The collaborative Harlem Air Shaft features art, dance, music, spoken word, and activism
Who: James Brandon Lewis, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Kwami Coleman, Todd Bryant Weeks, Bianca Cosentino, Dolores Sanchez, Emily Tellier, Omari Wiles
What: Experimental multidisciplinary street performance ritual exploring links between jazz and memory in Harlem
Where: 126th & 125th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
When: Thursday, June 24, free, 5:00
Why: Conceived by new media artist Justin Randolph Thompson, choreographer Stefanie Nelson, and visual artist Bradly Dever Treadaway, Harlem Air Shaft takes place on June 24 at 5:00, a forty-minute live performance that recalls the rent parties of the 1930s and 1940s. Melding jazz and memory through ritual, the improvisatory, immersive piece features dancers Bianca Cosentino, Dolores Sanchez, Emily Tellier, and Omari Wiles, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, poet Thomas Sayers Ellis, musicologist Kwami Coleman, and jazz union representative Todd Bryant Weeks, paying tribute to the community and local jazz history, including Duke Ellington (whose 1940 composition lends its name to the work), in the neighborhood where Art Kane took his famous “A Great Day in Harlem” photo.
“With Harlem Air Shaft, I continue the work that started with Friskin’ the Whiskers – a performance project I initiated in 2014 which focuses on bringing together people connected to the jazz community to highlight the economic realities in which jazz musicians have to function,” Thompson said in a statement. “Jazz and economy have a long and complicated history where strategies for developing new systems of community support have always been prevalent. The pandemic made evident to all what many of us already knew. To me, the various forms of cultural production as represented by practitioners from different fields in this piece speaks to the constant need for reminding ourselves about art’s inherent social dimension.” Nelson added, “I have a longstanding interest in the fleeting nature of memory, which I have been exploring in numerous projects with my dance ensemble. Justin, who has been my collaborator over the years, gave me an idea of presenting this concept in the context of jazz and the history of this unique neighborhood. We would like for this piece to inspire the memory of Harlem’s resilient past for a more hopeful, community-driven, creative future.” Admission is free, with no RSVP required.