Skip to main content

Memorial Day Weekend 2023 Cultural Highlight: DanceAfrica Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Throughout Brooklyn

In her essay, "African Dance is Medicine for the Mind, Body and Spirit," dancer, teacher and choreographer Cherie Hill wrote, "The more I perform African dance, the more I discover and enjoy euphoria. When the drums are beating and the body is dancing everything fits in sync and I feel limitless and powerful." 


Photo by Nate Palmer
                                                                                               

Hill is honored with a portrait by Cecilia Lamptey-Botchway that's on display at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House during the annual DanceAfrica Festival. The festival celebrates Black joy and resilience and the regal power of African dance. 

I mark my calendar each year for the DanceAfrica Bazaar, where I often run into old friends and see familiar faces. In a Brooklyn that has quickly become gentrified, I love to see us walking tall, beaming with pride and to quote Bey, "shining, shining, shining, yeah." And I delight in watching the parade of beautiful Black folks swathed in vibrant African wax prints and decked out in fly, Afrocentric street fashions. It's like a family reunion and although all are welcome, it's still for us, by us. 


                                                                                                         

Photos by Tony Turner
                                                                                                          

This year, I'm also excited to take a dance class and attend the main event dance performance. The theme is DanceAfrica 2023 Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua (May 26-29; tickets start at $25; on sale at bam.org), and it promises to take the audience on a "choreographic and musical journey through the past and present of Ghanaian culture, connecting ancestral traditions to contemporary achievements." 

I hope to see you there.

DanceAfrica Program Highlights  

Photo by Nate Palmer

DanceAfrica 2023 Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua (Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam)

National Theater of Ghana's National Dance Company (National Dance Company of Ghana), BAM Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble, and DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers; Produced by BAM

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Ave)
May 26 at 7:30pm; May 27 at 2pm & 7pm; May 28 at 3pm; May 29 at 3pm; tickets start at $25

Under the artistic direction of Abdel R. Salaam, DanceAfrica 2023 Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua program features one of Ghana’s best and most internationally known dance companies, The National Theater of Ghana's National Dance Company (National Dance Company of Ghana). The company will make its BAM debut and perform traditional Ghanaian dances and music, including the royal court dance kete and fontomfrom drumming, and collaborate with the DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers and BAM Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble on stage.
 
Part of the production will take the form of a lively club scene, complete with Ghanaian and Nigerian highlife performed by the 10-piece ensemble Arkestra Africa, featuring Afropop vocalist Amma Whatt, under the direction of K Osei Williams. The show will also include long held traditional programs including “Memorial Tribute to the Ancestors and Elders.”
 
Tickets are on sale now for the DanceAfrica Festival 2023 performances at BAM.org.



Photo by Tony Turner

 
DanceAfrica 2023 Bazaar

Saturday, May 27, 12—10pm; Sunday, May 28 & Monday; May 29, 12—8pm

Free, Ashland Pl/ Lafayette Ave.

DanceAfrica's popular bazaar returns, featuring more than 150 vendors from around the world offering African, Caribbean, and African American food, crafts, and fashion. Celebrate Africa and its diaspora's rich and diverse cultural heritage—and see the streets surrounding BAM transformed into a global marketplace.

 
DanceAfrica Community Workshop

Co-presented by BAM and Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy

Saturday, May 27 at 11am

Brooklyn Bridge Park (Pier 6 Liberty Lawn)

Free with registration, all ages

Caregivers and children alike deepen their engagement with DanceAfrica in this fun-filled, outdoor workshop led by BAM teaching artist and performance art education scholar Dánice Jones on Ghanaian movement and music fundamentals. Space is limited; pre-registration is required. Visit brooklynbridgepark.org/danceafrica/ to register. 

 

Photo by Tony Turner


DanceAfrica Family Workshop

Co-presented by BAM and Mark Morris Dance Group

Monday, May 29 at 10am

Mark Morris Dance Center (3 Lafayette Ave)

Tickets: $12 adults; $15 family of two; $20 family of three; $25 family of four; All ages

The National Theater of Ghana's National Dance Company invites caregivers and children to explore the fundamentals of Ghanaian dance movement and music in this fun-filled, hands-on workshop. Space is limited; pre-registration is required.

