Potpourri of the Arts

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Hello everyone. My name is Dr. nulla Raby. I, I'm a visiting assistant professor in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies here at Indiana University. Welcome and thank you for joining us. African-american Arts Institute is fast virtual program titled Indiana fact remembering put worry 2019. And this event is presented by IU auditorium with support from Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We'd like to take this opportunity to again say, thank you to our sponsor, Old National Bank and to academic affiliate in the Department of African American and African diaspora studies for its ongoing support. As we open this event, we wish to acknowledge and honor the indigenous communities native to this region and recognize that Indiana University, University Bloomington is built on indigenous homelands and resources. We recognized in Miami, Delaware. Photo are told me and shown ie people as past, present, and future caretakers of this land. We're here tonight to explore the work of the African American US institute. Whether it's direct tests. The African American US Institute, fast and only program of its kind in the nation since 1974, the African American US Institute is dedicated to promoting and preserving black culture through performance, education, creativity, and research and outreach. The institute is comprise of three legendary performers ensembles that are courses offered full academic credit through I use Department of African American and African diaspora studies. The African American colon symbol, the African American Dance Company and the IU saw review. For the past 26? Yes. The institute has presented, put part of the app's a concert featuring performances by all three ensembles and celebrates the rich diversity of black music, dance, and culture. Like other Performing Arts program is affected by this pandemic. We allow finding new ways to share creative work with our audiences and sometimes revisiting those events and gave us. Memories and have great impact on our audiences. Papyri 2019 bicentennial concert held in the IEEE auditorium on November ninth. Was that type of impactful event. Not only what's put quarry 2019 dedicated to celebrating, I use bicentennial. It also celebrated the Institute and the African American dance companies 45th anniversaries, as well as the 50th anniversary of the nail myself Black Cultural Center and the Department of African American and African diaspora studies. And very memorable was a concepts guess, MC, folk music icon boot see columns. For the finale we performed both sees arrangement of Indiana fight featuring the IU. So review the African American Croll ensemble, African American Dance Company, and guess perform as in the IU crab band and an affiliate of the matching them 100. What an incredible show that was. Today. We how this exclusive chance to how the conversation, whether directors who make it all happen. We will take a look, kind of set footage and does cause with a direct us the process, Hephaestus and power of these performances. Let's now meet direct, just starting with Dr. Weiss. Good evening, everyone. I'm Dr. Raymond wise and I serve as the director of the African-American choral ensemble. And I'm also Professor of Practice in the African American African diaspora studies department, and we're so glad to be with you this evening. Good evening everyone. I am Baba Stafford Barry Junior. I am the director of the African American dance company. I'm also Professor of Practice and African-American and African diaspora studies and, and theater, drama and contemporary dance. Very glad to be here with you all this evening. Thanks for coming. Hello, and welcome to everyone. Thank you for tuning in. And thank you to the IU auditorium for Thorn, this wonderful event. I'm James strong. I'm the director of the IU. So Review and also Professor of Practice in triple DA, triple the typical ADS. Thank you for coming. Thank you, directors. Please feel free to ask questions and share comments in the Q and a box. If we're not able to answer your question during the time tonight, we will follow up with you after the event. Let's begin by viewing a clip. All the African-American dance companies, but probably 2019 performance titled ain't like My, created and choreographed by baba Stafford. We'll talk about that. When he went out to do he just does that. What I will do. That again in the middle. Now, ladies and gentlemen, Did you see what just happened? Did you feel that the energy that made the the body politic, the facial expressions that summons the spirit, so the ancestors. The storyline might take form this viewing, If you ask me, it was truly captivating and divide. So baba stuff. But I guess my question is, how do you get students to, you know, be this purposefully espresso. How do you do that? I'm laughing because it's a lot. It takes a lot. But dance is an interesting vehicle. But not a lot of people necessarily know it from the same place. One of the important lessons for me, for the students who audition for enjoying the African-American dance company, is that they don't necessarily have to come from a, the studio or formalized dance space in order to do the