UNIVERSES
| Universes | |
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| General Information | |
| Name | UNIVERSES |
| Type | Poetic Musical Theater Ensemble |
| Year Founded | 1995 |
| Members | Steven Sapp Mildred Ruiz Gamal Abdel Chasten William Ruiz (a.k.a. Ninja) |
| Location | New York City, New York, United States (Bronx, NY & Lower East Side - L.E.S) |
| Website | www.universesonstage.com/ |
Universes (stylized UNIVERSES) is a New York-based American ensemble company of multi-disciplined writers and performers who fuse poetry, theater, jazz, hip hop, politics, down home blues and Spanish boleros to create what has been described as moving, challenging and entertaining theatrical works. The group, with four core members, breaks traditional theatrical bounds to create its own brand of theater.
Founded in New York in 1995, the members of Universes came together in the urban poetry scene of the late 1990s. Through sessions at the New York Theatre Workshop they have developed from a revue format to mounting fully fledged theater pieces. They have performed at venues throughout the United States and toured extensively world-wide.
In early 1995, while collaborating at The Point CDC and frequenting the NuYorican Poets Cafe, a group of poets decided to perform together, something which had happened before on separate occasions but with different players. This night it would be Steven Sapp, Flaco Navaja, Caridad de la Luz and Hector Luis Rivera (Mildred was present but performed a song separately that night). In planning for this performance, the group decided that they should give themselves a name. They went through several ideas for several hours and at the end of the night gave up and decided to use the last name given by Hector Luis Rivera, "UNIVERSES from the BronxSide". The poets each read poems in tandem but managed to link them in subject matter. After that "one night only" performance, Hector continued his work with The Welfare Poets and the rest of the group, including Mildred, decided to evolve the company incorporating music and theater. Paul Jonathan Thompson (Trumpet) joined the company soon after as did Angel Rodriguez (Percussion). The company was featured at WORD LIFE (Irvin Plaza) on February 8, 1997. Introduced by Felipe Luciano (formerly of the Young Lords Party) the company opened the show.
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Wikipedia