Mwalim
Encyclopedia
Mwalim is a subcultural icon and highly influential performing artist, writer, filmmaker, and educator.
An often quoted and well respected professor of English and African/ African American
Studies at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
. Author, playwright, pianist, composer, conductor, director, producer, editor, and essayist are a few of the titles born by this artist. Born to a West Indian American (Barbados) mother and Mashpee Wampanoag father, Mwalim grew up in both the Northeast Bronx and Mashpee, Massachusetts
.
Raised with opportunities and experiences in the performing arts, he studied music, initially with the viola, and moved on to piano. As a student at Music & Art High School, he studied jazz
composition with Justin Diccoccio as well as his grandfather, noted pianist, band leader and arranger of the 1920-60s, Allan Nurse. At the same time he discovered a talent for short story writing, where he began winning school, regional, and city-wide competitions for his stories. He went on to major in music composition and history at Boston University, where he became a part of the city's bustling live music scene, doing tenure as an intern and session musician at various recording studios around the city. He also became a part of the college's Black Drama Collective as a stage band musician and sketch writer. Here he came to the attention of James Spruill, noted Black Arts Movement theater artist and Boston University professor of theater arts; as well as the co-founder of New African Company. Mwalim joined New African Company in 1991, where he received his formal training in theater arts and management from Spruill and his wife, playwright, Lynda Patton.
As a filmmaker, a lot of his projects consisted of producing experimental shorts for museum and gallery installations, combining music and spoken-word with visual images, as well as his freelance work as an editor for various production companies throughout the country.
His award-winning one-man show A Party at the Crossroads is subtitled the tales and adventures of a Black Indian growing up in a Jewish neighborhood, has been presented at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Connecticut
and as a part of the Indian Summer series at the American Indian Community House in New York City
. His performance piece, based on memories of Mashpee of the past, "Backwoods People" was presented at the 1999 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, NC. His romantic comedy, Working Things Out was a hit at the 2005 festival. Mwalim is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Oversoul Theatre Collective, a professional Black and Native American arts and education organization formed in 1994.
Considered a leading voice in the new generation of artists, taking their cues from the artists of the Black Arts Movement. Defining this generation as the "Urban Expressionists" in his essay of the same title, appears in the on-line E-zine, NAT CREOLE(http://www.natcreole.com/no14.htm#feature3) and CHICKENBONES http://www.nathanielturner.com/urbanexpressionismmwalim.htm). The larger body of his work demonstrates his roots in absurdism, making him a part of the Afroxcentrics Movement which includes such contemporary dramatists as John Adekoje, Ed Bullins, Frank Shefton, and Merci Belle. After several years of having his plays produced around the country, Mwalim earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in July 2006. His focus was playwriting, where he studied under the award-winning and legendary playwright, Leslie Lee. His thesis project is entitled Wetu In The City the story of a tribe of Black Indians whose territory was once the entire Bronx, now reduced to a triple-square block in the South Bronx which a real estate develop is now trying to take out from under them.
Mwalim is still actively engaged in music, theater, and film. His plays are regularly produced and presented throughout the country. He was recently named Filmmaker-In-Residence by WGBH, Bostons PBS television station. He will be the residency programs first narrative filmmaker, where he will be producing a film adaptation of Look At My Shorts, a collection of Mwalim's short plays exploring contemporary Black Indian experiences in Massachusetts. His album Bronx Jazz is due for release in early 2007. He is a professor of English and African/ African American Studies at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he teaches courses in drama, digital filmmaking, and Black Aesthetics & Folklore, with a strong emphasis of the roots of Hip-hop culture, the Black Arts Movement
, and the Harlem Renaissance
.
An often quoted and well respected professor of English and African/ African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
Studies at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is one of five campuses and operating subdivisions of the University of Massachusetts . It is located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States, in the center of the South Coast region, between the cities of New Bedford to the east and Fall River...
. Author, playwright, pianist, composer, conductor, director, producer, editor, and essayist are a few of the titles born by this artist. Born to a West Indian American (Barbados) mother and Mashpee Wampanoag father, Mwalim grew up in both the Northeast Bronx and Mashpee, Massachusetts
Mashpee, Massachusetts
Mashpee is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,006 as of 2010.For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Mashpee, please see the articles on Mashpee Neck, Monomoscoy Island, New Seabury, Popponesset, Popponesset Island,...
.
Raised with opportunities and experiences in the performing arts, he studied music, initially with the viola, and moved on to piano. As a student at Music & Art High School, he studied 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...
composition with Justin Diccoccio as well as his grandfather, noted pianist, band leader and arranger of the 1920-60s, Allan Nurse. At the same time he discovered a talent for short story writing, where he began winning school, regional, and city-wide competitions for his stories. He went on to major in music composition and history at Boston University, where he became a part of the city's bustling live music scene, doing tenure as an intern and session musician at various recording studios around the city. He also became a part of the college's Black Drama Collective as a stage band musician and sketch writer. Here he came to the attention of James Spruill, noted Black Arts Movement theater artist and Boston University professor of theater arts; as well as the co-founder of New African Company. Mwalim joined New African Company in 1991, where he received his formal training in theater arts and management from Spruill and his wife, playwright, Lynda Patton.
As a filmmaker, a lot of his projects consisted of producing experimental shorts for museum and gallery installations, combining music and spoken-word with visual images, as well as his freelance work as an editor for various production companies throughout the country.
His award-winning one-man show A Party at the Crossroads is subtitled the tales and adventures of a Black Indian growing up in a Jewish neighborhood, has been presented at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and as a part of the Indian Summer series at the American Indian Community House in New York City
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...
. His performance piece, based on memories of Mashpee of the past, "Backwoods People" was presented at the 1999 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, NC. His romantic comedy, Working Things Out was a hit at the 2005 festival. Mwalim is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Oversoul Theatre Collective, a professional Black and Native American arts and education organization formed in 1994.
Considered a leading voice in the new generation of artists, taking their cues from the artists of the Black Arts Movement. Defining this generation as the "Urban Expressionists" in his essay of the same title, appears in the on-line E-zine, NAT CREOLE(http://www.natcreole.com/no14.htm#feature3) and CHICKENBONES http://www.nathanielturner.com/urbanexpressionismmwalim.htm). The larger body of his work demonstrates his roots in absurdism, making him a part of the Afroxcentrics Movement which includes such contemporary dramatists as John Adekoje, Ed Bullins, Frank Shefton, and Merci Belle. After several years of having his plays produced around the country, Mwalim earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in July 2006. His focus was playwriting, where he studied under the award-winning and legendary playwright, Leslie Lee. His thesis project is entitled Wetu In The City the story of a tribe of Black Indians whose territory was once the entire Bronx, now reduced to a triple-square block in the South Bronx which a real estate develop is now trying to take out from under them.
Mwalim is still actively engaged in music, theater, and film. His plays are regularly produced and presented throughout the country. He was recently named Filmmaker-In-Residence by WGBH, Bostons PBS television station. He will be the residency programs first narrative filmmaker, where he will be producing a film adaptation of Look At My Shorts, a collection of Mwalim's short plays exploring contemporary Black Indian experiences in Massachusetts. His album Bronx Jazz is due for release in early 2007. He is a professor of English and African/ African American Studies at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he teaches courses in drama, digital filmmaking, and Black Aesthetics & Folklore, with a strong emphasis of the roots of Hip-hop culture, the Black Arts Movement
Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement or BAM is the artistic branch of the Black Power movement. It was started in Harlem by writer and activist Amiri Baraka...
, and the Harlem Renaissance
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
.