Sam Green and Yo La Tengo will team up for live documentary at Alice Tully Hall
LINCOLN CENTER’S SUMMER FOR THE CITY: THE EPHEMERAL CINEMA OF SAM GREEN
Alice Tully Hall
1941 Broadway at Sixty-Fifth St.
June 13-16, choose-what-you-pay ($5 minimum) www.lincolncenter.org 32sounds.com
Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City heads indoors for the three-part series “The Ephemeral Cinema of Sam Green,” consisting of a trio of documentaries by the American filmmaker featuring on-site narration by Green and live music.
On June 13 at 7:30, JD Samson and Micheal O’Neill will be performing Samson’s score to 2022’s 32 Sounds, with the audience listening on headphones that will be distributed at the theater. On June 14 at 4:00 and 8:00, Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt, Paul Wiancko) will be on hand to accompany 2018’s A Thousand Thoughts, which Green wrote and directed with Joe Bini about the history of the group. And on June 16 at 7:30, local faves Yo La Tengo (Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, James McNew) will play along with 2012’s The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller, which explores the career of the twentieth-century futurist.
Sam Green delves into how we listen and connect with humanity and nature in 32 Sounds
32 SOUNDS (Sam Green, 2022)
Alice Tully Hall
Thursday, June 13, choose-what-you-pay ($5 minimum), 7:30 www.lincolncenter.org 32sounds.com
Sam Green’s 32 Sounds might be about how we hear the world, but it’s also filled with a barrage of stunning visuals that, combined with the binaural audio, creates a unique and exciting cinematic journey.
Green was inspired by his relatively new friendship with experimental composer and musician Annea Lockwood, which blossomed over Skype during the pandemic, and by François Girard’s 1993 biographical anthology Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, in which Colm Feore portrays the Canadian classical pianist most famous for his interpretations of such Bach works as the Goldberg Variations. In 32 Sounds, Green teams with composer, DJ, and musician JD Samson, from such bands as Le Tigre and MEN, to present ninety-five minutes of remarkable delicacy and insight.
The film is best experienced on headphones, which is how it is being shown at Alice Tully Hall, with specially customized headphones with the audio mixed live inside the theater. The sound was recorded binaurally, so the audience can hear speech and movement as if it’s to your left or right, behind you, far away, or close up.
In 32 Sounds, Princeton professor and scientist Edgar Choueiri introduces us to Johann Christoff, a recording device shaped like a human head that “captures sound exactly how you hear it.” Similar technology has been used for such theatrical presentations as The Encounter and Blindness. Hollywood veteran and two-time Oscar winner Mark Mangini (Dune,Mad Max: Fury Road) designed the sound for the film, immersing the viewer into what feels like a three-dimensional universe.
The film kicks off with Green and Samson in a playful scene that sets the stage for what is to follow. “This is a little bit of an odd movie in that we’re going to ask you to do some things,” Green explains. “Simple things, like close your eyes. If you don’t want to do them, don’t worry about it. But the truth is, the more you give yourself to the experience” — Samson then cuts in, finishing, “the more you get out of it.”
The first sound Green explores, appropriately enough, is of the womb, recorded by former midwife Aggie Murch, whose husband is Oscar-winning film editor and sound designer Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now,The English Patient,The Conversation). Over a purplish white screen with no figuration, Green discusses Walter Murch’s 2005 essay “Womb Tone,” in which Murch writes, “Hearing is the first of our senses to be switched on. . . . Although our mature consciousness may be betrothed to sight, it was suckled by sound, and if we are looking for the source of sound’s ability — in all its forms — to move us more deeply than the other senses and occasionally give us a mysterious feeling of connectedness to the universe, this primal intimacy is a good place to begin.”
Green then jumps from birth to death, taking out old cassette tapes of voice messages he has saved from decades past, telling us how “they hold the voices of so many people I’ve loved who are gone. I was wondering, How does that work? How does a little piece of eighth-of-an-inch magnetic tape hold a person? Make it seem like they are alive and in front of you more than any photo or piece of film ever could. I was wondering if sound is somehow a way to understand time, and time passing, and loss, and the ephemeral beauty of the present moment, all the things that I keep coming back to in my movies.”
He meets with Cheryl Tipp, curator of Wildlife and Environmental Sounds at the British Library Sound Archive, who shares the poignant and heartbreaking story of the mating call of the Hawaiian bird the moho braccatus. Lockwood, the subject of a short companion film Green directed, demonstrates how she has recorded the sound of rivers for fifty years, after gaining notoriety for her burning-piano installations.
Foley artist Joanna Fang reveals how she creates sound effects for films using unusual items in her studio, from a bowling ball to a wet cloth. “Art can elevate a truth beyond what is feasibly there,” she says. “And if we pull it off right, hopefully the emotional experience of hearing it and being part of it is enough to make you fully accept the poetry of what you’re hearing. Because isn’t that what we’re all trying to do, trying to take what we’re feeling on the inside and show it to somebody else, or let them listen to it, and have them feel the same way we do?”