dances that we do. So in other words, what I let them know that cleaning up on Saturday mornings to the temptations and, and The Four Tops and Gladys Knight and soul music, which is what I did with my mom growing up. Going out to the block party. That things that we do in our everyday nest, that is our studio, right? And so I break the facade that you had to know something extra special in order to dance and in order to dance and this way. So, so for me it equalizes the playing field. Those folk who come to us and say, you know, I've studied ballet, tap, and jazz since I was four. And then the person from the South Side of Chicago was like, well, I didn't get to do that. So MI less than when I come into the space. So my Aster for that is no because you live your personal life. That is fodder for what we do in the studio. And so that part of it equalizes everybody. That's my starting ground. And then I just build from there. The part of the foundation that I lay is an African nist movement instance abilities. It's at the foundation of everything that I do. And I explore and I play, and I give students permission to be themselves in the space so that we can draw from our own experiences and lives to incorporate into creating art and creating work team. That really leads to my second question, because we have these scholars in the field. We have a household name like professor iris Rosa and under the pursing is Katherine Dunham. And these, both of these callers talk about activism, activism through movement, and how movement is drawn from his experience. And you actually spoke to that. And what one does every day being at the forefront and claiming this movement within a contest in also as a follow up question then, what really inspires your creativity and how do you do it? The lives, the struggles, the plight, the joy, the anger, the being and the becoming of black folks is what inspires me. I see things and the people and queer graphic material. When I'm walking down the street, my mind is always daydreaming and so I'm always cord wrapping in my head, but I can't stop it if I if I wanted to. But but it came from my childhood dreaming, I would always dream as a child and that just made its way to the, the, the structure, if you will, for, for what it is that we do. Those of us who acquire choreographers or dance makers. Great, wonderful. I always want to go back down deep into history. So I have these other scholars in, in a dance field. We have Karim awash i, Santi, and vendor Dixon gets food, GAS, child. And if Professor Rosa is only he had these particular guys, I have favorites as he can speak to that as well. They'll often talk about how dense is a part of cultural expression. And every day live of Africans and African people of African descent. The whitest state, men, most of these call us make s. It is good to know your tradition. It is good to new tradition. How that's more than your traditional culture, helping your creativity and your students as well. Well, it, it, it, it gives us a starting place that gives us a foundation. And incidentally, I studied with, with both of those scholars that you mentioned, Dr. Brenda bits and God's child and Momma Carrie, I'm a Welsh and back, I was her assistant for five years when I danced and her company. And I went to Temple University where Dr. bring Dixon gas child was writing her text. Of course, Professor Rosa is the predecessors. Without her, I wouldn't be here. But the knowing your traditions are your, your found is your foundation. But another one of my mentors and teachers and I was with him for 14 years, Bob and Chuck Davis. He added this because the elders told this to him what I'm about to say and this is what I subscribe to as well. But when you learn your traditions and you know them and when you soak the man, right? And when you have that foundation, then, particularly to artists, then what are you going to do to perpetuate or continue this tradition or the story? Because you cannot simply all and only replicate the tradition. For example, there's a wonderful touring company from Guinea, West Africa called laid ballets that for Caen, who rose to fame and circa 19 fifties, doing lots of the independence of colonial, colonial culture in various countries in Africa. And so the government sent them around. To the United States, do you know to show the world that we want savages? But in any case, many people as a result of that began to mimic Lead Belly's effort can, and they were one of the ones who were least wanted the drummers. They're instrumental in bringing that now world popular Qian Bei drum here. And so with Bob, a chunk will say there's only one. Lee ballets Africa. There's only one. So and you trying to mimic them. Sure, that is flattery and that is continuing a certain kind of tradition. But how are you going to add to the story? In other words, when you turn the page, what is your contribution? And therefore, the way I interpreted is, who are you? Who are you? So foundation is critical. As far as I'm concerned, it's very important. It's critical and in fact, what, it doesn't stop there. And traditions aren't stagnant. You know, people think because their traditions that they stay and they remain, and that's just not true. Thank you very