The African American Arts Institute’s annual “Potpourri: An African American Performance Showcase” is returning to the IU Auditorium after taking a year off to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The event will showcase performances from the African American Choral Ensemble, the African American Dance Company and IU Soul Revue in a celebration of the African American experience.
The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, with tickets on sale now. The tickets are $20 for students and $30 for the general public. They can be purchased online through the IU Auditorium website.
Raymond Wise, executive director of AAAI and director of the AACE, said AAAI was started in the early 1970s, heralded by the vision of, the vice chancellor for African American affairs at the time. The formation of the three ensembles followed shortly and about 20 years after the genesis of AAAI, the annual “Potpourri” was created.
All performing ensembles are courses students can take through the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies. Wise said that as such, the ensembles are comprised of students who aren’t necessarily studying music and dance, but coming together from a wide variety of majors to put on performances each year.
“They’re not professionals, but they perform at that level,” Wise said.
As director of the AACE, Wise said he chooses music that will engage the audience. He said “Potpourri” has a distinctive audience because it is comprised of students, people from Bloomington, alumni, parents and families who are all eager to support the performing students, which creates a very responsive crowd.
He makes sure to choose pieces that will cater to this audience’s excitement and enthusiasm. He also chooses music that will inspire reflection within viewers.
“In this climate as things are changing in the world,” Wise said, “I’m always purposely choosing songs that will cause people to either be inspired or cause them to want to do better in terms of making an effect or change in the world.”
IU junior Charlize Wake, a member of AACE, said the music this year is all about encouragement.
“We’re singing an arrangement of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ which is like the Black national anthem. And I think with this year especially, that is definitely what’s needed,” Wake said. “It brings unity to everyone.”
The second ensemble performing is the African American Dance Company, directed by Stafford C. Berry Jr. AADC focuses on different dance forms from African dance styles to contemporary and hip-hop dances.
Logan Eddington, a senior within AADC, is the student organization’s co-president and will be performing in this year’s “Potpourri.” She came to college as a psychology major and didn’t plan on pursuing dance at all. However, she became part of AADC on a whim her freshman year at IU and now, four years later, is a dance major.
She said the process of putting together the performance for this year’s “Potpourri” has been rewarding and rigorous. She learned new dances, gained more responsibility and was forced to constantly work harder and become a better performer.
“This year I actually restaged one of our pieces, which is the first time I’ve ever done something like that,” Eddington said. “So that was really scary for me, but I know it’s a good push for what I want to do with my life, and so I’m really thankful for the experience.”
The final ensemble performing in the “Potpourri” this year is IU Soul Revue, directed by James Strong. This ensemble performs R&B, soul, funk and contemporary Black popular music with student vocalists, a horn line and a rhythmic section.
Junior Jason Lottie, a vocalist in IU Soul Revue, said his experience in the ensemble has helped him find his voice.
“I was always scared of, you know, letting my voice be heard,” Lottie said. “So being in this group and having to actually be, like, a voice for people, it was, like, a big challenge for me because I’ve noticed that other people around me are more comfortable than I was. But as I started getting into it and my passion started growing, that’s when my love for it started growing too.”
Lottie said audiences can expect a high intensity and high energy performance that will have viewers on their feet the entire time. He hopes this performance can impact people and bring joy into their lives.
“I hope they take away that, you know, this isn’t just some class that college kids take,” Lottie said. “This is a bunch of musicians getting together and creating a show to hopefully, you know, impact somebody, whether they’re going through something at home, they can come to the show and just escape from that and enjoy themselves and enjoy life.”
Wise said “Potpourri” provides a distinctive viewing experience for audience members because audiences will get to engage with the performance in an expressive way.
“That’s one of the things that’s very unique about the African American music and dance that we perform, it’s what we call a collective art,” Wise said. “You get to cheer and sing and rock and clap and all those wonderful things and literally be engaged."
Wise hopes this performance will show audiences the impact of what AAAI does through creating a space for diversity, equity and inclusion.
He said much of what AAAI does could be defunded due to the attack on DEI across the nation and at IU. He wants people to see the impact of AAAI and its necessity within the community so it can continue putting on shows that not only touch people, but also advocate for them.
“We’re not just singing and dancing,” Wise said. “We’re changing lives.”