Black revolutionary and fugitive Nehanda Abiodun listens to a tape of McFadden & Whitehead’s “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” transporting her to another place and time. Poet and cultural theorist Fred Moten marvels about “ghost sounds” of his relatives. Bay Area military veteran and environmental journalist Harold Gilliam postulates about sleep and foghorns in the context of “being part of this total community of life and nonlife on Earth.” Lebanese artist and musician Mazen Kerbaj recalls being able to make sound art during bombings when others were trapped in their homes or dying.
Green gives examples of recording “room tones,” a documentary process in which the subject is silent for thirty seconds as the sound recordist grabs the natural sound in order to help with later editing. It’s fascinating watching Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Rebecca Solnit, and others sit or stand uncomfortably as they wait, and we wait; we are not used to seeing such stagnation in a motion picture.
Annea Lockwood has been recording rivers for more than fifty years
Deaf sound artist Christine Sun Kim uses ASL to describe vibration and how she was taught when she was a child that sound was not part of her life, a concept that infuses her art. “I realized that sound is like money, power, control; it’s social currency,” she explains.
Along the way Green also looks at inventor Thomas Edison, polymath Charles Babbage, electronics engineer Alan Blumlein, and a classic Memorex commercial starring Ella Fitzgerald. We see and hear Glass playing piano, church bells ringing in Venice, Don Garcia driving through the city in his red Mazda blasting Phil Collins’s “In the Air Tonight,” and John Cage performing 4’33” outdoors. A Zamboni cleans the ice at a hockey rink. A cat purrs. Evel Knievel jumps over obstacles on his motorcycle. Samson blasts away on a whoopee cushion. Danny drives his Big Wheel through the empty halls of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Different groups dance to Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.”
Oscar nominee Green (The Weather Underground,A Thousand Thoughts) edited the documentary with Nels Bangerter; the new, sharp cinematography is by Yoni Brook. The visuals range from a deluge of quick cuts of archival footage to nearly blank screens when Green asks the audience to close their eyes and just listen.
While the film is a technical marvel, it also becomes deeply emotional, as Green and several subjects listen to recordings of friends and family no longer with us, something you can’t get out of a photo album. It made me think of the messages I had saved on my answering machine of my mother, who passed away in 2017; while I try to avoid hearing them — they used to pop up after I went through new messages, sending me screaming into another room — it is comforting to know that they exist, that I can hear her whenever I need to. Such is the power of sound.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
DRAMA DESK AWARDS
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 La Guardia Pl.
Monday, June 10, $105-$205, 6:15 nyuskirball.org dramadeskaward.com
Balcony tickets are still available for the sixty-ninth annual Drama Desk Awards, honoring the best of theater June 10 at the Skirball Center. Founded in 1949, the Drama Desk (of which I am a voting member) does not differentiate between Broadway, off Broadway, and off off Broadway; all shows that meet the minimum requirements are eligible. Thus, splashy, celebrity-driven productions can find themselves nominated against experimental shows that took place in an East Village elevator or Chelsea loft. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of star power at the awards presentation.
Sutton Foster and Aaron Tveit will cohost the event; among the nominees this year are Jessica Lange for Mother Play, Patrick Page for All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain, Rachel McAdams for Mary Jane, Leslie Odom Jr. for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, Sarah Paulson for Appropriate, Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara for Days of Wine and Roses, Bebe Neuwirth for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Dorian Harewood for The Notebook, and Michael Stuhlbarg for Patriots. The Drama Desk also does not distinguish between male and female; the acting categories have ten nominees each, regardless of gender, with two winners. Thus, d’Arcy James is competing against his costar, O’Hara, for the same prize, although they both could take home the award.
Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara are both nominated for Days of Wine and Roses and will participate in the 2024 Drama Desk Awards (photo by Joan Marcus)
Among this year’s presenters are Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick, Montego Glover, Lena Hall, James Lapine, Debra Messing, Ruthie Ann Miles, Andrew Rannells, Brooke Shields, Seth Rudetsky, Shoshana Bean, Corbin Bleu, James Monroe Iglehart, and Steven Pasquale. O’Hara will perform a special tribute to William Wolf Award honoree André Bishop, Foster and Nikki M. James will both sing, and Nathan Lane will receive the Harold S. Prince Award for Lifetime Achievement. Others being honored are the How to Dance in Ohio Authentic Autistic Representation Team, lighting designer Isabella Byrd, and press agent Lady Irene Gandy.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
Thursday, May 30
through
Sunday, June 23
Hudson Classical Theater Company: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Riverside Park
Wednesday, June 5
through
Sunday, June 23
Smith Street Stage: Love’s Labor’s Lost, Carroll Park, Brooklyn
Friday, June 7
Contemporary Dance: David Dorfman, Soles of Duende, and Joffrey Concert Group, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Friday, June 7
and
Saturday, June 8
Interventions: You Look Like a Fun Guy, by Dance Heginbotham, Fort Jay Moat, Governors Island, 6:30
Saturday, June 8
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!: Family Day, with the Halluci Nation, Xiuhtezcatl, Asase Yaa Youth Ensemble, Lena Horne Bandshell, 3:00
Sunday, June 9
Summer on the Hudson: Face the Music, with students from the Kaufman Music Center and members of the Metropolis Ensemble, 125th & Marginal Sts., Hudson River Park, 1:00
Lazy Daze: The Soul of Yacht Rock, with Scott Barkham, Gary Katz, and Greg Caz, Pier 6 Liberty Lawn, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00
Tuesday, June 11
through
Sunday, June 30
New York Classical Theatre: Henry IV, Central Park
Wednesday June 12
Jazz at Pier 84: Antoine Roney, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Soundcake: Aural Confections by Sapphira Cristál & Monét X Change, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Sissy Elliott, 8:00
Thursday, June 13
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Young People’s Chorus of New York City — Red Light, Green Light, Damrosch Park, 11:00 am
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Sound Bites: Salsa Music with DJ Sabrosura, Outdoor Reading Room Terrace, 5:00 pm
Kim Gordon / Sun Ra Arekstra / Slauson Malone 1, SummerStage, Central Park, Rumsey Playfield, 6:00
Blues by the Boardwalk: Jonathan Kalb, Pier 97, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with the Tony Succar Orchestra Featuring Mimy Succar, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Sofar Summer Music Series, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 8:00
Thursday, June 13
through
Sunday, June 23
Shakespeare Downtown: Macbeth, Castle Clinton, Battery Park
Friday, June 14
Porch Stomp, Nolan Park, Governors Island, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Eyal Vilner Big Band’s Swingin’ Uptown: Album Release Dance Party, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Sunset on the Hudson: Viva Deconcini & People’s Champs, Pier 45, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Contemporary Dance: Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Robin Dunn’s ‘SHOUT,’ and Kevin Wynn Tribute, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Summer on the Hudson — Jazz Foundation Presents: Sunset Sounds, Pier at 125th & Marginal Sts., Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Visions of Ubuntu, with Young People’s Chorus of New York City, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Funny Puppet, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco — the Brooklyn Cumbia Festival Presents Noche Romantica with DJ Tenosh, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Saturday, June 15
SummerStage: The Aussie BBQ, with Jebediah, Last Dinosaurs, Northeast Party House, Sheppard, Sycco, Thelma Plum, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 4:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazztopad Presents Hand to Earth, Hearst Plaza, 4:30
SummerStage: Andy Montañez, Charlie Cruz, People of Earth, DJ García, Coney Island Amphitheater, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Kumbia Queers Live: Paraíso Tropical, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Cultura Profética, with Por Más, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with JFUSE & Dada Cozmic, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Sunday, June 16
SummerStage: Corinne Bailey Rae, Dixson, DJ Rellyrell & Dj Ooochild, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Tuesday, June 18
SummerStage: The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Leah Hawkins, Mario Chang, Michael Sumuel, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 8:00
Wednesday, June 19
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!: Juneteenth UNITYFEST, Lena Horne Bandshell, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Some Sing: A Juneteenth Celebration, curated by Carl Hancock Rux, Hearst Plaza, 6:00
Opera in the Garden: Juneteenth Celebration, curated by Kenneth Overton, West Side Community Garden, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Toshi Reagon’s Songs of the Living: Freedom Songs, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Thursday, June 20
Summer Solstice, Socrates Sculpture Park, 4:30
Blues by the Boardwalk: Jimmy Hill and the Allstarz, Pier 97, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance | Silent Disco, with Joe McGinty & the Loser’s Lounge and DJ Bill Coleman, the Dance Floor, 6:30
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Leah Hawkins, Mario Chang, Michael Sumuel, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Sofar Summer Music Series, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with DJ Bill Coleman, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Friday, June 21
Kyo Shin An Shakuhachi Ensemble, Granite Prospect, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00
Sounds at Sunset: Steely Dan Happy Hour, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson: Harlem Moves with Jose Limón Dance Company, 125th & Marginal Sts., Riverside Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance, with Abaddón Tango, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Sunset on the Hudson: Resistance Revival Chorus, Pier 45, Hudson River Park, 6:30
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! with Ana Tijoux, Ambar Lucid, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 7:00
Jazzmobile: Sarah Vaughan Centennial, with Charenée Wade, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Bembona, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Saturday, June 22