much. Bob established for your insights and I know all of us have enjoyed our conversations. Now, here is a clip of the colon symbol is performance of and have been Butte arranged by whole Johnson? Yes. Yes. Oh, wow. John, back to y, x. This is once again another stimulating and divine fall lense. The facial lists precedence to the storytelling. You can feel the sorrow, the hope that contentment. How do you prepare your students to perform which suck past Sunni and Shia and pappas. One thing I think that's very important is you've already hit on that, that these are indeed stories, especially stories of people who long to be free. So the stories themselves are very, very important. However, many of our young students have not experienced the same level of struggle. So what we try to do is we try to give them the context and you can't tell the story if you don't know the story. So it's important that we not only just sing notes, but we go back and we learn about the stories, we learn about the history, we learn about struggle. And then I encourage the young people to find their stories within the story. They may not say, I don't know what it feels like to be whipped. I don't know what it feels like to be did not I don't know what it feels like to have my children taken away, but I do know what it feels like to have flunked the test. I know what it feels like to have a loved one, a pass. I know what it feels like to have an argument with a good friend. So they can find their struggles, their stories within stories. Then they can begin to relate the stories with a sense of own ship and conviction based upon their lived experience as well. Wonderful as we all know that spirituals arose in the early 19th century among African American slaves who had been denied the opportunity of practice traditional African religions, leading to an organization of what has been called the invisible institution. So we have Frederick Douglass, WEB Dubois speak about references in the spirituals, two, escapes, not to heaven, but to the freedom land, whether in a line slaveholding states or Canada. Are there any reference to the soul that speak to this assertion? Yes, absolutely. I'm one thing the, the slaves were ingenious in that you talked about the invisible institutions, the invisible church act. Think of especially where they will not openly able to speak freely or to act in ways that they desired, but they found ways to communicate. They found ways to share their stories and to communicate with one another. And if you'd listen to many of the stories, you will find that there was often a, a language of, of life after death, which often refers to going to heaven to be with God or, or going to that glory, Lana, that promised land. But that same language is used often in what we call mass can symbol. They actually would take the, the, the, the, the terms and, and mask what they meant and used a symbolism that was understood by those within the community, but not fully understood by those outside. So if you listen to those songs, I've been viewed, not been scorn. I've been talked about Georgia born ankle Lima legend out there was assess that no matter what the trial, no matter what the tribulation may have been, there was always a purpose to keep moving because you were striving for that place of freedom. And they may have called it Glory land of freedom land or Buto LAN or Canaan Land. And while that was openly what they said, they were not just talking about a spiritual place in the heavens. They would talk about going north, going into the northern areas of the country where they'd be free, going even up into Canada, where they would have a life of freedom and they would get away from the life of enslavement. Well, that said, can we then say that? They all say, I agree with Carlos, who argues that spirituals, religious expression of resistance. Oh yeah, absolutely. These songs are actually Songs of protest. In many ways. They allow the slays enslaved African American, should I say, to speak back to their masters, you know, generally when they would do things only they would be retribution. But do the spirituals. They were able to use these songs to say a thing that otherwise would not be received. Well, I think of the one spiritual, for example, Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, where they would sing the song. Of course, their masters receded in one way. But what they were saying is that if we really ought to be like you got, and to be a guy who loves everybody, I want to be a real win in my heart and not just in my head, not just with my works. So they would use even the language of Christianity, the language that was acceptable to speak back and to protest. And in many of the songs he would hear this, this fight back or protest, if you will, that allowed them to be determined to get to a place of freedom. In that case though Dr. lie. So how pervasive has their spiritual will be coded in American society. And what do spirituals mean to Americans today? Well, most scholars suggest that the spiritual is the first authentic American music to develop in this country and its very, very significant because as the spiritual evolves and evolves in five different directions, it goes into a secular direction, which