Emcees
The emcee will announce to the audience each poet’s name. He/she will also require that all judges hold their scores up at the same time and no judge changes his or her score after it is up.

-Portions of these rules were taken from the National Poetry Slam Rules and revised for the Syracuse Salt City Slam

Please join the Facebook event page!

For more information contact slamsaltcity@gmail.com

Hosted by the Underground Poets and sponsored by Salt City Dishes.

Below is a performance by Blackman Preach:

And here is the other featured poet, Crystal Endsley:

Hope to see you there!

You’ve seen her in Tyler Perry Movie “Madea Goes to Jail”, The Monique Show, HBO Def Poetry, BET Lyric Cafe, Broadway and now come see a leading artist in the poetry genre of spoken word, Georgia Me. She is an International Poet who has performed all over the Globe! Join us for this special night and for our monthly open mic afterwards.

The show is at Artrage Gallery, 505 Hawley Avenue Syracuse, NY and starts 7:30pm on Thursday, April 26, 2012. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

Buy Tickets Here:

Creative partners include SU’s Photography and Literacy Project, (PAL) headed by Stephen Mahan, who teaches SU students to interact with Syracuse City school students; Renaissance music and dance group Bells and Motley; the Syracuse English Country Dancers; musical act Ben de la Garza Bassett; choreographer Erin Reid and My Fusion Flow dance troupe; filmmaker Amy Doherty and local poets from the Underground Poetry Spot- Seneca Wilson, Rae of Sunshine, Mozart Guerrier and Lanika Mabrey. In addition graphics, photography and videos are being provided by SU’s Newhouse students, Angela Laurello and Stephanie Keefe, through the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service.

Conceived and directed by SSF’s executive director Ronnie Bell. Original music by Ben de la Garza Bassett, John Bromka, Sondra Bromka, Mercury in the Derby, Steve Orlando and Bob Reid. Book by SSF’s producing artistic director Jamie Bruno. Starring Jennifer Byrne and Trevor Hill as the opposing attorneys and featuring the duos of Sarah Constable & Thad Striffler and Sarah Bradstreet & Aaron Alexander as the Love Chorus and Time Chorus, respectively.

The Gifford Foundation and the Boards of the Syracuse Shakespeare Festival have generously provided funding for the project. The Community Arts Program at Syracuse University graciously gives continuing in-kind support.

Show Dates: Fri/Sat Apr. 13, 14, 20 & 21, 7:30 p.m. & Sun. Apr. 15 & 22, 2012, 2 p.m.

All performances are in SU’s Warehouse Theater, 350 W. Fayette St, Syracuse, NY 13202 @ the threshold of Armory Square, enter on Washington St.

TICKETS: General admission= $12
Seniors (62+) and Students= $10
SU students/faculty/staff/alumni & Groups of 12 or more = $5
LIMTED SEATING:(Six rows of 14 each, naturally) Don’t Miss Out!
Get tickets @ TicketLeap.com

FREE parking available in SU’s Warehouse lot on Washington St. (less)

Restrictions:
Following your purchase, Friends of SSF, please call 315-476-1835 to reserve your seat location.

If you like to listen, it’s Free. If you like to share, it’s worth it. If you like to slam, GET ON.
When you hear your poets on the air, call in CUSE

The Hottest Poetry Open Mic in Syracuse, Underground Poetry Spot, presents the lovely Georgia Me

You’ve seen her in Tyler Perry Movie “Madea Goes to Jail”, The Monique Show, HBO Def Poetry, BET Lyric Cafe, Broadway and now come see a leading artist in the poetry genre of spoken word, Georgia Me. She is an International Poet who has performed all over the Globe! Join us for this special night and for a feature of some of the best poets in Central New York

Buy Tickets Here:

Tickets will be at the door.

Powerful performance by Georgia Me:

Pay only $12 for this powerful performer:

Tickets will be at the door.

Her group Underground Poetry Spot will be performing a full show later this month at Art Rage Gallery.

When a Poet’s Fed Up « Syracuse in focus (SIF)