SummerStage: The Yussef Dayes Experience, Aneesa Strings, Dana and Alden, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! meets NPR Tiny Desk Contest on the Road — Thee Sacred Souls, Adi Oasis, the Philharmonik, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson — Jazz Foundation Presents: Sunset Sounds, Pier at 125th & Marginal Sts., Riverside Park, 7:00
Summer on the Hudson: RCTA Summer Sunset Concert Series 2024, with Ron McClure & Friends, 96th St. Tennis Courts, Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Electric Fields & DEM MOB: Celebrating South Australian First Nations, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Saturday, June 22
through
Sunday, July 14
Boomerang Theatre Company: Romeo and Juliet, Central Park
Sunday, June 23
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: San Juan Procession, the Garden at Damrosch Park, 1:00
Lazy Daze: Friends & Lovers, Liberty Lawn, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00
Riverside Opera Company: Black Voices, Conference House Park, Staten Island, 4:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground, with Charenée Wade, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Papi Juice, the Dance Floor, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Rosanne Cash, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Monday, June 24
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Brittany Olivia Logan, Hannah Jones, Matthew Cairns, Jackie Robinson Park, 7:00
Wednesday, June 26
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Brittany Olivia Logan, Hannah Jones, Matthew Cairns, Williamsbridge Oval, Bronx, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Emily King and Louis Cato, Damrosch Park, 7:00
Jazz at Pier 84: George Braith, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: ABT Silent Disco with DJ Remeice and Connor Holloway, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Thursday, June 27
Opera in the Garden: La Traviata excerpts, West Side Community Garden, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Double Dutch Fusion Freestyle & Open Jump, with the National Double Dutch League, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Blues by the Boardwalk: Seydurah Avecmoi, Pier 97, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Le Jazz Est Mort, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Central Astoria LDC 40th Annual Independence Day Celebration, with Fleur Seule and fireworks, Astoria Park Great Lawn, 7:30
Sofar Summer Music Series, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 8:00
Thursday, June 27
through
Sunday, July 21
Hudson Classical Theater Company: Coriolanus, Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Riverside Park
Friday, June 28
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance, with NYC Ska Orchestra, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Sunset on the Hudson: the Bad Judies and Randy Jones, Pier 45, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Summer on the Hudson: Bridge Matter/The Reach: An evening of performance and River views, Little Red Lighthouse, Fort Washington Park, 6:30
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Featuring Brittany Olivia Logan, Hannah Jones, Matthew Cairns, Socrates Sculpture Garden, 7:00
Sounds at Sunset: Igmar Thomas & Musical Guests, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Summer on the Hudson: Friday Freshen Up, with Granite Garden, 125th & Marginal Sts., Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Silent Disco: The People Power Disco Hour Is Back! with DJ CherishTheLuv, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Emerging Music Festival Day One, with Chanel Beads, Mei Semones, and Los Esplifs, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Saturday, June 29
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — The Art of Wellbeing: Movement Session With New York City Ballet, LeFrak Lobby, David Geffen Hall, 11:00 am
Emerging Music Festival Day Two, with Horsegirl, Hannah Jadagu, Bloomsday, and Greg Mendez, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 5:00
Shakespeare at Sunset: Theater 2020 presents The Tempest, Granite Prospect, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 5:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco | The Dream Machine Experience, with DJ Ultra Naté, the Dance Floor, 10:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! with Fishbone, Son Rompe Pera, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Sunday, June 30
Summer on the Hudson: Bridge Matter/The Reach: An evening of performance and River views, Little Red Lighthouse, Fort Washington Park, 4:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Voices of a People’s History Pop-Up Performance, Hearst Plaza, 5:00
Shakespeare at Sunset: Theater 2020 presents The Tempest, Granite Prospect, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 5:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground, with Dezron Douglas, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance, with ARS NOVA NAPOLI and E SENZA L’ACQUA LA TERRA MORE, the Dance Floor, 6:00 pm
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with RARA TECH and Gardy Girault, the Dance Floor, 8:00 pm
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — 20th Annual NYC in C: Terry Riley’s in C, Damrosch Park, 8:00 pm
Monday, July 1
Madison Cunningham / La Lom / John-Robert / Corrente: Beatriz Mira & Tiago Barreiros, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Tuesday, July 2
through
Sunday, July 7
New York Classical Theatre: Henry IV, Carl Schurz Park
Wednesday, July 3
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Pharoahe Monch & Friends: Internal Affairs 25th Anniversary, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Mr. Life of Your Party fka DJ FLY TY, the Dance Floor, 10:00 pm
Friday, July 5
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance, with the Steven Oquendo Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Silent Disco, with Silent Disco With Cruz, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Tania León and the Harlem Chamber Players, with Terrance McKnight, Josh Henderson, Leyland Simmons, and the Harlem School of the Arts, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Brasil Summerfest with Rogê, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Cruz, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Saturday, July 6
