Suzanne gathered everyone near the podium facing the Marnixstraat window view with the American Hotel in sight and started. She briefly spoke of how she came to know Leyla and of her work. Then, she introduced myself, the only model from all of the portraits that was blessed to actually be present for the occasion.
My opening speech was called "Leyla, Jump, The Shoot, Irony And Beyond…" and it went a little something like this:
Firstly, I would like to open up with saying that the WHOLE Jump Project experience has been a true blessing and opportunity of ordinance.
All of you MAY be standing in this room and asking, Well, what does he mean by ordinance? What I mean is, this exhibition and project was meant to happen. It is a very special occasion that would not have been possible without “great minds” thinking alike. It would have been impossible if we all were not in tune and in alignment with one another.
(Look to audience)…with one ANOTHER!! Yes this project is not just about Leyla, Myself or the Melkweg. This project is not even so much about being an international creation of ingenious proportion.
THIS is about ordinary people like US and how we can come together under the most random, rarely intentional and sometimes, most weirdest circumstances! Kind of the way I met many of you guys joining me today. (Chuckle)
How did I meet Leyla T. Rosario?
Well, I was on Craigslist Amsterdam the spring before last- by the way Craigslist is the American Marktplaats for free-advert sites etc. – and I responded to an advertisement of an American photographer who was in search of fresh new meat for her photography project. At first, I was skeptical being that there are an equal amount of fake ads as there are legit ones on the website and it is often a gamble. A gamble that you actually might not acquire the RIGHT opportunity!
Prior to my receiving her reply with a direct link to her website and project, I was a bit in doubt. I had shifted into a NYC state of mind and thought to myself, What if this is some cracked-out, base-out craigslist freak scammer who:
-makes an attempt at trying to steal my identity,
-hack my email address
-or worst; meet up with me in some wet dark Amsterdam alley and bust a bottle of European bubble water over my head and strip me of all my eurocents.
Needless to say, the dollar conversion was already still diminishing by the weeks!
Regardless, I took the risk. I figured if a 21-year old Bronx boy like me could relocated my based to Amsterdam, Netherlands back in 2005 with about $200 to his name… the hope that his Antillean father’s biological family would receive him after being absent for 18 years and surviving a deadly web of Amsterdam’s bus, tram and bikeways…
That YES, WE CAN…take a few photos (and even carry a hidden cork screw for protection, just in case)!
Well, Leyla replied with her full name and link to The Jump Project. It was absolutely breathtaking! We emailed back and forth quite a bit. She and found out that I was a singe building an unconventional album project in Amsterdam. We both discovered that we were both Bronx, NYC natives. The irony grew as we exchanged information, and found out we grew up only a few blocks away from each other. I also found out that she went to my best friend’s high school back on 46th Street in Manhattan (right around the corner from my performing arts high school on 43rd Street). I have shown them both of them pictures of each other and although they are two years apart, they can both confirm each other’s faces to be familiar. The deeper irony is that I Leyla’s mother used to work in the newborns department back in December 1983. I was born on December 31st, 1983!
By the time, the shooting for The Jump Project was about to take off, Leyla and I had already developed a strong bond and trust which, made everything run as smooth as a baby’s bottom.
Rosina Majid, a good friend of mine from England who I met here in Amsterdam in 2006, had accompanied me that foggy and wet Amsterdam afternoon at the top of the NEMO Museum near Amsterdam’s Central Station. This is when met Leyla in-person for the first time. Her boyfriend, Chris (who is a diligent supporter) and the camera crew, who were also from friends from England were also there!
We got busy and JUMPED.
I felt so free like a bird gliding in the wind.
Thankfully, not gliding into the Amsterdam’s IJ body of water.
Nonetheless, it was space-like. I almost felt like an astronaut discovering a new planet.
The subtle breeze created just the right ambiance and I could see all of Amsterdam’s glory and grace.
Now, I came close to slipping a few times while jumping and I could have ended up at the base of the NEMO’s very long staircase. However, I just imagined it was my red carpet. And it WAS!
After having so many interesting conversations and connecting with Leyla and her crew through the shoot, our time was up. Leyla and Chris had to get ready for their flight back home the next day. I honestly didn’t know where the project would end up but, I DID know one thing…that it would end up in the RIGHT places for the RIGHT people to see!!!
Sure enough, a few months later, Leyla contacted me by e-mail, to inform me that The Jump Project would be hosted by the Melkweg Gallery, here in Amsterdam in the New Year. I was bouncing off the walls and began to promote it within my network of family, friends, and fans immediately thereafter.
The future: who knows what it has in store? I personally know that I made the RIGHT choice in coming to Amsterdam four years ago to meet a great talented individual that only use to live a few blocks away from me whom I might NOT have met otherwise…to meet the wonderful musical talents that are backing me up as I forge through with my own self-initiated album project entitled, Stay Tuned releasing before the summer is out.
All in all, know that this will not be the last you see and hear of The Jump Project. Know that this is indeed JUST the beginning. Know that if one of YOU were not here this evening, then maybe Leyla and I wouldn’t be either. This all attests to the fact that if you can:
-focus,
-create goals
-realistically strategize
-take risks
-figure out what you want
…and just go for it, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
Thank you Leyla and Crew, Thank you Melkweg, thank you ALL for this opportunity and for motivating me to take my life, art and ordinance to a totally NEW FRONTIER.
Leyla was stunned and almost cried. As she went up thanking me for what she though would be a short blurb, I could see the emotion and amount of humility running through her veins. She said a few lines and we continued with our festivities!
We had wine and simply talked and luaghed the afternoon away while re-living the shoot, organizing the event and actually enjoying it. People LOVED IT and were showing up even as the gallery doors were closing for the night.
What a wonderful event so many friends and associates new and old came out to support. Amongst many was Amsterdam FUNX Radio's presenter - Aziza, DJ Full Crate, THE Londonite -Eve, Natasja Arie, Nathalie van der Hoeven, English/Dutch Lyricist- ShockNSuprize, Australian singer/writer/humanitarian - Jordan Reilly, Eindhoven Producer- Funktional J, Promoter/organizer- Andrew Hiwat, Amsterdam Producer - ThePrinceOfBeatz, my good friends - Amine, Angele, Karolina, Bart and sooooooo many more.
A group of us dined in the cafe for dinner with Leyla and Chris, her companion and support. The stories - immaculate, the irony continued on and so many great connections were made.
You can see Leyla's work of myself and many others who volunteered to jump for her at the Melkweg Gallery until July 5th, 2009.
The JUMP Project Exhibition 2009 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands from Leyla Rosario on Vimeo.
