Upcoming Events Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
Student Matinee Performance
Thursday May 19, 2011 - 11 am &
Friday May 20, 2011 - 11 am
Call 312-431-2357
to book your student group today!
The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University is
proud to present the seventh year of our unique
summer day camp program for children who have
experienced the death of a parent.
July 5-15 ǀ ages 7-11
July 18-29 ǀ ages 10-14
Hands Together, Heart to Art uses several
different areas of the performing arts and
encourages communication, fosters emotional
growth, and provides the consolation of friendship
and compassion. Through interaction with other
children who have experienced a similar loss,
campers understand they are not alone in their
situation. Camp activities encourage team
building, self-esteem, consciousness and
development of problem solving skills.
For more information or to see a video about
camp, please visit hthta.org.
These programs are made possible through the
generous support of JP Morgan Chase Foundation.
Too Hot to
Handel:
The Jazz Gospel Messiah
Creative
Engagement
Welcome! Welcome to the Auditorium
Theatre of Roosevelt
University and our beloved
production of Too Hot to
Handel: The Jazz Gospel
Messiah!
Whether this is your first
time experiencing Too Hot
or your sixth, I know you
are going to have a great
time. Too Hot to Handel maintains a message of com-
munity, just like the original Messiah—the same mes-
sage of the beloved community that Dr. King carried
and embodied throughout his life. Too Hot to Handel
has the power to reach a broad range of listeners. I
invite you to actively experience its message, to stand
up, to clap, to get involved. The improvisational qual-
ity allows a certain energy to permeate throughout the
audience, creating a dialogue with the performers on
the stage. Together, as a diverse group of
participants, we share in the idea of community and can
engage in a conversation—just as Dr. King imagined.
The booklet you are reading now contains information
on all of our Too Hot educational initiatives as well as
all of our poetry contest winners and finalists. If you
know a CPS school that might be interested in
participating next year, please contact us at
Happy Birthday Dr. King. Now, let’s get Hot!
Nicole Losurdo
Senior Director of Education
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She may look rough on the edges
Her look telling you she has walked many thorny hedges
A survivor of the darkness ever so quiet
Even the loudest of riots.
And if I had the money,
You can bet I’d still buy it.
To have it all could be a dream come true
How could I outgrow you ever?
Humboldt Park.
My home treasure
Written by Davoud Hamlin, 12th Grade,
Lincoln Park HS
My Community
My community is not a community anymore
They made us move and kicked us out the door
It will never be the same as before
Killing people inside the store
They trying to take our land over
C.H.A. can’t do nothing or control it
Boys going to jail for selling drugs
And going up to Seward Park to fight with golf clubs
Girls coming outside in pajama pants
Fighting over their supposed to be man
Even though it isn’t there to see
Cabrini Green will always be a part of me
Written by Chloe Moore, 12th Grade,
Lincoln Park HS
Finalists:11th
– 12th
Grade
Finalists: 9th
– 10th
Grade Beloved Communities
My beloved community is peace and love.
Well who am I kidding, I wish it was.
A community to me is everyone getting along.
Police never in your community cause nothing goes wrong.
The CO in community stands for cooperation, working together,
To grow plants, build schools, even make lives better.
Real communities are calm, clean and united as one.
When work appears, work is done.
Communities laugh, grow and play,
And wake up to bird call not gunshots through the day.
Communities are good; It’s plain people livin’ lives,
Communities have to be civilized to be symbolized.
Written by Malcolm Hall, 10th Grade,
Wendell Phillips High School
One with Music
When it comes down to music
We are one with that community
Rhythms, Beats, Lyrics
It is how we live
We become one with music
Our expressions are shown through it
Hear our cries through the violins
Our hearts beating with the bass drum
Uplifting spirits through the guitar
Moving with the bass guitar
Our voices being heard through lyrics
We are one with music; it is who we are. My community.
Written by Carina Chey Correa, 9th Grade,
Muchin College Prep
Outreach The Auditorium was thrilled to present a number of
educational outreach initiatives for Too Hot to Handel.
Grade School Residency Program with
Teaching Artist Christina Bourné
This week-long residency program examined a key
speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and chal-
lenged students to explore the idea of Beloved Com-
munity through an innovative, fun, and creative musi-
cal composition experience.
Master Classes with Too Hot Artists
Alfreda Burke, Suzanne Acton, and Rod Dixon Working with the choir students at Benito Juarez Com-
munity Academy and the music students at Wendell
Phillips High School, students had the opportunity to
participate in a master class with the world renowned
artists of Too Hot to Handel.
