Professor’s African American spiritual arrangement commemorates Black history through the arts

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an abolitionist, suffragist and poet. She lived from 1825 to 1911, and was one of the first Black women to see her anti-slavery written work published in the United States.

Lynnette Young Overby, a professor emerita of theatre and dance at the University of Delaware, is directing The Artistry and Activism of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a show featuring poetry, music and dance.

The production will close with African American spiritual “Every Time I Feel the Spirit,” performed by members of Essence of Joy, a choir that performs music in the Black diaspora, and arranged by the choir’s new director, Dr. Arreon Harley-Emerson.

Harley-Emerson, now an assistant teaching professor in choral music at Penn State, met Overby through working at the University of Delaware, where she asked him to compose music for the end of her production about Harper.

“A lot of (Overby’s) work is bringing Black history to life through dance,” Harley-Emerson said. “And so this (show) is following in that choreographic style.”

According to Harley-Emerson, “Every Time I Feel the Spirit” was one of Harper’s favorites. He finished arranging it this past spring, and says he’s excited to finally hear it performed.

“There’s a little solo, where you can clearly hear the melody of the main theme,” Harley-Emerson said. “And then I created some counter-melodies and additional melodies. There’s almost a New Orleans, almost 70s disco feel at times. It’s full of energy, full of joy and life and light, (and it’s) up-tempo.”

Harley-Emerson said the arts have a very important role in the telling of history, that by seeing people sing and dance in front of you, it connects audiences to the idea that history doesn’t happen in the abstract.

“(We’re) at a time when history, particularly Black history, has been politicized,” Harley-Emerson said. “I think that the arts help us to understand the full humanity and fullest expression of that history … it brings history into our modern present time, where we can engage with it right in front of us.”

The Artistry and Activism of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper will perform at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, in Eisenhower Auditorium. Visit Frances Harper online for more info or to purchase tickets.

Alex Fischer is a communications intern for the Center for the Performing Arts.