goes to a blues and jazz. It goes a theatrical direction through minstrel see the BOD build a musical theater and artistic direction through our excellent spirituals. And then it goes and academic through concert spirituals in a sacred writ direction. Intercontinental spirit doesn't gospels and all of those musical forms as they evolve, there was both a sacred and secular, a form that developed out of those series lines. So almost every American musical form that you will hear as its basis and somewhere back to that basic tree of the spiritual. And when I say, it's not surprising that a spiritualist are popular among African-Americans and influence also influence other types of music since its evolution, as you've rightly talked about. Thank you so much Dr. Weiss For this inciting come the station and without much adieu, we're going to move on to IU. So Review, featuring a medley of selections from the query performance. Yeah. Yeah. Professor Strong, I know some people in the audience and outgoing. Why? It took me way back. That was another electrifying performance. You know, literary scholars content that works W or the right AS ammunition. In your case, the ammunitions, the voices, the instruments, the dance, this precedence. So casing this experience is such a unique way. How do you do that? How do you get students to be this class C on stage took us through the process. Well, as Bob when duct, why has alluded to it a lot that goes into what we do. But I think for the students, first, you had to have a love for the music. The ice overview was created to preserve and promote black popular music, period. So that's what we do. So I feel that everyone that we attract has just the deep extreme love for R&B music. And it was the same thing for me when I came IU, as a youngster. I had an extreme love for black popular music. And so that's tomatoes that support start. But like anything, when you're putting something together that magnitude. Do you have to analyze the job scope, if you will? There's a lot of planning, there's a lot of organizing, conceptualizing, research, collaboration, directing, creating, scheduling, all these various things go into creating a show. And as I tell the students, I say, you know, we, we put 234 months of hard work and practice into, you know, creating the show. But you are really going to get about 45 minutes, 45 to an hour of reward. So, you know, when you go in and you put all your blood, sweat, and tears into this, be serious about this because it's only going to last for about two hours, you know. So that's where that's where it starts for. C, you know, it starts with the, the, the, the love for the music. And, you know, then you put the, the format out there for the kids to follow. And that love takes from start to finish. That is really good to hear that case. Do you agree with scholars of the black Collective who believe that black aesthetic? You'll be judged in terms of its creativity, beauty, and social relevance. Yes. We gotta understand that R&B music is one of the greatest American art forms. Okay? R&b music has touched people all over the world and is continuing to do that to this day. The evolution of the art form. It, it's a lived experience like my colleagues were talking about earlier. You know, art, dance, spirituals, RMB, It's a lived experiences, is the things that we experience in our communities. The music of the fifties and sixties coming from our communities are what artist we're experiencing in everyday life. Survival, strength, love, anger, happiness, overcoming odds when the deck is stacked against you, you know, those kinds of situations. Create art because you have no other outlet. You know? So I think that, that's why our music has such the far reaching appeal. Let me quote a great producer, a songwriter, guests, I think some of you guys know his name is cached chief. He said, because the rhythm and blues, culturally, politically and spiritually, we all had been changed. He said, is far reaching influence has affected so many areas of our everyday life. The way we dress, the way we speak, race relations, gender equality, politics, and even the way we love. R&b music has touched all of those areas. Yes, I do. I do agree with the black art collective. So how do you I guess you've already answered this question, but it wasn't really clear to me. How do you get students to understand this concept coming with this consciousness of creativity and accepting this social relevance and how it relates to the black culture, black history. How do you guessed it is to grasp this concept? Will was, as I was saying before, if it has to be the mu. But we do it for witness. We bring great. We do it to show an examples. I myself am a graduate of Indiana University and alumni of the IU. So I'm an example. You know, I feel that we live in three houses of life. We live in the knowledge house, you live in the experience house, and we live in the wisdom house. The knowledge houses when you go into school and you're learning and you're, you're gathering all the knowledge that you need to be able to go into the experience House where you go into the world and you gain experience in life, right? And then once you get your experience, Hopefully and blessing Li, You go to your