Up with People

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Up with People (UWP) is an international, non-profit, non-political, non-religious, educational organization, whose goal is to create the potential within people to bring to the world together through friendship and understanding.

The organization is made up of casts of young people who perform internationally. Along with performing the show, cast members participate in community impact activities and assist volunteer organizations as a way to give back to the communities that host them. Today the typical size of an UWP cast has been scaled back. Currently the organization has two groups traveling each year, one from January to June and the other from July to December.

Since 1965, some 20 million people in 38 countries worldwide have been visited by Up with People, over three million hours of community service have been performed, and 450,000 families have played host. There are more than 20,000 UWP alumni in 89 countries.^[1]

History

The roots of UWP reach back to 1965^[2]. In an orientation for new students in July of 2000, the program's founder, Dr. Blanton Belk, described the genesis of UWP as a youth conference, with the purpose of looking for an alternative and more productive way to channel the energy of young people, and to express the ideas that many of the young generation wished to express, then the some of the various demonstrations of protest that were becoming frequent. During the conference, the group (made of high school and college aged youths from across the USA) decided to create a musical production as a medium for their message, and the result was the original Sing Out production. After the conference was over, many of the participants decided they wanted to take new act out on the road. Though Dr. Belk initially resisted, the participants were determined, and intent on heading out regardless. Thus, was born the touring Sing Out group. During its early days, Sing Out was affiliated with the Moral Re-Armament (MRA) organization ^[3][4]. However, the extent to which UWP and MRA were intertwined is a disputed matter. Whatever the case, those ties were dissolved by 1968, when Belk incorporated the Sing Out group under the name Up With People, taking the name of one of the group's popular songs.^[5]

Young people from many countries were represented in the performance of "Sing-Out 65". The cast of Sing-Out 65 traveled to Japan at the invitation of the Prime Minister, with cast members staying in private homes, including the homes of members of parliament. The cast performed on Japanese television and on the Kabuki Stage in Tokyo. Traveling throughout the country — from the island of Hokkaido in the north, to Tokyo and by train to Kobe — the cast took a ferry to South Korea. In South Korea the cast performed at military facilities and visited the Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjeom. Sing Out Asia was formed from the visits of the US national casts and several albums were recorded from Sing Out Asia.

Back in the U.S., the cast became 'Sing-Out 66.' The show toured around the country, attracting volunteers and led to the formation of three "Up with People" casts (A, B, and C). With these multiple casts the show sang and performed for audiences around the world including the U.S., Canada, Europe, Central and South America, and Japan. Training and recruitment festivals were held on Fort Slocum, an island off New Rochelle, New York, for several summers in the mid-1960s.

In 1968 the name was changed to "Up with People," incorporated as a non profit organization, with the encouragement of US President Dwight Eisenhower and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and severed ties with MRA.^[6] Up With People's relationship to local "Sing Out" casts waned in the late 1960s and finally broke affiliation with the Sing Out Program in 1968. Without the support of UWP, the local Sing Outs across the country began to fade away. In 1969, the group performed for Pope Paul VI.^[7]

During the 70s, UWP continued to gain international recognition, being invited to audiences with various heads-of-state such as President Nixon in the United States and King Juan of Spain, and performing at the 1974 World's Expo. An UWP cast performed for Olympic athletes in Munich, Germany following the terrorist attack there during those games, and another was invited to help facilitate the desegregation of Boston public schools in 1975. Other casts of the 70s visited international places of interest, such as Belfast, Northern Ireland, The People's Republic of China, Poland, and Yogoslovia. In 1976, UWP made its first of what would become four total appearances as the halftime show of the Superbowl.^[8]

During the 1980s, UWP continued similar activities, being received by Pope John Paul II, the King of Jordan, and for the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush. They provided the halftime entertainment for Superbowls XIV, XVI, and XX. They also returned to two World's Expos (1982, 1988), returned to China in 1985, and visited the USSR in 1989. ^[9] The first Soviet students to travel with the program would do so in 1990. In 1993, UWP casts would perform for Pope John Paul II again, as well as US President Clinton. The program would return to the Olympics during the 1996 games in Atlanta, and their international expansion would continue with study group visits in Thailand, South Korea, and China. UWP would also be involved in International Red Cross activities in Portugal (1997) and Switzerland (1999). ^[10]

The program moved into the 21st century with its 35 year anniversary, celebrated in Orlando, FL, and performing at World Youth Day in Rome. However, aced with dire finances, Up With People's Board of Directors voted in December, 2000, to suspend operations. While it appeared to be the end of the popular upbeat show, many approaches to re-organization were explored, with the results being the WorldSmart Leadership Program in 2004 and a re-organized "Up With People" touring program commencing in 2005 and continuing.^[11]

WorldSmart Leadership Program

In August 2004, the first semester of the WorldSmart Leadership Program was launched. Now a 4 1/2-month program, the first crew traveled to about 18 cities in North America, Japan, and Europe, starting off with an orientation session in Denver, Colorado, United States. Each crew spent a week in each city, living mainly with host families.

While there was still a performance element, it was not the core focus of the program. Now known as the Celebration, it was a short presentation of dance, music, singing, multimedia, speech, and acting, as well as sharing their experiences of the city. The Celebration's aim was to get the people of the local community together with people from all over the world.

