SPARK! 13th Annual Visions and Voices Kickoff
Featuring Love Heals All Wounds by Movement Art Is, with Robin Sanders and Guest Movement Artists
Opening Performance by National Poetry Slam Champion Javon Johnson

Reception and Post-Show Dance Party with DJ Duo Urban Assault to Follow

ADMISSION:
Admission is free and open to USC students only. Line up and get a wristband at the event check-in on Trousdale Parkway in front of Bovard Auditorium. Wristbands, shirts, and bags will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. Arrive early!

DESCRIPTION:
Kick off the 2018–19 academic year and the 13th season of Visions and Voices at SPARK!, featuring the socially engaged dance and poetry of Love Heals All Wounds. The evening will open with an electrifying spoken word performance by two-time National Poetry Slam Champion Javon Johnson. Then, dancer/choreographers Lil Buck and Jon Boogz—together known as MAI (Movement Art Is)—will take you on a journey to explore our shared consciousness around issues such as climate change, mass incarceration, and immigration through popping, jookin, and spoken word by Robin Sanders. Love Heals All Wounds employs street dance and political theatre to shed light on the challenges we face as a global community while inspiring us to create change. After the show, stick around for a dance party and reception featuring DJs Urban Assault (aka Faust and Shortee). The event will also include a welcome by Provost Michael Quick. Plus, attendees will receive free Visions and Voices T-shirts and bags.

Bios:
Award-winning spoken-word/slam poet Javon Johnson is the author of the new book Killing Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities. Formerly a postdoctoral fellow in American studies and ethnicity at USC, Johnson is currently a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube)

Movement Art Is (MAI), co-founded by Jon Boogz and Lil Buck, uses movement artistry to inspire and change the world while elevating the artistic, educational, and social impact of dance. Through movement-art films, workshops, performances, and exhibitions, MAI is redefining dance and its role in social movements. (Facebook)

Robin Sanders is a performing artist, educator, and the founder and director of Out Loud Artistry (OLA), a performing-arts training and mentorship program. Her spoken-word works include An Ode to Hip Hop and See What I’m Saying.

Urban Assault (aka Faust and Shortee) specializes in dubstep, drum and bass, drumstep, electro house, and much more. Faust was ranked as one of the top five turntablists in the world by SPIN, and Shortee has been described as “the world’s premiere female DJ” by the Grammy Foundation. (Facebook, Soundcloud, Twitter, YouTube)

Additional Links:
Jon Boogz | Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Lil Buck | Official website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
GOODFEST: Jon Boogz live at Ace Theater, Los Angeles (Video) 
TED Performance: A Dance to Honor Mother Earth (Video)
The New York Times: "Jookin: Lil Buck's Dance in the Spotlight" (Video)
The New York Times: "Lil Buck and Jon Boogz Dancing to Improve the World" (Feature on Love Heals All Wounds)

Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative. Co-sponsored by USC Residential Education.

Photo: Tim Salaz