Queens Night Market, with Renaissance Youth, DJ Top Notch, Studio B Band, and the Werners, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Silent Disco: Big Umbrella Day Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson: Silent Disco, Pier I, Riverside Park, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Film Night: Do the Right Thing, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Summer on the Hudson: RCTA Summer Sunset Concert Series 2024, with Steve Sandberg Quartet, 96th St. Tennis Courts, Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Anthem to US Concert, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Khalil, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Saturday, July 6
through
Sunday, July 28
The Classical Theatre of Harlem: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marcus Garvey Park
Sunday, July 7
Domingo World at Edgemere Farm, with Tomoki Sanders Trio, @b.oon.e, Drone Daddies, and WIFE, Queens, 1:00
Staten Island Philharmonic, Conference House Park, Staten Island, 4:00
SummerStage: Ezra Collective, Celeste, Da Chick DJ, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground, with Melanie Scholtz, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson: Amplified Sundays feat. La Banda Chuska, Pier I, Riverside Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Silent Disco: The Brooklyn Cumbia Festival Presents La Colocha, the Dance Floor, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Passing the Crown: Celebrating the Queens of Hip-Hop, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Seen, Sound, Scribe, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:30
Federation Sound 25th Anniversary Featuring Sister Nancy / Tanto Metro & Devonte and Friends, Coney Island Amphitheater, 5:00
Tuesday, July 9
Live at the Gantries: Cheo, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Naumburg Orchestral Concerts: A Far Cry, with works by Kareem Roustom, Kinan Azmeh, Dinuk Wijeratne, and Leoš Janáček, hosted by Terrance McKnight, Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, 7:30
Tuesday, July 9
through
Sunday, July 14
New York Classical Theatre: Henry IV, Castle Clinton, Battery Park
Wednesday, July 10
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music with Eyeglasses, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Opera in the Garden: Opera Fairy Tales, including songs from Hansel and Gretel,Cinderella, and Rusalka, West Side Community Garden, 6:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Alisa Amador, Oval Lawn, Madison Square Park, 6:00
LAMC and Latin Grammy 25th Anniversary, with Fonseca, Israel Fernandez, Bruses, DJ Gia Fu, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Santi Debriano’s Arkestra Bembe, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Blues & Greens: A Performance by Ruthie Foster and a Conversation with Suzan-Lori Parks and Majora Carter, Little Island, the Glade, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week — Avimukta: Where the Seeker Meets the Sacred, by Aparna and Ranee Ramaswamy for Ragamala Dance Company, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Silent Disco, with Rajuju, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Wednesday, July 10
through
Sunday, July 14
Suzan-Lori Parks hosts and curates music and conversations, the Glade, Little Island
Thursday, July 11
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Inclusive Dance Class with Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance for PD, the Garden at Damrosch Park, 5:00
TSQ Live 2024: Jazz with Ivan Llanes & Friends, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Works & Process: It’s Showtime NYC!, Maimouna Keita African Dance Company, Kash Gaines’s Caged Birds, Von King Park, 6:00
Live at the Archway: Brasil Summerfest, with art wall by Noah Lyon, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Summer Evenings in the Garden, with Cheryl Pyle, Merchant’s House Museum, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Social Dance, with Garba360 Featuring Ujjval Vyas Musicals, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Central Astoria Summer Concert Series, with Emerald City Underground, Astoria Park Great Lawn, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Sonny Singh, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
Plaza Theatrical presents A Grand Night for Singing, featuring Rodgers & Hammerstein classics, George Seuffert Sr. Bandshell, Forest Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Silent Disco, with DJ Offering Rain, the Dance Floor, 10:00
The Runway & the Street: A conversation with fashion designer Daisy Wang, with a performance by MC Corey James Gray & Freestyle Monday, the Glade, Little Island, 10:00
Friday, July 12
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Travels over Feeling: Celebrating Arthur Russell, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Sounds of Detroit: Celebrating 50 Years of J Dilla Feat. the Pharcyde, Slum Village, Breakbeat Lou, Rich Medina, Von King Park, 6:00
TSQ Live 2024: Summer Friday Concerts with Retrograded, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 6:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Thandiswa Mazwai, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Sounds at Sunset: Yacouba Sissoko, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City India Week: Parampara and SAZ ft. Sumitra Das Goswami, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Living Music Underground: Ringdown, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with Ashu Rai, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Outer Space & Inner Space: A conversation with Columbia Astronomy Professor Jane Huang, with a performance by the Psychedelic Soap Box, the Glade, Little Island, 10:00
Saturday, July 13
La Dee Streeter, Pavillion in Silver Lake Park, Staten Island, 2:00
The Big Busk with Citizen Cope and special guest Clarence Greenwood and Friends, Granite Prospect, Brooklyn Bridge Park 3:30
Mike’s Young World IV: Earl Sweatshirt, Myaap, Sideshow, Stahhr, Stacy Epps, Von King Park, 4:00
Festival Minokan 2024: Ann Tounnen Nan Matris, featuring history, talks, workshops, live music and dance, a ceremony, and more, Wyckoff House Museum, 4:00
SummerStage: LAMC, with Bresh, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Work & Play: Watch Me Work with Suzan-Lori Parks & Hansol Jung, with Suzan-Lori Parks’ Sula & the Joyful Noise, the Glade, Little Island, 6:30
Summer on the Hudson: RCTA Summer Sunset Concert Series 2024, with Debbie Deane, 96th St. Tennis Courts, Riverside Park, 7:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! with Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Lollise, Rich Medina, IAM LOVE, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Comedy Night, with Aasif Mandvi, Hari Kondabolu, Nimesh Patel, Aparna Nancherla, and Kiran Deol, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, with. DJ Rekha, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Sunday, July 14
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: India Week with SAZ Sunrise Concert, Hearst Plaza, 5:00 am
