MSJC to Host "Black and Brown Anthology"
Part of Black History Month
A "Black and Brown Anthology" will launch Black History Month at Mt. San Jacinto College at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1,
at the San Jacinto campus theater. The performance is free and open to the public.
The Anthology combines dance, drama and vintage film clips to showcase American history of Black and Mexican
American people from the slavery to the present. Historically accurate, the performance will be "entertaining and fun to
watch," according to Trina Parks, artistic director and choreographer. It will feature a multiracial cast of eight dancers
and singers.
The anthology opens with "The Slave Block," as women and children are sold as slaves in the 1700 and 1800's.
Vintage film clips projected in the background behind the dancers serve as a mini-documentary. The anthology includes a
dramatic scene called "Madam Sul Te Wan." It portrays the first African American actress in silent films in the United
States
The performance continues, scene by scene, including Southern chain gangs and railroad workers. In the 1950s and
'60s, Cesar Chavez and farm workers are featured along with Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Mary Lou Williams,
an African American composer.
Organic by nature, the performance is open to growth and evolution, Parks said, with future scenes including war
veterans from the Tuskegee Airmen to the war in the Middle East.
Trina Parks is an actress and vocalist, dancer and choreographer. She was the first African American to play a
"Bond girl" in "Diamonds are Forever" with Sean Connery as 007. She was also the first African American to be featured
in the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies in Palm Springs where she sang and danced for six years. She has appeared in scores
of movies and stage productions.
Parks is the founder of the Palm Springs Historical Dance Theater Company, which produces the Black and Brown
anthology.
The MSJC San Jacinto Campus is located at 1499 N. State St., San Jacinto, 92583.
Seating is limited. For reservations or more information on this event, please contact Willie Hamilton, Full
Professor, Political Science Chair, Department of Society and Behavior: [email protected] or 951-487-3685 or
Tamara Smith, MSJC History Professor, at [email protected] or 951-487-3644.
Who is Trina Parks?
She starred as "Thumper," the first African American nemesis of James Bond played by Sean Connery in
"Diamonds are Forever."
She was the dancer and actress in "The Great White Hope" with James Earl Jones and in "The Blues
Brothers" with John Beluchi and other films.
She is the daughter of the late Charlie Frazier, the lead tenor saxophonist with Cab Calloway's orchestra
from the 1940s to the 1960s.
The Brooklyn-born dancer-singer-actress grew up with music all around her and she was a natural
performer at an early age. She danced on Broadway and at the Apollo Theater in New York City at age 15.
Trina Parks Credits:
Movies
.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, 1970
.
The Great White Hope, 1970
.
Diamonds Are Forever, 1971
.
Darktown Strutters, 1975
.
The Muthers, 1976
.
The Blues Brothers, 1980
.
Immortal Kiss: Queen of the Night, 2012
.
Television
.
Night Gallery, episode "The Phantom Farmhouse"
.
McCoy - NBC Movie of the Week
.
Dick Shawn Special - Featured singer/dancer - CBS
.
The Hollywood Palace (2 shows) - Featured singer/dancer - NBC
.
French composer Michel Legrand Special - Featured dancer - Paris TV
.
Dionne Warwick Special - Featured dancer - CBS
.
Telly Savalas Special - Featured dancer - CBS
.
Parks also appeared in television specials with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Theater
.
The Selling of the President
.
Her First Roman
.
The Emperor Jones - Principal - NY & European Tour, with James Earl Jones
.
The Great White Hope with James Earl Jones
.
Bittersweet - Principal - Long Beach C.L. Opera, with Shirley Jones
.
More Than You Deserve - Principal - NY Shakespeare Festival, with Fred Gwynne
.
They're Playing Our Song - Principal - Grand Dinner Theatre, with Joanne Worley
.
House of Flowers '92 - Principal - East Coast Tour, with Pattie LaBelle
.
In Dahomey - New Federal Theatre at the Harry De Jur Playhouse, New York
.
Sophisticated Ladies - Starring - US Tour
.
National Tai Pai Theatre - Guest Soloist - European Concert
.
Changes[disambiguation needed] - Principal - Theatre de Lys
.
Ovid's Metamorphoses - Principal - Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles
.
Catch a Rising Star
.
Bread, Beans and Things - Co-Star - Aquarius Theatre, Los Angeles
.
Black Ballet Jazz - Guest Artist - European Tour
.
Black Diamonds - Guest Artist - John Houston Theatre
.
I Don't Want to Cry No More
.
Deux Anges Sont Venus - Guest Artist - Théâtre de Paris
.
Sights and Sounds at Carnegie Hall
.
Eleo Pomare Dance Company - Guest Artist
.
Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. - New York
.
Trina's Tribute to Duke Ellington - One Person Show
.
The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies - 6 years
.
Choreography
.
Clytemnestra & Agamemnon
.
Rumba Trio - Lulu Washington Dance Company
.
Golden Globe Awards
.
Car Wash movie tour
.
"Tribute to the Black Woman" concert
.
Carousal