 
DanceAfrica Physically Integrated Movement Workshop

Co-presented by BAM and Mark Morris Dance Group

Led by Pat Hall; Monday, May 29 at 11am

Studio B Mark Morris Studio (Mark Morris Dance Center 3 Lafayette Ave)

Tickets: In-Person: $12; Virtual: $10

Dancer, choreographer, and teacher Pat Hall leads this inclusive, interactive class designed for persons with or without disabilities. Choose to participate in person at the Mark Morris Dance Center or through livestream, and discover how African and diasporic dance forms celebrate community and aspects of daily life, providing a unique window into the culture, history, and traditions of its people.
 
For adults, all levels of experience are welcome. When you register, we invite you to share how we can make this class as accessible to you as possible and any other information that will help us best support your experience.

 
DanceAfrica Master Class

Co-presented by BAM and Mark Morris Dance Group

Monday, May 29 at 12:30pm

Mark Morris Dance Center (3 Lafayette Ave); Tickets: $12

An immersive workshop in music and dance led by the National Theater of Ghana's National Dance Company introduces participants to rhythmic traditions and teaches the fundamentals of traditional Ghanaian movement styles. For intermediate to advanced dancers.


General Information

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. Harvey Theater at BAM Strong is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). BAM Fisher, located at 321 Ashland Place, houses the Judith and Alan Fishman Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio.
 
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St. for Harvey Theater at BAM Strong) D, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue
Train: Long Island Railroad to Atlantic Terminal – Barclays Center
Bus: B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM
For more information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.
 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conway Discount Clothing Chain Closing in New York City

(Tracy E. Hopkins) It's the end of a budget shopping era. Conway discount stores are closing in New York City . As of this weekend, a sign on the sole Herald Square location (34th Street btwn 7th and 8th Ave) says the store will close in "7 Days." Before I relocated to the Big Apple, I was introduced to the discount chain while on a bus trip from Baltimore.  I recall the first time I saw Conway's signature pink bags carried by hurried shoppers in midtown. And Miss Foster, the trip organizer and a bargain hunter from way back, took me to the store for the first time. Conway store in the Fulton Mall./Tracy E. Hopkins When I moved here in 1994, my love affair with Conway continued.  I furnished my first apartment with discount knick-knacks and home goods from the store.  And much to my chagrin, in hindsight, I curated most of my wardrobe for my first full-time job from the long-shuttered 42nd Street and Third Avenue store. One regretful ensemble: Lime green and
Post a Comment
Read more

Giveaway: Thank Your Friends with Merci Chocolates!

National Friendship Day was August 4, 2013, but Everything She Wants has decided to continue the celebration with a giveaway from merci fine European chocolates . While some friendships are for a season or a reason, other friendships are built to last a lifetime.  I’m fortunate to have two best friends: Cindy, whom I’ve known since junior high school and Deanna, who started out as my amusing intern.  Besides my mother and my husband, these girlfriends are my greatest confidants.  They’re like the sisters I never had and we’ve supported each other through personal trials and triumphs. So what better way to say ‘thank you’ to your friends than with merci chocolates?  One lucky reader will win a ‘Friendship Kit’  that you can either keep to reward yourself for being such a great friend or share with a deserving comrade. The kit includes: $25 Target gift card (yay!) 7 ounce box of merci chocolates A picture frame to display a photo of you and your friends A choc
86 comments
Read more

Probiotics Do a Body Good: Vitamin Shoppe Tips to Trust Your Gut

You've heard about probiotics.  But what are they and what do they do? We asked the Vitamin Shoppe's on-staff nutritionist Brian Tanzer for the skinny on the benefits of these good bacteria that help keep your gut healthy. Why you need probiotics? I f you eat a lot of processed foods, excess sugar or refined carbohydrates, the bacteria in your digestive tract might have a hard time staying in balance.  And probiotics   inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, promote good digestion, boost immune function, and increase resistance to infection. Tip:   You can find them in  capsule , tablet,  powder  and  chewable  forms. When you should take a probiotic? If you are looking for a probiotic to  take every day, try a multi-strain probiotic starting with 5-10 billion CFU,  and see how it works for you. CFU's, or  colony forming units  are used to measure probiotics potency. CFU’s can range from 1 billion up to 100 billion.  The best time to take a probiotic supplem
Post a Comment
Read more