Having Fun & Building Hope...

Left- ReadNex Poetry Squad having a good time with the new single "Be Different" on stage at Project Lodge in Madison, WI.







Right- Jarabe Del Sol and DJ H2O rocking the crowd with new track "Philosophia Musical" at Reggie's
in Chi-Town.

Bottom Left- Decora in front of the barred windows of Dane County Juvenile Detention Center...right before our workshop with their temporarily detained youth. We focused on hope and empowerment and working towards dreams. As we left the glimmers of new found hope could be clearly seen in their eyes

All about the people "la gente"

Left-Free showing love to the fans.

At the beginning and end of the day

it's all about the people.

Top Right- Latin creating love with mic and sound for the people of Reggie's in Chi-Town. This show was amazing!!! This tour all about rocking crowds and working with Youth/Youth Workers...it's just how we do.

Bottom Left-After our workshop with the youth of el Centro Hispano in Madison, Wisconsin. Here we focused on "building self to help build community".

Detained Youth and Smiles

You want to know what we've been up to...don't you. You're saying to yourself..."I wanna see some pics!". Well let me tell you...it's been amazing...and the pics are on the way.

We're currently leaving Madison, Wisconsin after spending 2 days here and driving in from Chicago. While there we rocked a spot called "Reggie's" and the crowd was off the chain. We even decided to stand on a few chairs while in the crowd...the energy was just right.

Though we were in Madison, WI for merely 2 days we empowered many. The first group was at el "Centro Hispano." There we worked with more than 30 youth (even some adults) and focused on methods of change in their communities. Many of them knew English as a second language but once again we demonstrated that hope and can love transcend linguistic boundaries. It also helped that most of us in the group are bilingual. In the end the youth could be seen smiling, laughing and walking with an air of empowerment. This after having learned new techniques to vent their thoughts and emotions. They also learned a few public speaking skills, the importance of history and more. After this workshop we headed to the "Dane County Juvenile Detention Center." Our hearts sank when we saw the cells these young teens had to spend much of their time in. Our love for poetry and education poured out through our words and turned parts of the workshop into a motivational powerhouse. The same youth (both boys and girls because the county can't afford to separate them) that greeted us with glares and distrust shook our hands, spoke eloquently, thanked us and smiled as all youth should. Not only were their minds filled with motivation and hope...our souls were filled with love and re-assurance of how important our work really is.

Last night we performed for an intimate crowd at "Project Lodge" and got to have a conversation with the audience. One audience member had been our waitress at the Weary Traveler (GREAT FOOD) the night before. We got to talk about the tour, our experiences in Madison, life in NY and other topics that arose from our pieces. We ended with an acappella version (technically as the sound was low and we spoke without mics) of our single and wrapped it all up with one of the funnest and entertaining freestyle sessions we've ever performed. I know...I know...just fly out if you're too far and check us out next time lol.

Leaving Chi-Town!

Last night we performed at a real cool venue in Chicago, IL. The venue was called Reggie's and we rocked the crowd there as well. I say as well because 15 minutes before we hit up an open mic at a High School and did a few poems along with our latest single "Be Different". Don't woooorrryy...it'll be released soon. We had the entire auditorium of youth chanting the chorus of the track. BE DIFFERENT!

Afterwards, Latin spoke to the youth about being themselves and following their dreams. It was a beautiful moment as we walked out of the auditorium while the children chanted our chorus again. In all of their eyes we saw a bit of us. We once sat and dreamt as others paved the way. Now we're truly blessed to be laying a foundation for our "young leaders of tomorrow". The next generation of pavers.

Hospitality

Last night we rocked for a great crowd at The Shadow Lounge in Pittsburgh, PA. The energy flowing from our microphones was fitting considering Valentines Day. All of the love seemed to be channeled into the performance. Not only did we have fun the crowd had a ball even repeating some of our choruses with us. People at the venue and even the venue's owner mentioned that they'd "unfortunately never seen anything like us" in the area before.

Prior to that one we'd performed at SUNY Dutchess for the beautiful students of the Poughkeepsie, NY college. Immediately after we drove back up to Troy, NY to facilitate a youth workshop and dance party for the youth at WK Doyle Middle School. Ohhh yeaah. Before all of this we rocked with the amazing "Dirty Little Boogie Band" up at Putnam Den in Saratoga Springs. These guys were wild! We had an hour long set and then performed along with them for about 4 hours straight! Break Dancing, spitting Poetry/Hip Hop, even singing at times. Wooweee! What a tour...

Right Brooklyn

Philharmonic Smart Arts

Program learning

how human brains works &

how to brainstorm

Above

El Puente Academy Youth
reading original

poetic piece

Above

WK Doyle Middle School 21St Century Program Youth writing about their emotions

Left

Brooklyn Philharmonic

Smart Arts Program Youth

engaged in expressive movement

Top Left Skidmore College Students

after ReadNex Poetry Squad Performance

Top Right El Puente Academy Learning

Turntabalism "Art of the DJ"

Working With Youth is a Blessing and Reinvigorating

The first few days of this tour have been amazing! We've traveled, worked on empowering youth and teaching them how to use Hip Hop and Poetry as a medium of expression, had some amazing performances and met some really cool Youth. Check out the photos above. Their smiles say it all.

The photo to the right is the first of a section titled Good Eats. We'll be letting you know where the good food is and isn't. This one is from a great restaurant in Troy, NY. called

Ali Baba. The place was clean, service was great and the food was delicious. We've been here a couple times before and enjoy ourselves everytime. Be sure to look them up if you're ever in the NY Captial Region.

Great Start!

The past few days of the tour have been "off the chain"
(really good). We started it off by joining Mahina Movement, Ollin Imagination and Las Gallas in a creativity workshop (Thank You Mahina Movement for hosting the workshop, space and delicious comida). The goal of this workshop was to develop ideas for our performance at El Museo Del Barrio on April 17th. This one is going to be truly inspiring & have you glued to your seat...but how could it not be considering the lineup. Afterwards we headed up to Troy (NY Capital Region) to facilitate some youth workshops. For 2 days we worked with 2 different groups of youth. The reaction was wonderful. The Youth were having a blast & at the same time learned new ways to use their emotions. At the end of the workshop one of the Youth gave a paper clip to Jarabe and when Jarabe asked him what it was the boy said "whatever you make it to be"...Deeeep. On the first night of being in Troy we did our thing at an Open Mic in Albany. While there we revitalized the audience with performances and connected with a few of the night's artists. After 2 days of workshops and a performance we facilitated another workshop for the lively teens of El Puente Leadership Center in Brooklyn, NY. By the end of it we had the Youth sharing their poetic creations with pride and confidence in their eyes. All of this and week one isn't even over yet.