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Show CLUBS & ORGANIZATIONS 5 T ) fine-tuni- S Sarah Khan Staff Reporter performmagine most origiing your nal rhythmic poetry while being timed and judged by an audience. This type of performance poetry is referred to as slam year While Westminster has many artistic oudets on cam- Slam poets perform their work and are judged by selected audience members livery. who are to rank the poets work on a scale from zero to ten. Slam emphasizes what the poets are saying and how they are saying it through a range of voices, styles, and traditions. For example, poets can use an unrhyming style, or a vocal delivery style used music. in hip-ho- p William Palomo, the Ellipsis poetry editor and the teams advisor, was influenced music during his by hip-ho- p journey to finding slam poetry. Sunday, and get engaged with the community. Palomo also suggests the Westminster Slam Team because they work on performance and writing every week. Salt Lake has a really great and supportive community that helps to work together, he said. I go with the people Im competing with from Salt Lake when we go to competitions like New York or Texas and they dont try to sabotage your shit! He said. Slam Tell me honey, how do I compare to the drugs youve used? Have my arms ever hugged your lungs the warm choke of smoke? Did our first kiss compare to the bliss of a spliff? This is not a poem about ethics and right now I could care less about the war on drugs, this is a poem about you, Palomo recited. goose-bum- and the way a poet holds himself or herself is key. Palomos advice for getting into slam poetry is to start at local open mics, check out the Greenhouse Effect every Westminster Professors Welcome Slam Teams Goose-bum- p Giving Advisor three-minu- te school. Palomo actually help people understand his words. Performance pus, the new Westminster Slam Team is a unique artistic outlet because it relies solely on creative vocal de- His of high learned the ropes by watching and performing at Mos Bar and Grill and Mestizos Coffee House in Salt Lake. I used to have rapper hands like yo yo yo look at me with my poems! Palomo said. He realized that it didnt poetry. py segment showed bravery, tough sltin and creativity. Palomo watched Def Jam Poetry when he was twelve and went with friends to Mestizos Coffee House to an open mic. Immediately blown away by the touring group called Word Smoke during his sophomore year of high school, he decided to get Word Smoke on air during his radio segment in his junior include a myriad of open mic their opportunities, performances and writing to get ready for a slam. Parent has a grasp of what a successful slam poet may look like. A successful slam poet is invested in their community. They are able to cultivate pro- Academic responses to slam have only been positive on campus. Slam poetry is important because it shows that poetry is still a vital, political genre, and it challenges peoples stereotypes of what poetry can be, said Daniel Cruz, an English professor. It is also important because it reminds us of poetrys oral roots. Having a club on campus to help illustrate this importance to the Westminster community is excellent. Slam is a varied branch of poetry because there are diverse styles of oral delivery that poets can utilize to express their messages. Natasha Saje, another English professor said that The poetry world is large and diverse and should welcome slam poetry as performance. Jesse Parent: The Pro ng and personal relationships and be inspired by others. fessional Parent, a performance poet who took second place at the Individual World Poetry Slam in 2010 and 2011, coaches the Westminster slam team every Monday. He started performing slam poetry in 2007 and he is a member and organizer of the Salt City slam team. Parent was also the Salt Lake City grand champion in 2008, 2011 and 2012. Jesse Parents advice for stu- dents who are interested in slam and are thinking of participating is to go to a slam. See what its like. Figure out if its something you really enjoy watching. Figure out if its something you really like doing. Figure out what you dont like and how you can make it better with your own voice. Challenges as a Slam Poet The biggest challenge is to write the truth and perform naturally, Parent said. Too many poets getting into slam think they need to pander or cater to a certain point of view, not understanding how interesting or refreshing their opinion may actually be. They get caught up on a certain performance aesthetic, so we as an audience end up hearing the poet speak in a voice that is not natural, and move in a nervous or purposeless manner, he said. Parent said that as poets write more for slam, they begin to become their own judges, scaring themselves away from just creating and taking risks. writers are a because misnomer, they end up writing less and less as they intimidate themselves away from Self-critic- creation. According to Parent, a typical week for a slam poet might They have lives outside of slam, where their passions are reflected in their work. Parent likes slam poetry for a few reasons. As a theater nerd, I love the performance aspects. The challenge of using as punctuation words to the next to bring the performance level. I love the feedback of the audience and judges, he said. Theres nothing like hearing a crowd love a line, or getting voted off because you just laid a turd on stage and know you need to get better. Parent also said that I love talking about some issue that is important to me or affects me deeply and hating an audience member come up and comment on it, or say how it affected them. Thats way better than a great score, thats connecting to someone new in a powerful and immediate way. Although the team is new, they compete at the local and national level. The team is fundraising to go to the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) in New York City, NY. There are a few upcoming and recurring events to support and check out the slam team. On Feb. 8, Westminsters Slam team will go to the University of Utahs slam team at the Bassis Center. At this particular event, Westminsters coach and the University of Utahs coach will also compete. The slam team also hosts a poetry battle every third Saturday of the month at Botanica Coffee Shop (2030 South 900 East). Slam is Parent said, meant to be fun. Its a great way to go hear other people and have yourself be heard and anyone whos taking themselves too seriously is simply doing it wrong. head-to-he- ad Slam helps in areas other than just writing and performance.. According to Palomo, poetry teaches basic lessons about life, but slam poetry helps you connect with peo- - I pie and it makes you V. i of a real person. ( He said the great part I more ' about being friends with slam poets is that the way they perform carries into the way they interact in personal relationships as well. They are able to look at people in the eye and make someone feel like theyre only focused in talking to them. They hit your heart when theyre talking to you, said Palomo. Tts definitely helped me to figure out how to process my own feelings, and to get over my fear of writing. I feel much more confident in being able to put myself out there and hone my messages, said Parent. in Liberty Park, August 2012. Feb. 8 Roost Project: Spoken Word 801 at the Bassis Center Every 3rd Saturday ofthe month at Botanica Coffee Shop Feb. 16 Feature JoKyR and Jesse Parent. April 3-- 6 CUPSI at Barnard College in . New York, NY Help Westminster Slam get to CUPSI by visiting www. |