‘Wisdom in PK’ unites community

Vassar's relationship with the surrounding area is a topic that often gives way to pessimistic sentiments, but the College's partnership with the Relationship Empowerment Affirmation Leadership (R.E.A.L.) Skills Network serves as a testament to the powerful collaborations ongoing between students and the Poughkeepsie community.

Founded in 2008, the R.E.A.L. Skills Network fills the need for after school and summer programs for elementary through high school students in Poughkeepsie and the greater Duchess County. One program for which R.E.A.L. Skills is responsible is Hip Hop Theater, whose cast members will be performing on Monday, Dec. 5 at the Family Partnership Center located downtown on North Hamilton Street.

The upcoming production is an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland called "Wisdom in Power Kingdom," and its central message will address the positive and negative uses of technology. Accordingly, "Wisdom in Power Kingdom" will show how students can use technology to cultivate invaluable academic and social skills, rather than using technology for cruel purposes (such as using cell phones to record fights or using social networks like Facebook and Myspace to bully and harass).

The production will include live, original raps and songs, as well as original step and dance numbers. The set was designed by a student from Poughkeepsie and is peppered with whimsical eye-catching elements like birds' nests and a giant, oversized computer. Unlike several other programs under the R.E.A.L. Skills Network umbrella, students from every grade work in one large group to develop each production aspect.

There are countless ways to address the various discontents of technology, and hip hop is one such way. As Associate Professor of English and co-Director of Africana Studies Kiese Laymon suggested in an emailed statement, hip hop may actually be the art form most conducive to these topical themes. "Hip-hop music partially relied on technological advances such as scratching, sampling, the 808 machine," he explained.

Laymon added, "In contrast to other art forms, many artists in hip hop have used their music to critique these particular technological advances. For instance, a few years ago, Jay Z criticized the rampant use of auto-tune. So not only is hip hop reliant on technology and technological advances partially because its audience is so young, it's also a site of these so-called innovations."

Several Vassar students are taking part in the production. Ruthie Bolotin '13, one of the production's coordinators, joined R.E.A.L. Skills as a sophomore, not least of which because she wanted to engage more with the Poughkeepsie community. But Bolotin has never seen her work as community service. "I wanted to do something that was with the community, not for the community," said Bolotin, keeping with the collaborative nature of this production.

The show's costume designer, Mara Gerson '13, joined R.E.A.L. Skills this semester for similar reasons. "[Field work] offers a connection to people that academic work does not always encourage," reflected Gerson, whose primary interests lie in art and education. In creating costumes for the show, Gerson wanted to share with cast members the joys of creativity. "I wanted to do something that kids would get excited about," she said.

Bolotin, Gerson and others have fostered relationships with Poughkeepsie residents that Laymon deems indispensable to a Vassar education. "It's important for Vassar students to know that collaboration can and often must extend beyond Vassar and beyond our typical understanding of ‘us/them.' At Vassar, there's a tendency to invest in this notion of innocence. And that innocence is most easily threatened by the so-called ‘them' of Poughkeepsie. That kind of understanding is easy, dumb and, most importantly, it's destructive," wrote Laymon.

But as Gerson observed, her engagement with R.E.A.L. Skills has blurred the all too common distinction between academic and extracurricular work. "Hip Hop Theater literally creates a multifaceted ‘we' that actually attempts to confront much of what we run away from in our daily lives and/or in the theoretical musings of the classroom," Laymon wrote.

The relationship between Vassar and Poughkeepsie is far from perfect, but programs like R.E.A.L. Skills and Hip Hop Theater have helped bring the two communities together. "Honest imaginative confrontation in the form of art and/or conversation is the only way to understand the blind spots in the relationship. We're often trying to improve a relationship without confronting the nature and contours of that relationship. But I do believe there's a mass of students at Vassar and in Poughkeepsie schools leading us to and through that confrontation," wrote Laymon.

"Wisdom in Power Kingdom" is a production to which people of all ages can relate. The issues that the show addresses—relationships, academics, leadership—exemplify R.E.A.L. Skills Network's efforts to empower members of the Poughkeepsie community. "We can all learn to develop those skills a little better," Bolotin said.