“The Great American Melting Pot” is a common metaphor for the American experience. The term “melting pot” was popularized in the United States by the 1904 play The Melting Pot, written by Israel Zangwill about a Russian Jewish family who fled the 1903 Kishinev Massacre for America, where their hope for all ethnicity to “melt away” could be realized. David, the hero and main character, declares:
There she lies, the great Melting Pot—listen! Can’t you hear the roaring and the bubbling?... What is the glory of Rome and Jerusalem where all nations and races come to worship and look back, compared with the glory of America, where all races and nations come to labour and look forward!
But this melting pot theory doesn’t quite capture John Morris Russell’s view of America. “I don’t see America as a big gray slurry,” JMR firmly states. “We are not one homogeneous population that all dines on the same fast food and jives to the same music.” Instead, JMR believes the American experience is better described as a mosaic.
“Everyone in America brings their own special piece to our great panorama,” explains JMR. “The cultural heritage, experiences and perspectives that people bring with them from around the world are like the pieces of a giant mosaic—each distinctive in color, shape, texture, and each beautiful in and of itself. And yet, when all those individual pieces are put together they create an enormous picture of incredible depth and vibrancy that is so much more than the mere collection of those individual parts. As a mosaic, the American experience becomes so much more multidimensional and nuanced, and expresses the enormous opportunity and promise of a diverse society.”
JMR’s fervor over the idea of the American Mosaic is palpable, infectious and almost evangelistic—not some esoteric ideal but, rather, an idea put into action.
“We love Cincinnati specifically because of the diverse communities that have created and continue to create a legacy of cultural vitality here,” says JMR, a perspective he is bringing together on the Music Hall stage for the April 12–14 concerts, The Dream of America. “This program is a love letter to those who have brought the world to the Great Midwest,” reflects JMR. “It tells the story of the immigrant experience through Ellis Island over a century ago and resonates in the amazing cultural mosaic we enjoy in Cincinnati today.”
JMR and the Cincinnati Pops will be joined onstage by the vibrant artistic communities that call Cincinnati home:
This isn’t the first time the Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir and Shanti Choir, founded in 1994 by Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran has joined the Orchestra. The choir, whose repertoire is based on Classical Indian Ragas, was part of the 2014 Classical Roots program and the 2019 Look Around experience.
Cincinnati Baila! Dance Academy’s mission is to bring the proud Hispanic heritage of dance, music and traditional culture to children across Greater Cincinnati. Through dance, Cincinnati Baila! gives children the skills that will serve them for life and keeps the Hispanic tradition alive.
Cincinnati’s Donauschwaben Schuhplattlers, or shoe clappers, keeps the highly energetic Bavarian folk dance tradition active in Cincinnati. The Schuhplattlers are no strangers to working with the Pops, who have brought their jumping, slapping and spinning dances to the Pops since 1995.
Ijo-Ugo Performing Arts Company, Cincinnati’s theatrical African dance and drumming company, seeks to bring awareness to African dance in the diaspora. Ijo-Ugo makes its Pops debut in The Dream of America.
McGing Irish Dancers first joined the Pops in 1997 and teaches the rich history of Irish dance to children and adults. McGing was the first school in North America to have a female, male and team world champion, which ranks them as one of the most prestigious dancing programs in the world.
With this concert, the Alliance of Chinese Culture & Arts USA makes its Pops debut. Its mission is to share Chinese culture, develop “East meets West” programs and partner with professional arts organizations to host public events. It is also committed to bringing Asian culture and arts communities together to showcase Asian creative expression with the hopes of building a more vibrant and prosperous community through the power of arts.
“This is what the Pops is all about: bringing people together with great music.… This is going to be fun!”
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