wisdom house. So I feel like I'm sorta among wisdom house this point where I can come back and I can port to the students, you know, the things that I've learned. And it's through that is how I teach by giving examples, by talking to them about what's going on. Or, y'know, Marvin Gaye, when you're busy talking about what was going on culturally in society during that time. That song was born out of pain and struggle and overcoming. So that's how we teach and how we channel, you know, what has been channeled through us. And we see that on stage because, you know, as literary, even up to today, music has been much more than music to Africans and people of African descent, you know, and it means more than music to black Americans. And so getting data into the creativity, getting the history, get into culture, getting their students do that concept. That awareness really shows that they understand where you're coming from and they know what do you actually portraying onstage as well. So thank you so much, Professor Stone. And I believe that our audience, or we're going to go to our Q and a to see the questions that we have. That one on one of the most anticipated moments of the Port Perry concert each year as the finaly. It's when lu is the one time all three ensembles with more than 100 student performace share the stage? Yes. A clip of that fin Alice performance of Indiana site did yoga edition of the out-of-phase. They haven't heard it yet. But I know that we can do. We gotta we gotta we gotta get kicked out. Yeah. Yeah. Directors, do you rehearse your dance? That is another, inspire a performance that captivates and moves the spirit to a place of joy and contentment. Now, my question to you, all directors as this or all these students, professionals, or do you train them to be one when they join the ensemble? And how does one become a member of an ensemble though? Can you take turns to let us know study with Dr. Weiss. I think the great thing about the academic and arts institute, we often say it's one of the hidden treasures of IU, is that most of the students are indeed not professionals. They come from all walks of life, all backgrounds, and they come together to do their best work. And the one thing that we're excited about is that you don't have to be a professional. All you have to be as willing. And if they come willing to take instruction and to come together, become the family that we create. They all can excel and move toward a place of excellence and provide a wonderful performance. Settle, tell a story and bless the community, right? And your dance has that two. Cu Mi No, I think that's a little bit of the story that's on the inside, maybe dated from the seventies, you know, with yoga a little bit gone on left stuff. But how does this didn't become a member of the dance company? They? And the short answer is, go through an audition process where we look to see. They could ring to the ensemble. But in addition to that, a potential, because these are courses, right? We don't come with the expectation that they will have everything that they need in order to be a performer and the various ensembles that would be silly. And so, but there is something that, you know, I think each of us as directors has an i and an eye to see. I like to call it being able to see potential. Because you can, I can really tell I'm usually quite accurate at it. I can push somebody or move them, educate them in an embodied way to this place where they're ready to be in a potpourri performance. And so, but, you know, I tried it because it's all big also because it's a course. And even though there's a limited space, I try to figure out a way to provide as much opportunity as I can. I mean, you know, but, but sometimes I have to stapled audition next year, but in the meantime, come and take a course that I teach. Why can give you some rudimentary kinds of body equipment or skills that you can bring that into the audition. You wouldn't have to jump quite so far, the level of the folks that aren't that had been in the ensemble a few semesters. And then if there's anyone who has the desire to pursue this in a professional way. It's about conversation because really these courses are not really, that we're not in a conservatory environment where the goal is to thrust them into the professional world directly. And, but it boats, you know, students have that desire. You know, all of us, we have contacts in that field. We are professionals in the field, working professionals in the field ourselves. And so we know enough to be able to, they have the willpower, the discipline we know, and help to guide them to that played an all three ensembles have half bows that have gone out into the professional progress around. Great, wonderful professor Strong. Sorry. Can you speak to that as well? Well, again, it's through audition. We hold auditions every semester. And my students aren't, quote unquote professionals. But most, I can probably say most, or a great deal of them. They aspire to be professionals. And for my course, the IU soul review, you have to already know how to play. You have to already know how to saying when you come audition for us. Because we we, we operate at a high level and information is coming at, at, at, at breakneck