Universes (poetic theatre ensemble)
Encyclopedia
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 1996, 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.
, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp
, Gamal Abdel Chasten
and William Ruiz
(a.k.a- Ninja).
The company's work transitioned from a revue format to fully fledged theatrical pieces under the direction of Jo Bonney at the New York Theatre Workshop, where they presented their first major show, Slanguage in 2001. Originally written and performed by UNIVERSES (Steven, Mildred, Gamal, Flaco Navaja and Lemon Andersen, Slanguage evolved from a work entitled U, first presented at Performance Space 122
in 1999, and then was developed via workshops and performances at the Mark Taper Forum
, Los Angeles
, and New World Theatre at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
. This was followed by Rhythmicity: Flipping the Script, created in collaboration with UNIVERSES (Steven, Mildred, Gamal), Reg.e.gaines, Rha Goddess
, Willie Perdomo
and Regie Cabico
, featured at the Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays
in 2003; Steven Sapp and Mildred Ruiz-Sapp’s "Eyewitness Blues" directed by Talvin Wilks at New York Theatre Workshop
(later redeveloped as "Blue Suite" under the direction of Chay Yew
for Gala Hispanic Theater and The Goodman Theatre; and Gamal Chasten’s The Last Word, premièred at Performance Space 122
.
In 2008, Universes toured to Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Romania, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as part of the United States Department of State
's “Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad” program through Jazz at Lincoln Center
, performing a variety of pieces including New Orleans, Mahalia, Freedom Suite, Don't Front and Junior Calling. UNIVERSES premièred Ameriville (Created by: Steven, Mildred, Gamal and Ninja (William Ruiz)), a work examining the United States through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
at the Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays
in 2009 and toured with it throughout America.
In 2010 UNIVERSES' Anthology, entitled The Big Bang: Plays, Poetry and Process will be published by Theatre Communications Group
(TCG Books) and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
has commissioned the company to produce a new work for their "American Revolutions: U.S. History Cycle" project.
EARLIER HISTORY
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.
After this, some of company members then traveled to Poland within a larger group of actors from THE POINT's Live from The Edge Theater under the leadership of Steven and Mildred to collaborate in a production of Alfred Jarry's UBU under the direction of Steven Sapp in collaboration with Teatre Ploski. Caridad de la Luz began to pursue her solo career soon thereafter. On March 22, 1997 Universes from the Bronxside was invited to perform at a fundraiser event at El Puente
(Brooklyn, NY) called Lemon+Aid to help Lemon Andersen, who was then imprisoned, after his release. Steven, Mildred, Flaco & Caridad and Paul performed that night. Once Lemon was released and saw the fundraiser video tape, he visited UNIVERSES at The Point to meet them. Soon thereafter, Lemon joined the company and after seeing some of the theatrical performances Steven and Mildred had created at Bard College in 1989 (namely, "Purgatory") he was onboard with the idea that the company should shift into a more theatrical ensemble .
Universes was creating 10-15 minute vignettes which incorporated Poetry, Music, Theater and movement. As the company grew in name recognition, Lemon, who was from brooklyn, asked if the company could drop "from the Bronxside", The company agreed, in an effort to be more inclusive and more "universal". After that, UNIVERSES invited Gamal Abdel Chasten to join the company. Gamal was also a poet in the NYC scene and complimented UNIVERSES storytelling and musical styles. Lois Griffith of The NuYorican Poets Cafe invited UNIVERSES for a dull evening of work. Before then, Universes would only perform 10-15 vignettes at venues. This would be the first of UNIVERSES' full length works. It had no title, and included some of the companies already polished pieces and some new works. Universes then decided that they would work on their 1st play ... "The Ride".
