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Deutschlandfunk Kultur
How to keep memories of the Holocaust alive, even if there will soon be no more contemporary witnesses? The rapper Dan Wolf relies on art: He gives workshops for young people at places of remembrance. For example in the Ravensbrück concentration camp memorial.
“If you don't have a culture of remembrance, what are you trying to forget? That has become a big question in my work: What are we always trying to forget? ”
Summer 2019. In a large room in the Ravensbrück memorial north of Berlin. Dan Wolf welcomes forty young people, all from different countries. For a week they develop a performance with him, teachers, and artists, which they then present to an audience. Sound, dance and rap are her means of expression. And they meet survivors of the Ravensbrück concentration camp, get to know them personally in order to deal with their history and that of the place. What is happening here is not just a tour of a memorial.
HipHopDX
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Bay Area MC Dan Wolf has released the inaugural single from his forthcoming album Blood and Bones, Skin and Scars. The track, titled “Write The Revolution,” is dubbed a revolutionary party anthem, which takes a little bit of an explanation.
“This song was hard to write because of its party anthem vibe,” Wolf admits to HipHopDX. “I had difficulty giving myself permission not to write about big ideas but to write about something fun. It really was about having fun and expressing the origin story of how I fell in love with Hip Hop, how I became connected to the culture and what it means in my life as a fan and a practitioner…
San Francisco Chronicle
“What we’re realizing now is it’s not just enough, if you’re a teaching artist or performer, to shove your performance into a virtual space,” Wolf says. “You actually have to adhere to the rules and the traditions, even though the traditions are much shorter than, say, the theatrical traditions.” And different platforms have different norms. “When we’re on Twitch, we can’t just do the same things we do on Facebook.”
On Twitch, transparency is key. If you mess something up, you have to be real about it. Also, Wolf points out, you’re not bound by the same storytelling constraints you are in theater. Theater is linear, in that “there is a beginning and a middle and end to the way that those events take place in real space. … In a live-stream context, it’s more circular.” The audience you start with might not be the audience you end with, so you could perform the same song you did at the beginning of the stream so that new viewers can hear it, too.
“Write the Revolution has the rambunctiousness of Beastie Boys mixed with the production prowess of Nine Inch Nails. Dan, however, brings a signature lyrical style and skill all his own - full of rich imagery, and the kind of self-reflective query that makes the listener more introspective.”
— RyanNicole, Artist
“The project’s aim is to move participants emotionally through music, dance and theatre in order to preserve memory. Based on last night’s performance, Warsaw’s tragic past will leave an indelible mark on this group.”
— Stuart Dowell, THEfirstNEWS
“Not every theater artist is ready to be given carte blanche with an audience’s time for 85 minutes, but the Aurora made an excellent selection in Aguirre, Wolf and Wong, all proven performers and creators who know how to keep you on their side.”
— Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle
“Told with hip-hop verve, edgily manic satire and some bracing baseball history, Dan Wolf's adaptation blew open the national conversation about race …”
— Robert Hurwitt, SF Chronicle
“Dan Wolf is priceless as Lyle, a well-meaning white activist trying to “kill white privilege” by imposing himself on Watts as his unwanted assistant.”
— Sam Hurwitt, KQED Arts
“A hip hop and beatbox infused theatrical collaboration . . . Stateless brings a fresh intelligence and rousing energy to the theme of insider-outsider identities and internal exile."