speed. And so if you still are trying to learn how to play your instrument. I'll review wouldn't be the course. You'd, you'd probably have to go with an instructor, a teacher or something like that. But you, through audition, you should already know how to play your estimate or artists are to staying at a pretty, pretty high level. Again, for me, when I came to I, you already knew how to play. I had experienced the reasonable amount of success by the time I got there. So through the audition and I got into this overview and introduced me to, you know, Turing had introduced me to production and introduced me to recording and introduced me to, you know, disordered all the disciplines that go into making you a professional, you know? And so from there, from then, it's already evolved today to this really, really incredible program that we offer so many different opportunities. Meaning that you could be a jazz or classical student in the Music School. And but you can also take our course because, you know, you have to build Today's successful musicians in the prep for professional field, you have to be well-rounded. Well, you know, I mean, you got to be able to not only do jazz, latin, classical, but you gotta play R&B. Because trust me, in our world, R&B opportunity will come across your desk. And you're going to want to turn and you're not going to want to turn that paycheck now. So yeah, my goal at this point, you know, being an alumni, being someone who has been a professional when a business is to sort of create a pathway into the industry. That's what I do with that's how I leveraged my relationships that I've made in the industry. When I invite a certain guest back to come and talk to the students and, and stay tuned because the spring is going to be incredible. Have a long, long list of guests who are going to be coming to talk to our students. And hopefully we'll be able to begin to come to campus if, if we, we, we're out of this, this, this sort of, this complex challenges that we've been having socially with the WHO Pandemic thing. But if not, they're going to be coming. And it is going to be a wonderful experience. We cannot wait for that is spearing Professor Strunk. But last year was a big year for the African-American asked institute. A dedicated the 20th, 19 put 42, I use bicentennial, the 45th anniversary of the African American Dance Company, the 50th anniversary of the no Marshall Black Cultural Center and the Department of African American and African diaspora studies. I see. And that's not enough. You still got booed C. Collins on bought for the gig. The final footage that performance, the arrangement of the Indiana fight, the IU crab band. Can you take us through the process, the song choice that the pappas actually, and how the students dealt with this whole process. But it's round. Like to start with Professor strong then Baba Stafford inductor wise is one thing I tell my students. I say, value your relationships because your relationships that you make in life can serve you for lifetime. You know, and we were able to get booty colons to come and participate with us through, you know, that great relationship. He was invited to IU through the African American archives, through Dr. Taiwan Cooper. And he ended up asking this, I use overview to do an opening for for boots. He doesn't as a tribute to his music. And the relationship started their boots. He came to our class and talk to our class, began to converse about what our class was about. And he was at that point, once he found out that, you know, we were created to preserve, promote black popular music. It was all there and he wanted to do any and everything he could to support us. So that's how we were able to motivate and get a guy like booty to come and participate with us in our poeple reprogram. But the process is that it can be complex. I mean, with us his thoughts with the, you know, like a sort of a think tank brainstorming meaning that we have and we, we examine what's going on in the world socially, politically, musically, spiritually, than we did. We decide how our organization can impact or influence or bring awareness to some of those things through our ensembles. And I mean, I could go on and on, but I'm a let whatever are the guys pick up from there or that of Stafford? I want to make sure that stand the question. Nana. Nana. I'm talking about the bonds, the electrons, particularly the Indiana fight, sowing and the process of getting the student is to be participating in this section, the finale. Because we put it together and just a few rehearsals. I mean, I kind of forget how he do it. We certainly as Professor strong alluded to have sort of a blueprint of how we want the bodies, the cadres of bodies to move. But for me, it doesn't really get congealed or come come into some kind of concrete form until end the theater during tech rehearsal. And all of the bodies of president, but over a 100 bodies that are in the ensembles together. Our present. It's really a puzzle that we put together with all of these pieces that we are each responsible for. That again, does not come together until really the last moment. And even then work, we're making shifts and changes based on sound and lights and that kind of thing. But that bet