----
Past collaborating members of UNIVERSES include (in order of appearance): Flaco Navaja, Caridad de la Luz
, Paul J. Thompson, Angel Rodriguez
, Lemon Andersen, Carlos Pimentel, Antoine Drey, Maurice Turner.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune said of Ameriville, "In urban planning terms, "Ameriville" is a high-density block. Under the direction of Chay Yew, a torrent of characters, words, movement and song issued from William "Ninja" Ruiz, Gamal Chasten, Steven Sapp and Mildred "Mils" Ruiz-Sapp. Their execution dazzled on multiple levels for 90 nonstop minutes. But the emotional payout was inconsistent, especially after the setting shifted from New Orleans." The Denver Post
suggested that most "effective are the scenes that are more personal than didactic, honest, first-person stories that address the underlying issues in a more tangential way: a man wonders who will carry on the traditions of the Carnival krewes, who will be the "Little Chiefs" if everyone goes away. A man in a barber shop reminisces about his mother's anger over a bad haircut. A Mardi Gras partyer sits on a curb trying to hold down the numerous hurricane cocktails he's consumed. It is these small, genuine moments from everyone's lives that paint the picture best."
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ensemble company of multi-disciplined writers and performers who fuse poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, theater
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, down home blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
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 1996, the members of Universes came together in the urban poetry scene of the late 1990s. Through sessions at the New York Theatre Workshop
New York Theatre Workshop
__notoc__New York Theatre Workshop is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a...
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.
Company history
Universes members all grew up in housing projects in New York City and starting performing poetry in the "thriving spoken-word scene" of the late 1990s, namely, The NuYorican Poets Cafe. Based out of The Bronx, NY, the company was born and raised of the artistic environment created by Steven Sapp and Mildred Ruiz, also co-founders of THE POINT Community Development Corporation (Hunts Point) in 1993. The Company was founded by Steven Sapp and Mildred Ruiz-Sapp and currently consists of four core members: Steven SappSteven Sapp
Born and raised in The South Bronx, Steven Sapp co-founded THE POINT Community Development Corporation in 1993 and Universes , both in collaboration with Mildred Ruiz-Sapp...
, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp
Mildred Ruiz-Sapp
Born and raised on The Lower East Side , Mildred Ruiz-Sapp co-founded THE POINT Community Development Corporation in 1993 and Universes , both in collaboration with Steven Sapp...
, Gamal Abdel Chasten
Gamal Abdel Chasten
Gamal Abdel Chasten was born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Gamal is a core member of Universes . Universes currently consists of four core members: Steven Sapp, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, Gamal Abdel Chasten and William Ruiz.-Theater Credits Include:*The Last Word*God took away his...
and William Ruiz
William Ruiz
Born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, William is a core member of Universes . Universes currently consists of four core members: Steven Sapp, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, Gamal Abdel Chasten and William Ruiz .-Theater Credits Include:*Ti-Jean Blues*Waiting for...
(a.k.a- Ninja).
The company's work transitioned from a revue format to fully fledged theatrical pieces under the direction of Jo Bonney at the New York Theatre Workshop, where they presented their first major show, Slanguage in 2001. Originally written and performed by UNIVERSES (Steven, Mildred, Gamal, Flaco Navaja and Lemon Andersen, Slanguage evolved from a work entitled U, first presented at Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...
in 1999, and then was developed via workshops and performances at the Mark Taper Forum
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and New World Theatre at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
. This was followed by Rhythmicity: Flipping the Script, created in collaboration with UNIVERSES (Steven, Mildred, Gamal), Reg.e.gaines, Rha Goddess
Rha Goddess
Rha Goddess is a hip-hop artist and playwright who coined the term "floetry" and independently released a solo album, Soulah Vibe, in 2000. Rha Goddess has collaborated with artists like Zulu Nation, The Last Poets, and Chuck D...
, Willie Perdomo
Willie Perdomo
-Overview:Willie Perdomo is a prize-winning Nuyorican poet and children's book author. He is the author of Where a Nickel Costs a Dime , Postcards of El Barrio , and Smoking Lovely , which received a PEN American Center Beyond Margins Award...
and Regie Cabico
Regie Cabico
Regie Cabico is a poet and spoken word artist. He has been featured on two seasons of Def Poetry Jam on HBO .Cabico is a critically acclaimed who has won top prizes in the 1993, 1994 and 1997 at National Poetry Slams. His poetry appears in over 30 anthologies including Aloud: Voices from the...
