‘Potpourri’ to mix black art styles, history

Though the semester is slowing down, it’s time to wake up and smell the “Potpourri of the Arts.”

The African American Choral Ensemble, African American Dance Company and IU Soul Revue will take the stage for the African American Arts Institute’s 16th-annual “A Potpourri of the Arts in the African American Tradition” concert 8 p.m. Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.   The theme for this year is “Above and Beyond.”

The three groups, which are supported by the Institute, will perform various kinds of music and dances representative of the African American and African Diaspora. The choral ensemble will open with a selection of spirituals and gospels, followed by the dance company with African Style dances and IU Soul Revue will perform with soul and pop music featuring songs from different decades.

“There will be a wide palette of things to see and hear which substantiate the African experience,” said Charles Sykes, the institute’s executive director. “There will be moments when you stand and move and moments more subtle that you contemplate.”

The AAAI offers academic credit and performing experiences to all students involved in the three groups. Students can also become involved in arts management and teaching through the program.

Iris Rosa, the African American Dance Company director, said the audience should be prepared for qualified performances.

“We thrive to professionalize our product,” Rosa said. “What audiences are going to see on stage will not be a recital – it will be a concert-quality performance,” she said.

Sykes said he believes that performing at the BCT offers an accessibility to the community that could be missed by performing on campus and that there is trade off when the AAAI and the community meet.

“Bloomington is fortunate to have an institute here and see these type of performances live,” Sykes said. “And we’re fortunate to be a part of an artistically rich area,” he said.

Although the BCT stage will be filled with African and African American music and dance from many generations, the variations are unified by the history.

“This is the only opportunity that is regularly scheduled to bring together all of the groups,” Sykes said. “When you have a program like this, you find threads that tie them together. The thread here is African heritage.”