Marc Bamuthi Joseph facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marc Bamuthi Joseph
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Joseph in 2014
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| Born | 1975 (age 49–50) Laurelton, Queens, New York, U.S.
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| Occupation | Poet, dancer, playwright, musician, actor |
| Spouse(s) | Kanoelani Connor Joseph |
| Children | 2 |
Marc Bamuthi Joseph, born in 1975, is a talented artist. He is a poet who performs his words, a dancer, a writer of plays, and an actor. He often directs his own hip-hop theater shows.
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Growing Up
Marc was born in 1975 in Laurelton, Queens, New York City. His parents were immigrants from Haiti. When he was 10, Marc started performing on Broadway. He was an understudy for Savion Glover in The Tap Dance Kid musical. By age 12, he was on TV and touring the country with the show.
Marc went to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. There, he joined the spoken word movement with his classmate, Saul Williams. After college in 1997, he taught English and dance at The Branson School.
Marc's Career
In 1998, Marc worked with the Senegalese National Ballet. The next year, he became a National Poetry Slam champion. He was part of the San Francisco team. He also worked with famous artists like Katherine Dunham and Mos Def.
In 1999, he became the Arts in Education Director for Youth Speaks. He later became their Artistic Director. He helped create the Brave New Voices Festival and Network.
In 2003, Marc showed his "choreo-poem" called Word Becomes Flesh. This performance was about love, being a father, and what we leave behind. His work was also shown on HBO's Russell Simmons' Def Poetry in 2004 and 2005.
In 2006, he presented Scourge. This show used hip-hop, spoken word, and dance. It explored the history and future of his home country, Haiti. He worked with choreographers Rennie Harris and Adia Whitaker on this project.
Marc appeared on the cover of Smithsonian Magazine in 2007. Two of his plays were featured at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. These were the break/s in 2008 and Chicago, Sudan in 2011. He also helped start the Life is Living Festival. This festival celebrates Black life. He created an art piece called “Black Joy in the Hour of Chaos.”
2010s Projects
Marc has worked twice with composer and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain. In 2016, they toured their concert, Blackbird, Fly. In 2017, they created an opera called We Shall Not Be Moved. The New York Times called it one of the best classical music performances of that year. Marc wrote the story for this opera.
His play, “The Just and the Blind,” premiered at Carnegie Hall in March 2019. This play looks at the problem of too many people being sent to prison. Marc also developed The Black Whole, which debuted at Laney College in 2020.
Working at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
In 2011, Marc showed his dance theater piece, Red, Black & Green, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). He worked with artist Theaster Gates on this. In 2012, he became the Director of Performing Arts at YBCA.
At YBCA, he created the YBCA 100. This is a yearly list of 100 people who are making a difference. He also started the YBCA Fellows Program. This program helps artists in the San Francisco Bay Area work together. Their projects are shown in an annual exhibition called The Public Square. Marc left YBCA at the end of 2018.
Role at the Kennedy Center
In January 2019, Marc became the Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
The Kennedy Center asked him to write his play, /peh-LO-tah/, in 2017. This play explores Black life and fairness through the game of futbol (soccer). It toured North America for three years. Marc had performed at the Kennedy Center before. He was there for the “One Mic Hip Hop Culture Worldwide” festival in 2013. He also performed Red, Black & Green: A Blues in 2014. In 2018, he performed in a live show of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me.
Personal Life
Marc is married to Kanoelani Connor Joseph. She is an elementary school teacher. They have a son and a daughter. Marc moved to Oakland, California, in 2001.
Awards and Honors
- 2006 Creative Capital Award
- 2006 United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship
- 2011 Herb Alpert Award in Theatre
- 2012 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award
- 2016 Recipient of the Guggenheim Museum Social Practice initiative
- 2017 TED Global Fellow
