By DREW COHEN
Students of Mrs. McGee and Mr. Romano’s sophomore English class recently attended a field trip to Lincoln Center. The students were granted the privilege of watching a poetry slam and receiving an exclusive tour of Lincoln Center. To make this day even more magical, they also visited the internationally renowned Julliard School of Performing Arts for lunch.
The students began their day by watching an interactive poetry show called “Slam 103: Historical Remix.” The show was based on famous works of verse that were read by three young actors, Darian Dauchan, Shanelle Gabriel, and Erik Maldonado. Some of the poems featured were written by Mother Theresa, Muhammad Ali, and Cleopatra. What set this performance apart from your average poetry slam was the fact that the performers actually interacted with the audience. After each recitation, the actors would ask three random audience members to rank their poems. The show taught the students how to improve their own poetry writing and even how to overcome stage fright. Sophomore Ananya Jain said, “It was educational. We got to learn a lot about poetry, and there’s more to it then just rhyming. It was very interesting to see that art and music are so widely diverse.” Another 10th grader from the class, Tyler Futterman added, “The best thing about the trip was learning new poem strategies and how to use them.”