Bastille Day 2024 Celebration, with “Les visages de la Francophonie,” Anne Collod’s Blank Placard Dance, replay reimagining of Anna Halprin’s 1967 performance, music by DJ Julien, and more, Madison Ave. between Fifty-Ninth & Sixty-Third Sts., noon – 5:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! at Highland Park, 3:00
Common & Pete Rock, Von King Park, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: India Week with RHEOLOGY in concert, Hearst Plaza, 5:00
Golden Oldies on the Boardwalk: Oldies Is Back in Brooklyn Feat. Frank Pizarro from the Platters, Charlie Thomas’ Drifters with Jeff Hall, the Marvelettes, Bill Haley Jr’s Comets, Johnny Farina, the Excellents, the Chiclettes, and Vinnie Medugno, hosted by Joe Causi and Sal Abbatiello, music by the Coda Band, Coney Island Amphitheater, 5:00
SummerStage: Bastille Day, with IAM, Magic System, the Avener, Laurie Darmon, Femi the Scorpion, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 5:30
Lineup TBA, Von King Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: India Week Jazz Underground with Priya Darshini, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: India Week Silent Disco with Roshni Samlal (aka DJ Raat Ki Rani), the Dance Floor, 6:00
Summer on the Hudson: Amplified Sundays feat. Falsa, Pier I, Riverside Park, 7:00
Past & Future: A conversation with Suzan-Lori Parks and Eric Foner, and a performance by Brandee Younger, the Glade, Little Island, 7:00
Monday, July 15
Broadway by the Boardwalk, with Eden Espinosa, Clinton Cove, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Tuesday, July 16
TSQ Live 2024: DJ sets with Soul Summit, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Live at the Gantries: Calvin Johnson & Native Son, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Wednesday, July 17
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Salieu Suso, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: JACK Quartet with Tania León, Oval Lawn, Madison Square Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Silent Disco: Keep on Dancin’, a Dance Party Celebrating the Spirit of the Paradise Garage, with DJ Joey Llanos and DJ David DePino, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Dick Griffin Big Band, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Brasil Summerfest with Gilsons, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Thursday, July 18
Live at the Archway: Sonóra Nuyorkina, with art wall by 20×200 in collaboration with Joan LeMay, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Jeremy Bosch & His Orchestra, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Claudia Acuña, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
Friday, July 19
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Juilliard Summer Programs Showcase, Hearst Plaza, 1:30
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Richie Ray, Meridian Brothers, and Madame Vacile, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Sounds at Sunset: Yacouba Sissoko, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Louis Cato, Bryant Park Picnic Performances, 7:00
Dance Performances: Solo & Ensemble — Suchitra Mattai: We are nomads, we are dreamers, Socrates Sculpture Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Living Music Underground, with Claire Chase, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, Damrosch Park, 8:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Haza, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Rena Anakwe will deliver a free sonic intervention underneath Liggett Hall archway on Governors Island on July 20
Saturday, July 20
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: The Art of Wellbeing, with Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, Griffin Sidewalk Studio, David Geffen Hall, 10:00 & 11:30 am
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: 79rs Gang, LeFrak Lobby, David Geffen Hall, noon
SummerStage: DJ Rekha’s Basement Bhangra Beyond, with Priya Ragu, Ami Dang, Lady Pista, and special guests, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Civic Saturdays: WNYC’s Public Song Project — The People’s Concert, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Habibi Festival at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Gorgeous Gorgeous and DJ Louie XIV, the Dance Floor, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Symphony of Choice: A Crowd-Composed Concert, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Interventions: Rena Anakwe, Liggett Hall archway, Governors Island, 7:30
Sunday, July 21
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: La Casita, Hearst Plaza, 4:30
SummerStage: DMC & Friends, Jadakiss, the Hoodies, and Statik Selektah, hosted by Ralph McDaniels, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground with Jalen Baker Quartet, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Yerin Baek, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with mdnghtdiningclub, the Dance Floor, 8:00
Summerstage: Proyecto Uno, Milly y Quezada, DJ Miguelito, and Excarlet Molina, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Monday, July 22
Broadway by the Boardwalk, with Ramin Karimloo, Clinton Cove, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Tuesday, July 23
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Relaxed Open Rehearsal: Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 10:30 am
Live at the Gantries: Super Yamba Band, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Tuesday, July 23
and
Wednesday, July 24
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and a Huang Ruo Premiere, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Wednesday, July 24
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Scott Stenten, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
SummerStage: Arooj Aftab, Sid Sriram, Emel, and DJ Rekha, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Carnegie Hall Citywide: Ekep Nkwelle, Oval Lawn, Madison Square Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Danny Lipsitz and the Brass Tacks Ballroom Orchestra, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Jazz at Pier 84: Joaquin Pozo y la Clave Suena, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Wednesday, July 24
through
Sunday, July 28
Justin Vivian Bond: A Week of Cabaret, the Glade, Little Island, 6:30 or 10:00
Thursday, July 25
Live at the Archway: Jerron Paxton and Dennis Lichtman, with art wall by Emily Nam, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Stud Country, the Dance Floor, 6:30
The Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series: Salcedo’s Latin Soul, Travers Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Shallow Alcove, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
Thursday, July 25
through
Saturday, August 3
The Drilling Company presents Shakespeare in the Parking Lot: Twelfth Night, 145 Stanton St.
