Urban Arts Theater's Battle of The Arts
November 5, 2015 By: Jon Michaich & Yoselyn Guzman
Photos courtesy of Andres Tejada
Thursday, October 28th was the date of Salem State’s Urban Arts Theater’s Battle of the Arts competition. The event was sponsored by Urban Arts Theater, with refreshments provided by several other on campus groups, and held in Veterans Hall inside Ellison Campus Center. The campus club managed to pack over 100 friends, family members, and performers into the one room for a night of performance art that shook the building.
The performers were organized into teams that corresponded to the different performing arts that UAT represents: singing, dancing, step, and performance poetry (the group also does theater but there was no theater performance during this competition).
Each of the teams gave a three-minute performance in the first round that blew the audience away. People were screaming in excitement and the dance and step teams performed graceful yet forceful and powerful movements, seeming to embody the rigid and organized choreography of soldiers. The hush that filled the room as the poets read and the singers performed was like nothing I had ever experienced. People in the audience could barely whisper without someone next to them shushing them, everyone grabbing intently onto every word that left the performer’s mouths.
You could feel the energy in the room as each group attacked the other in their own fun and artistic way, all friendly competition. At the end of the first round everyone in the audience placed two votes for who they wanted to pass on to the next round. Dance and performance poetry were eliminated in the first half, which made the final be between singing and stepping.
Each group really gave their performance their all and you could feel the passion each group had for their own respective art. Even if only one group was able to come out of this battle the actual victor, everyone’s performances was award winning. I truly enjoyed being able to watch as each group proved themselves better than the others; everyone represented themselves magnificently. That night made me yearn for my days as a performance poet or even for my younger years as a choir singer.
“I think the audience will enjoy getting to choose the winners,” said President Jehovanie Robert in an interview with Yoselyn Guzman prior to the event. “This is something new and fresh for the campus. This will actively engage the audience. We will give criteria for voting (creativity, effort, sharpness). The winner depends on what the audience feels most connected to, what moves them the most.”
The event was a night of wonderful fun and friendly competition and it was evident to me everyone, performers and audience alike, enjoyed themselves immensely. There wasn’t a moment during the event where people weren’t moving and grooving to whatever performance was in front of them. The final victory of the night was awarded to the step team. The night ended with a giant dance party in the middle of the stage, which even audience members were encouraged to join.
Contributor’s Notes : Jonathan Mihaich is an English Major with a concentration in Creative Writing and specializes in comic books. Yoselyn Guzman is a senior English major and a tutor in the Writing Center.