Wakefield is one of five poets that visited Creighton Monday under the moniker Elephant Engine High Dive Revival. The group is four core members: Anis Mojgani, two-time Individual National Poetry Slam champion; Derrick Brown, who has opened for the Flaming Lips and Animal Collective, among others; Shira Erlichman, Pushcart Prize nominee; and Wakefield, two-time Individual World Poetry Slam champion. The group also has a rotating fifth member – Robbie Q. Telfer, who was with them for the performance at Creighton.
Malisa Rushing, the Skutt Student Center student art coordinator, and Matt Mason, who runs the open mic and poetry section of the Omaha Healing Arts Center and is the editor of thepoetrymenu.com, coordinated the event.
Mason contacted Rushig over the summer to ask about the possibility of bringing the group to Omaha. Rushing had never seen the group before, but with the success of the student-run poetry slams of the past two years, she figured the event would work well.
The show started with a new rendition of the national anthem, a much slower and more melodic version of DMX’s “Party Up (Up in Here),” which set the tone for the rest of the evening. Each member of the group presented a poem in turn for three rotations, with a few breaks, including a 30 second dance break. The subject matter of the poems ranged from an evil monster called “The Foam” to the pain of a single mother through her child’s eyes.
Arts & Sciences senior Mary Ensz enjoyed the show.
“It was really innovative. I’m happy to see Creighton bringing in different artists and poets. They push the envelope, and it makes us think,” she said. “We’re at a university to learn how to think, to go beyond our normal way of thinking and having people from all over the country presenting ideas in different ways is exciting.”
“It was fantastic, a lot of fun. It showed that poetry is something worth presenting, and it can be lively. These are really good writers, so it’s nice to see them getting an audience for what they do,” Mason said.
The group formed in 2007 and has been touring under different names always ending in revival. It is a collaboration among the group’s members. “We all have our own thing outside of this,” Wakefield said. All of the poets have books or CDs of solo material published, as well as an Elephant Engine High Dive Revival anthology.
According to Telfer, what connects the poets to each other is their similar worldviews.
“We all believe in kindness, justice and being funny, but life is not a joke to us,” he said. “We all have an appreciation of each other.”
Elephant Engine High Dive Revival performs at a variety of venues, including coffee shops, colleges and the occasional outdoor amphitheater. They even have a show on a double-decker bus in Long Beach.
“We like to be able to perform anywhere,” Telfer said.
The most important thing to know about the group is that their poems can be enjoyed by anyone.
“My friend Scott once said that his life goal is to be able to have a genuine conversation with anyone. I think that’s a good summation of what we try to do,” Telfer said. “We want everyone to try to participate in their own existence.”