Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project
8pm
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Holding It Down, Harlem Stage. Photo by Mark Millman Photography. Courtesy of Kimmel Center, Inc.
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Holding It Down, Harlem Stage. Photo by Mark Millman Photography. Courtesy of Kimmel Center, Inc.
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Vijay Iyer. Photo by Barbara Rigon. Courtesy of Kimmel Center, Inc.
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Holding It Down, Harlem Stage. Photo by Mark Millman Photography. Courtesy of Kimmel Center, Inc.
The Kimmel Center, Inc. presents the Philadelphia premiere of Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dream Project, a thought-provoking multimedia work of music, poetry, and visuals that illuminates the lived experiences of minority veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A collaboration between jazz pianist, composer, and MacArthur Fellow Vijay Iyer and poet, performer, and librettist Mike Ladd, the evening-length work combines lyrical adaptations of veterans' dreams and first-person poetry with Iyer's musical accompaniment and videos designed by Tim Brown.
A central component of the 2016 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, the Center-funded Philadelphia adaptation of Holding It Down engages local veteran communities and Warrior Writers, a veteran-focused arts organization.