Sunday, December 21, 2008

BAG II to present final event
next Sunday, December 28

BAG II has scheduled its final event as a presenting organization for 7:00 p.m. next Sunday, December 28 at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe. From the e-mail announcement:
"On Sunday, December 28th BAG II is Out! with its final presentation: an evening of performance and visual art dedicated to the memory of Vincent Terrell and Ajule “Sonny” Rutlin, original founding members of both BAG and BAG II. The presentation will highlight the spirit of Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) the third day of Kwanzaa. Paying tribute to the BAG vision will be original BAG poet Shirley LeFlore, with Michael Castro, and Marsha Cann; visual artist Seitu James Smith and musician Zimbabwe Nkenya. The event is free, 7 – 9 PM at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, 2658 Delmar Blvd...

...According to Zimbabwe Nkenya, “BAG II has had its run, but the creative spirit that has driven this work over the past two years will continue.” For more information on the December 28th event call 314-340-5790 or email bag_blackartistgroup@yahoo.com."

4 comments:

Tony Renner said...

wow, we showed up at around 8 and everything was closed.

Dean Minderman said...

I'm sorry to hear that, Tony.

FWIW, I reported the time/date/place info as it was listed in the announcement I received, and I never got any notice of a cancellation, postponement or time change.

Perhaps the crowd was smaller and/or the program shorter than originally anticipated, causing an early end to the performance? It's hard to say what may have happened, but perhaps someone in the know will chime in here...

Unknown said...

What Happened: The people that normally open up the venue for BAG were nowhere around. I have not heard what the reason for this was, but when I was there early with the participants it was locked and there was no way in. It was very sad to see this performance cancelled in such a way. If you came and were disappointed, imagine how disappointed the artists were.

Dean Minderman said...

Thanks for the info, James.

The performers certainly deserved one last show, and to have the opportunity disappear because no one showed up to open the venue is, I'm sure, a significant disappointment to them as well as to the audience members who showed up. BAG II deserved a better end than that.