, featured at the Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays
Humana Festival of New American Plays
Humana Festival of New American Plays is an internationally renowned festival that celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this prestigious event showcases new theatrical works and draws producers, critics,...
in 2003; Steven Sapp and Mildred Ruiz-Sapp’s "Eyewitness Blues" directed by Talvin Wilks at New York Theatre Workshop
New York Theatre Workshop
__notoc__New York Theatre Workshop is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a...
(later redeveloped as "Blue Suite" under the direction of Chay Yew
Chay Yew
Chay Yew is a playwright and stage director who was born in Singapore. As of 2007 he lives in New York City. As of July 2011, he becomes Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago.-Career:...
for Gala Hispanic Theater and The Goodman Theatre; and Gamal Chasten’s The Last Word, premièred at Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...
.
In 2008, Universes toured to Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Romania, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as part of the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
's “Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad” program through Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. JALC's performing arts complex, Frederick P. Rose Hall, is located at West 60th Street and Broadway in New York City, slightly south of the main Lincoln Center campus and directly adjacent to Columbus Circle. Frederick P....
, performing a variety of pieces including New Orleans, Mahalia, Freedom Suite, Don't Front and Junior Calling. UNIVERSES premièred Ameriville (Created by: Steven, Mildred, Gamal and Ninja (William Ruiz)), a work examining the United States through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
at the Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays
Humana Festival of New American Plays
Humana Festival of New American Plays is an internationally renowned festival that celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this prestigious event showcases new theatrical works and draws producers, critics,...
in 2009 and toured with it throughout America.
In 2010 UNIVERSES' Anthology, entitled The Big Bang: Plays, Poetry and Process will be published by Theatre Communications Group
Theatre Communications Group
Theatre Communications Group is an organization dedicated to the promotion of non-profit professional theatre in the United States. TCG has over 450 member theatres located in 47 states; 17,000 individual members; and a growing number of University, Funder, Business and Trustee Affiliates...
(TCG Books) and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...
has commissioned the company to produce a new work for their "American Revolutions: U.S. History Cycle" project.
EARLIER HISTORY
In early 1995, while collaborating at The Point CDC and frequenting the NuYorican Poets Cafe
Nuyorican Poets Café
The Nuyorican Poets Café is a non-profit organization in Alphabet City, Manhattan. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican art movement in New York City, USA, and has become a forum for poetry, music, hip hop, video, visual arts, comedy and theatre.-History:...
, 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
The Welfare Poets
The Welfare Poets are an Afro-Caribbean Hip Hop band that was established in 1990 by Ray Ramirez and Hector Rivera at Cornell University. They have toured the United States, Puerto Rico, South America and across Europe...
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
Angel Rodriguez
Angel Rodriguez is a 2005 American TV film, that showed at the Toronto International Film Festival under the title Angel. HBO picked up the film and released it under the longer name both on their movie channel and on DVD.-Plot:...
(Percussion). The company was featured at WORD LIFE (Irvin Plaza) on February 8, 1997.
Introduced by Felipe Luciano
Felipe Luciano
Felipe Luciano is an American poet, community activist, journalist, media personality, and politician. He is of Puerto Rican heritage....
(formerly of the Young Lords Party) the company opened the show.
After this, some of company members then traveled to Poland within a larger group of actors from THE POINT's Live from The Edge Theater under the leadership of Steven and Mildred to collaborate in a production of Alfred Jarry's UBU under the direction of Steven Sapp in collaboration with Teatre Ploski. Caridad de la Luz began to pursue her solo career soon thereafter. On March 22, 1997 Universes from the Bronxside was invited to perform at a fundraiser event at El Puente
El Puente
El Puente, or the Parque Arqueológico El Puente , is a Maya archaeological site in the department of Copán in Honduras. Once an independent Maya city, the city of El Puente became a tributary to the nearby city of Copán between the 6th and 9th centuries AD...
