An unprecedented collaboration between Atlanta Ballet and Big Boi, one half of the multi platinum Grammy award winning group Outkast, big is the first time that these two art forms have been combined together. Big fuses the visual experience of Atlanta’s professional ballet company and hip-hop music, performed live by Atlanta’s own Grammy Award-winning visionary. The show also features new & never heard material interwoven with a classical masterpiece such as Verdi’s La Traviata. This unique on stage experience that features a long list of talented artists is playing for a limited time April 10-13, 2008 at the historic Fox Theatre. A fundraiser benefiting the Big Kidz Foundation & and Atlanta Ballet Centre For Dance Education hosted by Big Boi and Queen Latifah will follow immediately.
The music list for big includes tracks such as “Morris Brown” from the Idlewild Soundtrack, the popular hit “ “Church” from Speakerboxx, which won the Grammy Album of the Year(2003), and “Bombs Over Baghdad.” Other music pieces that will be weaved into the tapestry of sound include jazz and opera selections.
“big is the place, the event, and the experience where we leave our inhibitions at the door, and move forward. big is an example of possibilities…a place for the senses to open, and be lifted, setting a new height for creativity and awareness towards ourselves and the people sitting right next to us,” said the choreographer of big, Lauri Stallings.
The show also features other great artist such as Janelle Monáe, originally trained in classical & Broadway she has trademarked her own brand of soul/R&B. Best known to many as the silky voice on several of Big Boi’s popular hits, including “The Way You Move,” Sleepy Brown has garnered a following all his own. He boasts his own Top 40 single, “I Can’t Wait,” featuring OutKast, from his debut album Mr. Brown. Sleepy Brown is set to appear in several tracks for big, including “I Can’t
Wait” and Big Boi’s “Church.” Also lending their talents to big are Scar, Big Rube, Joi Killiam, Rock D and Khujo Goodie, as well as members of the musical group Konkrete.
Keeping in mind that cultural exposure, musical and literary expressions, and the invaluable experiences of travel, makes for a well-rounded person, solidifies the result of Big Kidz’s mission. “The importance of exposure is making a young person part of a conversation that society has been having without them for years,” remarks Big Boi about his foundation. “Creating, and having a positive contribution to the world we’re living in, takes knowledge on another level; takes expression on another level, and I want to be apart of making that happen”, ‘Big’adds.
Founded in 1929, Atlanta Ballet is the longest, continuously operating ballet company in the United States. Atlanta Ballet’s eclectic repertoire spans ballet history, highlighted by beloved classics and inventive originals. Atlanta Ballet opened the Centre for Dance Education in 1996 and is dedicated to nurturing young dancers while providing an outlet for adults to express their creativity. With diverse class offerings and student population, the Centre serves over 150,000 people in metro Atlanta each year. Atlanta Ballet’s roots remain firmly grounded in the Atlanta community and continue to play a vital role in the city’s cultural growth and revitalization.
With movies such as “Idlewild”, “ATL”, million of records sold as half of the supergroup Outkast, Antwan “Big Boi” Patton will be releasing his debut solo album this summer 2008. Enlisting producers Andre 3000, Organized Noize and Danger Mouse, the ATLien also looks to mix up musical styles by collaborating with Raekwon and Mary J. Blige. As he recently told Blender magazine (June 2007), “I’m giving the truth about what’s going on with me, with relationships, and politics. But there’s no set formula. I just want to keep it funky.”
For more information about Big Kidz Foundation, visit www.Bigkidzfoundation.org. For more information about Big Boi, visit www.outkast.com.