The Arthropologist

Dance as diplomacy: Inspired by Rwanda, Urban Souls' Walter Hull fuses Africanmotifs and hip hop

Leonard Price of Urban Souls Dance Company in "Across the Waters"
Photo by Amitava Sarkar
Kimisagara Youth Center, Male Development Workshop
Rwandanese dancers in "My Soul is Urban" workshop at Ishyo Arts Centre
Artist Leonard Price of Urban Souls Dance Company in "Rwanda"
Photo by George Guillen
Walter Hull and artists of Urban Souls Dance Company in "Across the Waters"
Photo by Amitava Sarkar

Dance is a form of diplomacy. In fact, it's happening right now in Houston.

When the Urban Souls dancers take the stage on Saturday for Walter Hull's Women of Ishyo, they will be honoring another set of women in Rwanda, who touched his life and work. Hull, general manager of Urban Souls Dance Company, recently returned from a residency at Ishyo Art Centre in Kigali, Rwanda, where he taught, choreographed and conducted empowerment workshops he called "My Soul is Urban."

Hull fused African motifs and urban modern techniques to tell a tale of the vision and persistence that it took to build the successful Ishyo Art Centre. His tribute headlines "Playlist: A Jazzy Night of Music & Dance" at Morris Cultural Arts Center, Houston Baptist University, which concludes Urban Souls Dance Company's inaugural season.

There was nothing arbitrary about Hull's destination. In 2005, the choreographer became interested in Rwanda after watching Sometimes in April, an HBO movie that is considered one of the most accurate films on the 1994 genocide. (The movie screens on August 25 at the Shape Community Center as part of the Houston Museum of African American Culture.)

"I was ashamed, I didn't know about it," remembers Hull. At a John Legend show at House of Blues, he spotted Idris Elba, who starred in the film. (Elba is most famous for the role of Stringer Bell in The Wire.) Hull took it as a sign that Rwanda was in his future. Little did he know just how much.

Hull turned his interest into an artistic exploration when 2007, Urban Souls exploded on the Houston dance scene with Across the Waters, a dance chronicling the genocide. Jointly choreographed by Hull and Artistic Director Harrison Guy, the potent dance told a brutal story, while leaving room for hope and healing. The team delved deep into research to create the piece, sharing their findings and feelings with the dancers. Across the Waters went on to become the standout piece during the Dance/USA showcase in 2009, leaving audiences stunned by its truth and honesty.

When an opportunity to travel to Rwanda in partnership with the U.S. Embassy arose, Hull jumped on board. The plot thickened when he arrived at Ishyo to find none other than Carole Kamemera, who also starred in the HBO film, running the place. "My dance honors Carole and four other women who founded Ishyo and organized my residency by demonstrating how a vision turn into reality," says Hull. "Ishyo started as a dream, and the right people came together to bring it to life. Like us, they believe art should be accessible. But, that's not all, Ishyo was founded in 2005, the same year as Urban Souls."

Fate and destiny collided for Hull, all very far from home, but so close to his heart.

The arts are in short supply in Rwanda, yet more important than ever for a culture still in the midst of healing from a tragedy that we still struggle to understand. Hull found the students excited to get some Western influences in contemporary and hip hop dance. "Hip hop is like a universal language," he says. "They were so eager to learn."

With the mission of Urban Souls global from the get go, Hull eventually plans to divide his time between Houston and Rwanda. But for now, he's pleased to be honoring his Rwandan colleagues with a big dance party. Also on the program is Guy's Pluck’d by Duke, a tribute to Houston’s own jazz legend, Barrie Lee Hall, Jr., with live music by The Conrad Johnson/Barrie Hall Big Blue Sound. Hall, Jr. a renown plunger style trumpet player, was handpicked by Duke Ellington to play in The Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Both Hull and Guy see themselves as arts activists, making a difference in their community, working with young people, and infusing their dances with social messages. They enlist their community organizer backgrounds into their mission. Urban Souls comes full circle by including Hull's tribute to Rwanda, a place that has left it's mark on this remarkable young company. Hull reminds me, "We are a social arts organization."

Urban Souls Dance Company rose to prominence with Across the Waters

Watch the super steamy Urban Souls preview video

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Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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