Soul Rhythms Takes Its First Step

by Rodney Veal, Artistic Director of Soul Rhythms

[Here Rodney writes about the beginnings of the Culture Build Community Residency Project for 2012. Soul Rhythms will be a local expression of the global art of foot percussion, and exploration around the idea of migration. As the largest project to date, CBC charts new territory this year, investing in all five Neighborhood School Centers, multiple local artists, a new partnership with Muse Machine and deep commitment to the Welcome Dayton Initiative, celebrating our immigrant-friendly city! Together, we will travel land and heart through music and dance!]

 

Greetings!

As in all of life’s journeys taking that first step is always the hardest. I am incredibly excited and honored to be a part of this incredible production of “ Soul Rhythms.” I am acting in the capacity of director, but also as a diarist in documenting how this artistic endeavor develops over the course of the next several months.

In my role as Artistic Director I will be helping to shape and mold a show generated from all of the hard work and artistic output from an army of incredible people. They come from all walks of life and from all corners of the globe. In the coming months I will have a front row seat to the creative process and with this blog I will share those moments of discovery and the artistic process that I will be fortunate enough to observe, delivering insights into what it takes to mount a production of this scale in Dayton, Ohio.

The underlying theme of the show is “Migration” which is absolutely fitting. We are all about to embark on a voyage of discovery that will conclude with not only an entertaining show, but also a show that informs us about the incandescent joy of being alive. It truly does not get any better than that.