Get on the mic’ or rock the stage

Local college hangout Common Groundz Café
is playing host to Slam Nahuatl, a company that
provides open-mic and poetry-slam competitions for
stressed-out students.

The biweekly competitions are held on Thursday
nights from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is $2 a
person.

“College students go through a lot,” Slam Nahuatl
founder Daniel José Custódio said. “To put what
they’re going through on paper helps. Spoken word
is a way for you to heal.”

The first session of the night is the open-mic,
which includes any type of performance art. Students
interested in presenting a monologue, song, dance
or round of jokes are free to participate.

The second session of the night is the poetry-slam
competition, for which all participants must sign up.
The time limit for each poem is three minutes and
10 seconds.

The next open-mic night is March 27 at 7 p.m.
During the entire month of April, open-mic will be
held every Thursday.

Slam Nahuatl is not only a poetry-slam, but it
also is a movement to connect all talented poets in
the Richmond area. The topics addressed focus on
social issues in the United States and challenge the
mindset of listeners in the audience.

Nahuatl is the ancient oral language of the Aztecs
consisting of expressive metaphors and eloquent repetitions. Poetry was the Aztecs’ highest art form of the
language and is often celebrated in the Aztec culture.
If you want to support their cause in the Richmond
community, attend these events or visit myspace.
com/slamnahuatl.

About Common Groundz Café

In addition to the Thursday-night events at the
coffee shop, Common Groundz has a wide variety
of mixed media to quench patrons’ thirst for the
arts. The shop gives local musicians an opportunity
to book shows.

Only acoustic acts focusing on genres such as Indie
rock, blues, jazz or hip-hop are allowed.
For booking information, call Brandon Matey at
804-366-8586.

The restaurant is located on 734 W. Broad St., which
is on the left side of Broad and Belvidere Apartments.
The establishment’s tagline is “Coffee with a
Cause.”

Common Groundz aims to provide a place of peace
and support for recovering drug addicts. The three
co-owners, Brandon Matey, Scott King and Mark
Fichter are recovered heroin and cocaine addicts.