
DATE: Wednesday, June 18, 1997              TAG: 9706190639

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  110 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * In some copies of today's Daily Break, which was printed in advance, a schedule for the Juneteeth Festival has an incorrect phone number and outlet for tickets to the stage production ``Summers in Suffolk.'' Tickets are available from Ticketmaster, 671-8100. Correction published Wednesday, June 18, 1997 on page A2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. * AREA'S FIRST JUNETEENTH FEST ILLUMINATES BLACK CULTURE

A PLAY STARRING Marla Gibbs, routines illustrating how slaves used dance to communicate in code and music ranging from gospel to reggae will be features of the region's first Juneteenth Festival, Thursday through Sunday.

Gibbs, famous for her television roles in ``The Jeffersons'' and ``227,'' will portray a slave in ``Summers In Suffolk,'' Friday at Norfolk State University.

On Thursday, at Virginia Beach's Francis Land House - once owned by slaveholders - a choir will perform songs used as codes for escaping slaves.

The festival culminates with activities Saturday and Sunday at the Portsmouth Campus of Tidewater Community College in Suffolk.

``It will display the African-American culture in a positive way,'' said Sheri Bailey, the play's author and festival originator.

``It's going to put a new light on Southern history. We're telling it from a new perspective. . . , breaking stereotypes.''

Gibbs portrays Cleo, a slave determined to have her own way, in ``Summers in Suffolk.''

The critically acclaimed production, which premiered last year in Los Angeles, is a series of one-act plays chronicling African-American life from slavery to the present.

It is set in Suffolk, in and around the Dismal Swamp, where Bailey spent many summer days as a child.

The setting is important because slaves who escaped into the swamp were considered free, said Bailey, a Portsmouth native who recently returned to Hampton Roads from Los Angeles.

She said Gibbs accepted the role because she is a fan of Bailey's writing and sees Juneteenth as an important holiday.

Bailey said she is seeking balance between white Southerners ``who feel we're pointing the finger'' and blacks ``who have been uncomfortable with some forms of arts expression by slaves.''

She added, ``This is our history we're talking about. . . . Art is political. I believe I should use it for solutions and answers.''

``Tap From Slavery To Broadway,'' one of the presentations at TCC, tells how tapping was used by slaves to communicate, so their masters would not know their escape plans.

``Tapping was not done by happy, contented persons,'' Bailey said. ``It was a code used to escape bondage.''

The year-old Juneteenth Festival Foundation - which is sponsoring the festival - has as its goal recognition of Juneteenth as a state holiday in Virginia.

It is a state holiday in Texas. Unofficially, it is celebrated in New Mexico, Arizona, California, New York, Ohio and Alaska. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

JOHN H. SHEALLY II

Renee Williams plays Cleo and Rod Suiter plays Amos in ``Summers in

Suffolk,'' a play by festival organizer Sheri Bailey.

Photo

JOHN H. SHEALLY II

Renee Williams plays Cleo and Rod Sutter plays Amos in ``Summers in

Suffolk,'' a play by festival organizer Sheri Bailey.

Graphics

WHAT IS IT?

Juneteenth commemorates the signing of the Emancipation

Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863. Slaves

were freed only in 11 states. Most of the remaining slaves were