Besides the Celebration, other main elements of the WorldSmart Leadership Program include:

• Direct Instruction — college-level courses and discussions on topics such as leadership, intercultural communication, and world conflict. Some students elected to take actual college classes offered by the University of Colorado-Denver, while others attended general discussion sessions (known as "Stone Soup").
• Regional Learning — learning about the local area and community through tours, guest speakers, courtesy visits, and special activities (e.g. scavenger hunts, workshops, panels). Some of these activities included a visit to a juvenile detention centre, a tea ceremony, the World Expo in Toyota, Aichi, and lunch in a high school made up predominantly of immigrants.
• Community Impact — various community service projects based on various issues, such as education, the environment, immigration, discrimination, the arts, and many more. Projects ranged from visiting schools and interacting with students, to learning about different world faiths.
• Professional Development — internships and special projects in various sections, such as external relations or applied education. Students are also free to organize and run special projects of their own — amongst such projects include a Language Exchange and an in-house magazine.

Besides this, many other side projects and activities were also run and organized by both staff and students, allowing them to use the skills they have learned through the program.

Current program

In September 2005, a restructured Up with People program was introduced.

Today, Up with People provides a six month international leadership program for young adults (ages 18 to 29) from around the world.^[12][13] Each Up with People cast of roughly 100 participants travels together to at least two continents and often to more than six countries with diverse cultural, political, and economic conditions. A second semester program is offered for alumni who wish to continue their UWP experience, and to build upon the lessons learned during the first semester.^[14]

The program emphasizes community projects with international service partners and a global education curriculum. The current show is a multi-media, intercultural program that uses music and dance that attempts to educate the audience about their community’s needs and inspire them to take action. The proceeds from the show are given to a local charity. After each show, a community fair is hosted where charitable organizations set up informational booths.

The group performed in the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and the 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.

Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up with People Story

The documentary film Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up with People Story ^[15][16] premiered at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival. It is an unofficial documentary history of the organization. The film was directed by Lee Storey who is married to early alumnus William Storey.

The film documents the troupe's history from its origins within Moral Re-Armament and the Sing-Out groups. It further shows that the musical group was a front for a religious cult and right wing politics; intended to counter the hippie subculture. The rules of the troupe included arranged marriages. The troupe was funded by corporate entities including Halliburton, General Motors, Exxon, and Searle. It covers the evolution of the organization throughout its successful years and subsequent decline.^[17]

Reviews have noted that while a critique of the organization, the film has also shown respect for those who were involved and demonstrated their good intentions. ^[18]

Notable former members

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• Actress Glenn Close^[19]
• Author Tim Gallwey (The Inner Game of Tennis)
• Composer, Performer, Writer, Lyricist Cecil Broadhurst
• Oarsman Rusty Wailes
• Competitive Analyst Tommy Navarre
• Country music artist Travis Rush
• Contemporary Christian artist Mark Schultz
• Real Estate Expert John T. Reed
• Dutch singer and actor Bastiaan Ragas
• Dutch TV-host Tooske Ragas-Breugem (Idols 1 & 2)
• Filmmaker Tag Purvis (Red Dirt)
• Producer Tina Kendrick
• Actress Amy Hunter-Cornelius
• Jazz Drummer Randy Brush

Popular culture references

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• Up with People was parodied as "Hooray for Everything" in The Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" and in the episode "Selma's Choice", at Duff Gardens.^[20]
• Another parody was done calling the organization "Getting Gay with Kids" in the South Park episode "Rainforest Schmainforest". The song was a take off on the title track of the Up With People album "People are the Energy".
• Up with People was featured in the movie Black Sunday for the Super Bowl half-time performance which actually was real footage of the game and show intermixed with the Hollywood production. They are also credited with singing the National Anthem at the start of the game with Tom Sullivan.
• The Up with People theme song was formerly used by American syndicated radio and TV talk host Glenn Beck as bumper music for approximately six months (he used about 20 seconds of the reprise).
• David Letterman occasionally referred to the "Up with People" kids in his top ten lists through the 1980s and 1990s.
• In Manchester Part I, the first part of the two-episode West Wing Season 3 premiere, campaign strategist Bruno Gianelli complains of the stark pessimism in early drafts of President Bartlet's candidacy announcement, telling Chief of Staff Leo McGarry that he is "reading things that would make the cast of Up with People sit down on the floor and cry."
• In the television series Cheers, Nick Tortelli's wife Loretta performs with "The Grinning Americans," a parody of Up with People.
• In an episode of the Samurai Pizza Cats cartoon titled "Youth is for Exploding," the show's villain recruits a terrorist group named "Blown Up with People" which consists of Doughboy-like robots who explode whenever they sense strong emotions from the populace.
• In the Night Court episode "Muggee", Mac tells Harry that it would take two hours to get a hostage negotiator to the court because the hostage negotiators were being held hostage by a militant splinter group of Up with People.
• In "The Zeppo", episode 13 of Season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xander is seduced by Faith. Xander says to her, "I'm suddenly *very* up. It's just, um...I've never been up with people before."
• In the Popular episode "All About Adam", it is revealed that Mary Cherry was a member of the organization.

References

External links

• Up with People
• Up with People International Alumni Association
• Up with People German Alumni Association
• Up with People Swiss Alumni Association