is the place where we are the most collaborative, really directors. And so it's fun for us to, you know, to toss around ideas with one another through those few process. And so I really value that because we have all the rehearsed and that we do, we spend the least amount of time on that. Wonderful. Add one question for you from the audience and I'm gonna go to Dr. Weiss. So we have a question that reads, what was the inspiration for a like mine choreography lab staff it. Yeah. And I responded to those individuals who asked that question, but I'll, I'll briefly say it live. Harriet Tubman, the Civil Rights Movement, black struggle. And, and just this desire for me as, as, as an instructor to value the struggles that our people of color and black population experience at a predominantly white institution. I mean, I don't want him invisible lines that embodied information, but I want to make sure the students have a way to process it. And so this dance also did that for them because they struggle a lot. I mean, it's really hard to be in an environment that doesn't all the time embrace you. Oh, but that struggle doesn't always have to be about pain. You can use it, right? So dance was, wasn't embodied way in a choreograph, choreographic way for students to be able to value that struggle so that it's not, but not, but they come out the other end of it saying, we really worked hard for that in multiple ways. Here's the evidence of it and this art. And I got to utilize the things that I'm going through and my everydayness being here in this space, I get to use that in my art. So how wonderful is that for the students? What did that was? That was the inspiration for the dance. Thank you very much above his Tophat, Dr. Weiss, Your question is, From the audience, Do your white students find it hard to embody the stories of African Americans when they inherently come from a place of privilege. As I said earlier, I think the primary thing that must occur in order for the students to really embody the music is they must know the story. First of all, understand what the story is and the context from which it comes. But they have stories as well. They may not be stories that aren't exactly like those from the African American community, but they understand pain. Pain is pain. Love is love, joy, a joy. So the idea is we're looking at the human condition. And how do you say what is human about all of us that we all can relate to in this moment. And if they begin to bring their stories to the story, at some point there is a moment of synergy. Will all of a sudden they get it and it clicks and it becomes more than just acting. And they're really able then to embody it. But regarding your other question, I think when you are talking about the Pope R3, one thing that people don't don't realize, or maybe, hopefully you don't realize there are a lot of moving parts to make this happen. And while we come together as a team to create the finale, literally, I get the privilege of serving as a production manager for the Pope R3. And a lot of what you see while it goes very smoothly, there are just as many people behind the scenes making this thing work. So, you know, it starts in writing as well. So there's Julia script. You'll see become in F equal ma, my big, what we're writing everything down. Because while there was an improv is the toy nature to what we do and African-American music and culture. Such a massive performance has to be organized and structured because there's so many moving parts. So one of the things that makes the finale happens is that while it flows as you see it, everybody plays a specific part. You know, from Bob, a staffer go into choreography, rather Jane's work and all the music with the band from me working with the vocals, trying to do arrangements. All of us bring our pieces together and again, we create this wonderful hole. But there are lots of parts that really make it what it is. And I think that's what's so exciting. It is one of the, the, the highest moments of the year when all of us get to come together as brothers, you know, we share together and we rub it in this thing together, then the students, they are family. And we actually get to be that family and actualize that Donoho, African-American village experience. Thank you very much, directors, we are nearing the end of February already there of our time, as we say, time flies when we're in good company directors. I don't have to ask for final thoughts. Everything has been set. Now to my audience, We invite everyone to watch a more extensive set of excerpts from the potpourri 2019 concert video, which will be available for you to view for a limited time until November 29th. You can find the link in the chat all visit website I Tripoli I indiana.edu. We hope you enjoy more of these incredible performances. If we're able to, we, we are able to address any of your questions tonight. We will follow up with you after this event and we look forward to continuing this conversation with you. Thank you again to IU auditorium for presenting this event. And thank you to Department of African American and African diaspora studies and Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Thank you very much to everyone for joining us. Good night. Thank you.