SHORT SUMMARY
“HELLO!
My name Shidaun Campbell, popularly know as “Africano.” I’m a professional dancer, beatboxer (vocal percussionist), poet and actor currently living in NYC. Over the past 12 years, I have the opportunity to dance with two national dance theater companies including Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, perform with Kenny Leon’s “True Color’s Theater,” receive a Drama & Dance degree at Morehouse College, completed my own beatbox & spoken-word CD while selling over 300 copies during my first one-man show tour, performed at nationwide venues including the world famous Apollo theater in NYC, and organized community arts efforts for the empowerment of children and youth in the United States and Brazil.”
(More about Africano: www.TheHumanBeatbox.com )
“INVEST IN A DREAM!”
I am now producing a one-of-a-kind 45 minute one-man show.
Beatboxing and dancing are my 2 things I can’t see myself not doing. So, bringing the two together made sense. During this show I will be beatboxing and dancing to my own soundtrack while including high-tech LED lighting and sound technology. I’ll also be covering various music and dance genres such as breaking, house, popping and locking. Not to mention, this is all being done by one person…at the same time!
“inVESTid” tells the story of Alex, an introverted high-school sophomore who loves to play video games in his free time. Every day Alex goes to school, he’s bullied and picked by his peers. He doesn’t have many friends and spends most of his time alone. One evening, while going through some of his late father’s things, he stumbles on an old, dusty vest. But, this is no ordinary vest. The vest gives him the ability to beatbox and dance while travelling through time and space. In one night, the vest takes Alex on a journey where he experiences different styles of music and dance while facing some of his greatest fears. With a newfound sense of confidence, he returns to school the next day, and stands up to the school bully in front of the entire class. He then realizes, he doesn’t need the vest to be amazing.
This story is a very personal one because, through it, I am telling my own story. I was the target for bullies on an everyday basis. By middle school, I was contemplating suicide. By high school, I contemplated joining a street gang to gain more respect. It was around that time I started dancing, and my life took a complete turn for the better. Dancing gave me a group of peers who accepted me for who I was. Before I knew it I had a newfound sense of confidence and I began to stand up for myself.
I never knew that simply persistence and hard work on my passion would give me confidence and recognition. I was just doing something I loved doing. Since then, I’ve travelled, performed, taught and met many awesome people along the way. From that point on, I decided to make my passion my career and share it with others.
“INVEST IN OUR CHILDREN!”
I truly feel that my life’s purpose is to connect with the hearts of others and to help them connect with themselves. This is why I will be teaching community-based workshops targeted towards children and youth in every city that I travel to. These dance and beatbox workshops will focus on building self-esteem, character and cultural awareness.
LIBERATION LIVE 