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Saturday, October 19, 2013

orbé orbé at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

Cristina Orbé left her native New York in 2001 and relocated to Seattle, Washington, making three self-declarations: to live alone; to stop watching television and to teach herself how to play guitar. Within three months, she had written her first song and within six months, she was on stage. In the past decade, Cristina has been a spoken word poet, songwriter, singer in a soul-folk band, and a performance artist, and has produced a shadow puppet opera. She is also the co-founder and executive director of an innovative youth food justice program, helping teenagers to become leaders in their schools and neighborhoods through cooking, education and political advocacy. She is also the leader of orbé orbé, which in 2012 released a debut album, Invisible Kingdoms.

orbé orbé was one of many artists performing in the WORDS: Hip Hop & Poetry Showcase & Open Mic program tonight at the Nuyorican Poets Café. In a program and a venue that presented a plethora of poets and rappers, orbé orbé stood out as a left-of-center act. With no live musicians, Christina Orbé sang three songs to her music tracks, accompanied by two dancers. Ten minutes was not enough time to develop what seemed to be a concept presentation, but the sense was that this performance was part pop music and part underground theater. What if the Supremes presented a dark, mystical theater piece? For just a few minutes, orbé orbé merely hinted at such an improbability. It will be interesting to see where this leads.

Visit orbé orbé at www.orbe-orbe.com.

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