Paige IN FULL

This presentation held in "Flashpoint" in Northwest D.C. The performer Paige Hernandez and her brother who was the D.J. gave a performance which they said was in inspired by Eric B. and Rakim's "Paid In Full". The elements of dance, poetry and Hip-Hop, new and old-school were incorporated in the hour show that talked about why Paige loves hip-hop so much and how and why she incorporated it in her life. The setting was in a small room with a table decorated with old-school hip-hop albums and the materials on the table for the D.J.

Paige Hernandez discussed her life as a child mixed with black, cuban, and asian decent. Topics such as how the other kids treated her, stereotypes associated with each race, gang violence in her hometown of Baltimore and an abusive relationship were expressed through plenty of dancing, poetry, free styling. At one point she talks about having an identity crisis by performing dances associated with each race, and speaking in the language of each race. She spoke of living in Baltimore, and aspects of its culture that has affected her, such as the club music. Near the end of the play Paige speaks of how the death of Tupac affected her, considering they went to school and rapped together which certainly surprised everyone who did not know her age. Near the end of the play, it is assumed that she "met" hip-hop, which become her one love after an abusive relationship. And of course the DJ was an important part of the show. Besides playing the "soundtrack" to her life, he showed of the element of sampling records in hip-hop by playing some of the most sampled records.

Overall seeing Paige In Full was a good thing mostly because of Paige's spontaneous performance and dance moves. Paige's emotion during the dramatic parts made me relate to her story even more. From the hip-hop sampling section to free styled were all memorable parts to an excellent show. I was looking forward to a part where the audience got to answer questions but the performers abruptly left.