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CELEBRATING 10 YEARS

SOUTH MIAMI-DADE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER, GREATER MIAMI CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU, AND delancyhill LAW FIRM

PRESENT 8TH ANNUAL BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION

THE LANGSTON HUGHES PROJECT FEATURING THE RON MCCURDY QUARTET AND CELEBRITY SPOKEN WORD ARTIST MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER

(MIAMI, January 6, 2012) –South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (SMDCAC), Greater Miami Convention and Vistors Bureau and delancyill celebrate Black History Month with a presentation of the Langston Hughes Project, Ask Your Mama, Twelve Moods for Jazz on Thursday, February 23 at 8p.m. on the main stage. The performance features the Ron McCurdy Quartet with celebrity spoken word artist Malcolm-Jamal Warner. As part of this special evening, delancyhill law firm will host their 8th Annual Black History Month Celebration with a VIP reception honoring Miami-Dade County Commissioner Dennis C. Moss at 6p.m. in the Black Box Studio. Proceeds from the VIP Reception will benefit SMDCAC’s education and outreach programs. Tickets to the performance are $30, $20, $10 ($5 tickets CultureShockmiami.com), $5 off orchestra level seats for students seniors and active military service members. Tickets to the VIP reception are $50 and includes entrance to the performance. The public should contact SMDCAC’s Box Office at 786-573-5300 or visit www.smdcac.org. SMDCAC is located at 10950 SW 211 Street, Cutler Bay.

The Ron McCurdy Quartet performs Langston Hughes’ insightful, wise, poignant, funny and soulful, poem accompanied by celebrity spoken word artist Malcolm Jamal-Warner, most famous for his role on “The Cosby Show” and his recent sitcom, “Reed Between the Lines”. The performance includes video images of the Harlem Renaissance by African-American artists and photographers including Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks and Romare Bearden.

Ask Your Mama is an 800-line, twelve part poetic suite written by noted African American poet/writer/playwright Langston Hughes in 1961. This work is described as a multimedia presentation that recreates Hughes’ vision of the global struggle for freedom in the coming, turbulent decade.

The piece itself is an original work conceived by USC Professor and Chair of Jazz Studies Dr. Ron McCurdy . A scholarly exploration of the original work by Dr. McCurdy revealed that Hughes had originally included musical cues to accompany his poem, intending to work with musical contemporaries on a full production; regrettably, Hughes died in 1967 before a production could be developed.

Information about The Langston Hughes Project is available at: http://www.ronmccurdy.com/about_hudges_project.htm.



Sponsors and community partners of the 8th Annual Black History Month Celebration will include Bilmor with Advertising Specialties, Caribbean Today, Chef Irie Spice, Circle of One Marketing, Community Bank of Florida, Mercedes Benz of Cutler Bay, Invizio, Medium Four, Richhaus Media, B Side Entertainment, Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce YPN, Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Bar Association, South Florida Caribbean News, and Schnelby Redlands Winery & Brewery.

Media Contact:

Nicolle Ugarriza, SMDCAC

(786) 573-5318 / nnu@miamidade.gov

mobile: (305) 588-5453

or

Marlon A. Hill

delancyhill, P.A.

305-244-4456

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