I've Known Rivers
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World Premiere, August 12, 2005, Saratoga Springs, NY
Choreography • Donald McKayle Music • Margaret Bonds Poem • Langston Hughes - The Negro Speaks of Rivers Tenor • Darryl Taylor Pianist • Maria Corley Costume Design • Melanie Watnick Available for Re-staging: Yes Repetiteurs: Stephanie Powell, Karen Wing Dedicated to the inspiration of the pioneering artist scholar, Pearl Primus, and to the memory of the supreme dancer, Janet Collins This solo has been performed by Stephanie Powell, Karen Wing, Stacie Aung, and Ching Ching Wong. The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. 
Stephanie Powell in "I've Known Rivers"
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