Thursday, July 25
through
Sunday, August 18
Hudson Classical Theater Company: Twelfth Night, Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Riverside Park
Friday, July 26
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center: Festival Orchestra Pre-Show Panel Discussion, Griffin Sidewalk Studio, David Geffen Hall, 6:00
Sounds at Sunset: Brooklyn Americana Music, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Carnegie Hall Citywide, with Michael Olatuja & Lagos Pepper Soup, Bryant Park, 7:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Fefita La Grande, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Living Music Underground, with Rafiq Bhatia, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Friday, July 26
and
Saturday, July 27
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center: Kazem Abdullah Conducts Brahms and Stravinsky, geaturing Benjamin Beilman in the Avery Fisher Legacy Concert, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Friday, July 26
through
Sunday, July 28
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Urban Bush Women’s 40th Anniversary, multiple locations and times
Saturday, July 27
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Choreograph the Future, with the NYC Hustle Dance Machine, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Rhapsody for This Land: The American Odyssey in Music, with Lara Downes, Time for Three, Christian McBride, Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, Arturo O’Farrill, Orchestra Elena & Aram Demirjian, Emily Warren Roebling Plaza under the Brooklyn Bridge, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Watchhouse and Black Belt Eagle Scout, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Patrice Roberts, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, Astro Disco with The Illustrious Blacks, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Sunday, July 28
Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Nueva York’s Annual Guelaguetza Festival, Socrates Sculpture Park, noon
Sounds at Sunset: Steely Dan Happy Hour, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00
SummerStage: Catalan Sounds on Tour, with Sidonie, Balkan Paradise Orchestra, Lau Noah, and DJ Turmix, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground with Jerome Jennings, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Los Van Van, Damrosch Park, 7:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with S.N.O.B., the Dance Floor, 8:00
Monday, July 29
Broadway by the Boardwalk, with Bradley Gibson, Clinton Cove, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Tuesday, July 30
Live at the Gantries: Fabio Rojas Quintet, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Tuesday, July 30
and
Wednesday, July 31
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducts Haydn and Ginastera, featuring J’Nai Bridges singing Lieberson’s Neruda Songs, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Tuesday, July 30
through
Saturday, August 3
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: BAAND Together Dance Festival, with Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem, workshops at LeFrak Lobby in David Geffen Hall, live performances in David H. Koch Theater
Wednesday, July 31
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with G Wyll, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Jaime Lozano & the Familia: ¿Bailamos?, the Dance Floor, 6:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Axel Tosca Trio featuring Xiomara Laugart, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Once on This Island, in American Sign Language by Deaf Broadway, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Thursday, August 1
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Inclusive Dance Class with Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance for PD, the Garden at Damrosch Park, 5:00
SummerStage: Chuck Chillout 40th Radio Anniversary Party, with Ice T, Mop, Schoolly D, Peter Gunz & Lord Tariq, Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud, CL Smooth, Joeski Love, D.J. Breakout, Funky Four + 1 More, Ultramagnetic MCs, DJ Chuck Chillout & Kool Chip, Nine, Al B. Sure!, music by Funk Flex, hosted by Ralph McDaniels & Bugsy Buggs, Crotona Park, 6:00
Live at the Archway: Gentleman Brawlers, with art wall by Annick Martin, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Gordon Webster, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Madame Vacile, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Friday, August 2
SummerStage: The Tedsmooth Freestyle Jam Feat. Coro, C-Bank, DJ Serg, Anthony Mangini, Tedsmooth, JayboogieNYC, and Strafe, Crotona Park, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Meshell Ndegeocello — No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, Talibah Safiya, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Luis Perico Ortiz & His Orchestra / Silent Disco with Gia Fu, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Carnegie Hall Citywide, with La Excelencia, Bryant Park, 7:00
Sounds at Sunset: PAAK Appreciation, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Living Music Underground with Josh Johnson, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Friday, August 2
and
Saturday, August 3
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Jeannette Sorrell Conducts Bologne and Mozart: An evening of Classical revolutionaries, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Saturday, August 3
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Yacouba Sissoko & SIYA, LeFrak Lobby, David Geffen Hall, noon
Mark Morris Dance Group, Pier 1Harbor View Lawn, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2:00
Ginetta’s Vendetta, Faber Park Recreation Center, Staten Island, 2:00