Annual Poetry Contest CPS students in grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-10, and 11-12 were
invited to write a poem discussing what beloved
community means to them. Over 525 talented students
participated in the second annual Too Hot to Handel
Poetry Contest. We engaged the Historical Voices
Changing Modern Minds Poetry Club at Phillips High
School in judging the poems. The youth created a
rubric that allowed them to look at each child’s poem
individually while engaging in a discussion about what
makes a poem good. The group decided to focus on
five elements: theme, language and rhythm, originality,
emotional response, and spelling/grammar. Contestants
who scored highest on the rubric were considered
finalists in the contest. Special thanks to Erick Dorris
at the Academy for Urban School Leadership for
fostering our partnership with Phillips on this project!
Winner: 3rd
–5th
Grade
Congratulations!
Merciyana
Dazdarevic
Peterson School
5th Grade
My Dream
Black, like the dirt
and like the coal
beneath my feet.
White, like the clouds
and like the stars
above my head.
I hope, one day
my dream
will come true.
Then, finally there stands
proudly and happily
Me and you.
Finalists: 9th
– 10th
Grade Finalists: 9th
– 10th
Grade Finalists: 6th
– 8th
My Community
My community is horrible, all of
The gangs and violence, getting
Shot in the chest, Man!! That’s
Triflan. All of these people trying
To act all cool, after a day in my
Community they’ll become stupid
Fools. Smoking weed, drinking
Scotch, all these stupid gangbangers
Acting stupid and getting shot. That’s
What they get, next time they’ll think
Twice before putting themselves in a
Position that will take their life away!!
Written by Anthony Molina, 8th Grade,
H.B. Stowe Arts Academy
Community
Dr. Martin Luther King loved his Community,
He did what he could for you and me.
My community is good,
Even though I stay in the hood.
Community to me means where you stay,
And if we all stick together we will be ok.
A good community will help you get a better education,
And the people will help you buy your medication.
A good community is nice to a new face,
It doesn’t matter if it is a different race.
Martin Luther King talked about the word beloved,
So we got to be nice giving out kisses and lots of hugging.
Written by Shabaka Junious, 6th Grade,
Bethune School
Finalists: 3rd
–5th
Grade MLK’S DREAM COMMUNITY
Kids from all over playing
Adults of all races are praying
Under the puffy cumulus clouds
Everyone is full of happiness; not hate
The people in the Chicago community are hard to separate
Why wouldn’t anyone want to live here?
When people work together, they make people power
When different countries work together hour by hour
There is peace and people are freer
This is MLK’s community dream
People working together as a team
If we keep this up, future generations will be full of people power
Written by Jennifer Pius-Alonee, 5th Grade,
Decatur Classical School
My Beloved Community
My beloved community means to me,
A wonderful place to live and be.
Like Martin Luther King said,
Everyone should be freed and well fed.
My beloved community means to me,
A marvelous place where all are free.
To live together in happiness,
With safety and beauty and cleanliness.
My beloved community means to me,
A great place for all to see.
A community where we work together.
To make our lives a whole lot better.
Written by Sabtecha Contreras, 4th Grade,
H.B. Stowe Arts Academy
Winner: 6th
– 8th
Grade
Congratulations!
Shakita
Winters
H.B. Stowe Arts Academy
8th Grade
Our Community!!
Our community is like a hateful song
This crime in the streets causes everything to go wrong
When the grass is green and the sun is beaming
You seem to hear a lot of crying and screaming
But, Martin Luther King had a dream to bring all of us together
So that our children can show love and respect for one another
Despite your race………
Red, Black, White, or Gray
We still have a chance to join together TODAY!!!!
It’s best if we stop the violence
And keep the peace
In order to turn things around for YOU and ME!!!!!!!!
Winner: 9th
– 10th
Grade
Congratulations!
Michael
Daniels
Muchin College Prep
9th Grade
(REA[L]ITY)
A two sided mirror points outside. A two sided movie of a community
I see grass, plush and green. Blue sky.
Laughter, the smell of delicious smoke. Kites blot the air.
Housing that is full of color and life.
Then another side appears. My side.
A red sky with dark clouds. Bodies lay in the ground.
Dead leaves without luster, crusted and cracked.
Dreams imploding on their selves. A dream deferred.
Ziplocs of white sit next to canister shells, abandoned by their masters.
Which side can I grasp? My hand is locked in one side that bleeds red
My eyes are on another.
Sadly, only one side is real.
Winner: 11th
– 12th
Grade
Congratulations!
Ashley
Walker
Lincoln Park High School
12th Grade
Community=Uptown?
The Unity of a community comes to a blur when I think of home…
Everyone sticks to their kind, everyone’s alone.
Segregation sweeps through like a dusk of wind,
Tormented souls whisper in the air-let’s pretend…
Can you hear the wailing in the night? The many shots…
Evoking fear and fright? Get it right.
Communities aren’t always peachy-though dark there is some light.
And I? Try to shine bright, When the sun hides
I open and preach what I practice– this, I love!
Being the one like Dr. King, can change and make things better...I look
above
Knowing you can make a way out of no way…
One day