This was going to be a rejuvenating weekend.

The VERBALISMS crew arrived a day early and was treated to a final rehearsal from The Central Touring Theatre (CTT), a performance group made up of juniors and seniors from Minneapolis High School.

Five minutes into the rehearsal I was moved to tears when I realized the students of CTT were taking good care of my culture. Watching how they embraced every word, calculated every move and captured every element, I knew I no longer had to worry about the history of hip-hop. This sixth, seventh or eighth generations of hip-hop were taking good care of my mother. This was even more evident when I heard a couple of the girls discussing the popularity of Jennifer Lopez. “What if J. Lo didn’t have a butt?” one girl asked. “She wouldn’t be famous,” another responded.

The students, all part of the Advanced Acting Class, a two-hour course that meets Monday – Friday, create performances (under the direction of their teacher Jan Mandell) that tackle various social issues including safe sex and racism.

They collaborate on all the writing, directing and producing of each piece and make sure to incorporate suggestions from every member. Throughout the rehearsal, it was not uncommon to hear someone suggest a change or enhancement to the multimedia piece they created for the B-Girl Be Summit, if something did not work or “feel right”.

“When she stops scratching, bring in that beat. That’s dope,” says Leah Nelson, B-Girl Be Dance Curator, to a surprised Eric Griffin, who was banging on a box but didn’t realize he was tapping out a beat that was a perfect fit with a clip of DJ Symphony from the film Nobody Knows My Name, that was rolling overhead.

CTT is a diverse group of ethnicities and encompasses both young men and women. Not all the students consider themselves part of hip-hop culture, however their participation in B-Girl Be and their interpretation of hip-hop, through their theatre production, reassures me that hip-hop is going to be in good hands for many years to come.

Originally published in VERBALISMS Magazine on 2 June 2005.