(Brooklyn, NY) called Lemon+Aid to help Lemon Andersen, who was then imprisoned, after his release. Steven, Mildred, Flaco & Caridad and Paul performed that night. Once Lemon was released and saw the fundraiser video tape, he visited UNIVERSES at The Point to meet them. Soon thereafter, Lemon joined the company and after seeing some of the theatrical performances Steven and Mildred had created at Bard College in 1989 (namely, "Purgatory") he was onboard with the idea that the company should shift into a more theatrical ensemble .
Universes was creating 10-15 minute vignettes which incorporated Poetry, Music, Theater and movement. As the company grew in name recognition, Lemon, who was from brooklyn, asked if the company could drop "from the Bronxside", The company agreed, in an effort to be more inclusive and more "universal". After that, UNIVERSES invited Gamal Abdel Chasten to join the company. Gamal was also a poet in the NYC scene and complimented UNIVERSES storytelling and musical styles. Lois Griffith of The NuYorican Poets Cafe invited UNIVERSES for a dull evening of work. Before then, Universes would only perform 10-15 vignettes at venues. This would be the first of UNIVERSES' full length works. It had no title, and included some of the companies already polished pieces and some new works. Universes then decided that they would work on their 1st play ... "The Ride".
----
Past collaborating members of UNIVERSES include (in order of appearance): Flaco Navaja, Caridad de la Luz
Caridad de la Luz
Caridad De la Luz , a.k.a. "La Bruja" , is a poet, actress and activist.-Early years:De la Luz, whose parents moved to New York City from Puerto Rico, was born and raised in the South Bronx. There she also received her primary and secondary education...
, Paul J. Thompson, Angel Rodriguez
Angel Rodriguez
Angel Rodriguez is a 2005 American TV film, that showed at the Toronto International Film Festival under the title Angel. HBO picked up the film and released it under the longer name both on their movie channel and on DVD.-Plot:...
, Lemon Andersen, Carlos Pimentel, Antoine Drey, Maurice Turner.
Reception
The group has been generally well received by critics in the United States and further afield, although with some reservations. The Boston Herald, said of Slanguage that it "crackles with passion and street-smart humor. It's a linguistic fireworks display, and it's difficult not to be swept along with its percussive momentum and dazzling wordplay." The New York Times said, "Here, out of the mouths and clapping hands and dancing feet of five multitalented performers known collectively as Universes, comes the poetry of the city, minted in the urban furnace where the flint of real life strikes the sparks of creation from concrete pavement and steel tracks."The New Orleans Times-Picayune said of Ameriville, "In urban planning terms, "Ameriville" is a high-density block. Under the direction of Chay Yew, a torrent of characters, words, movement and song issued from William "Ninja" Ruiz, Gamal Chasten, Steven Sapp and Mildred "Mils" Ruiz-Sapp. Their execution dazzled on multiple levels for 90 nonstop minutes. But the emotional payout was inconsistent, especially after the setting shifted from New Orleans." The Denver Post
The Denver Post
-Ownership:The Post is the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews...
suggested that most "effective are the scenes that are more personal than didactic, honest, first-person stories that address the underlying issues in a more tangential way: a man wonders who will carry on the traditions of the Carnival krewes, who will be the "Little Chiefs" if everyone goes away. A man in a barber shop reminisces about his mother's anger over a bad haircut. A Mardi Gras partyer sits on a curb trying to hold down the numerous hurricane cocktails he's consumed. It is these small, genuine moments from everyone's lives that paint the picture best."
Works
- Live From the Edge
- Slanguage
- Blue Suite
- Ameriville
- The Last Word
- Rhythmicity: Flipping The Script
- One Shot In Lotus Position
- God Took Away His Poem
- 365 by Susan Lori Parks
- The Ride
- The Denver Project