Public Pop Up: Queens Night Market, with the Gentleman Brawlers, a screening of Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado About Nothing, and more, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 4:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: globalFEST, 4:30
SummerStage: The Originals Featuring Stretch Armstrong, Clark Kent, Rich Medina, and Tony Touch, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
SummerStage: King Promise, Dan Price the Artist, and DJ Faddah Faddah, Crotona Park, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: globalFEST Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 10:00
Saturday, August 3
through
Sunday, September 15
Theater for the New City: The Socialization of a Social Worker, or The Fight for Social Justice, parks across all five boroughs, 2:00 or 5:00
Sunday, August 4
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Jazz Underground with Caroline Davis’ Alula, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 6:00
SummerStage: Galactic Featuring Irma Thomas, the Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr., anf DJ Greg Caz, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
SummerStage: Nems Presents: Gorillafest Featuring Ghostface Killah, DJ Drewski & Friends, Statik Selektah, Scram Jonesn Tony Touch, and more, Coney Island Amphitheater, 5:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Steel Pulse, Damrosch Park, 8:00
Monday, August 5
Broadway by the Boardwalk, with Adam Jacobs and Arielle Jacobs, Clinton Cove, Hudson River Park, 6:30
Tuesday, August 6
Live at the Gantries: Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Tuesday, August 6
and
Wednesday, August 7
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center — Jonathon Heyward Conducts Mendelssohn, featuring Ryan Roberts playing Vaughan Williams’s Oboe Concerto, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Wednesday, August 7
SummerStage: Ballet Hispánico, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Whitney Marchelle, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Wednesday, August 7
through
Saturday, August 24
Hip to Hip Theatre Company: The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, nine parks in Queens, Jersey City, and Southampton
Thursday, August 8
Live at the Archway: Tracy Bonham, with art wall by Joshua Reynolds, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Social Dance with Louie Vega & the Elements of Life, the Dance Floor, 6:30
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City Spotlight: House of Noire Presents Legends, Divas & Icons, David Rubenstein Atrium, 7:30
’70s Disco Party, George Seuffert Sr. Bandshell, Forest Park, 7:30
Friday, August 9
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Pan on the Plaza Featuring Elite Pan Consortium, Hearst Plaza, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Jesse Royal, Anant Pradhan & Larry McDonald, and Ayanna Heaven, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Joe’s Pub — Broadway en Spanglish, with Jaime Lozano and Florencia Cuenca, Bryant Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Living Music Underground with JACK Quartet, the Underground at Jaffe Drive, 8:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Silent Disco with Mr. Life of Your Party fka DJ FLY TY, the Dance Floor, 9:00
Friday, August 9
and
Saturday, August 10
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City — Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center: Jonathon Heyward Conducts Schumann / Conrad Tao Plays Bach, Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 7:30
Friday, August 9
and
Saturday, August 10
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: MVP, a multimedia stage play inspired by the music of Melvin Van Peebles, with Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, Alice Tully Hall, 7:30
Saturday, August 10
Celebrate World SteelPan Day, Brooklyn Bridge Park, noon
Blues BBQ Festival, with Alexis P. Suter, Blackcat Zydeco featuring Dwight Carrier, Sheryl Youngblood, Joe Louis Walker, and Altered Five Blues Band, Pier 76, 1:00 – 9:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Ruidosa Fest, 4:30
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: New Victory Theater, with Ephrat Asherie + Barkin/Selissen Project, Bryant Park, 5:00
SummerStage: Gotta Have House: Aly-Us, Lady Alma, Keith Thompson, Strafe, Entouch, and D-Train, Stapleton Waterfront Park, 6:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, with Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul and Sinkane | Ushka, Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park, 6:30
SummerStage: VP Records 45th Anniversary, with Morgan Heritage Homecoming, “A Tribute to Peetah Morgan” Featuring Morgan Heritage and Friends, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Lincoln Center Presents Summer for the City: Ruidosa Fest Silent Disco, the Dance Floor, 8:00
Sunday, August 11
Open Studios: Fogo Azul, Pier 6 Picnic Tables, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2:00
Hip to Hip Theatre Company: The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Socrates Sculpture Park, 4:30
SummerStage: Tito Nieves, Cynthia, DJ Lucy Euclid, and Vinnie Medugno, Stapleton Waterfront Park, 5:00
SummerStage: WBLS 50th Anniversary Celebration, with Jon B, Vivian Green, Meli’sa Morgan, Horace Brown, Jeff Redd, and music by Funk Flex, Coney Island Amphitheater, 7:00
Monday, August 12
Public Pop Up: Public Works presents Let’s Hear It for New York!, with a participatory community-led dance piece to Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind,” a screening of Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado About Nothing, and more, Central Park Frisbee Hill, 6:00
Tuesday, August 13
Live at the Gantries: Lulada Club, Gantry Plaza State Park, 7:00
Wednesday, August 14
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Samoa Wilson, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Jazz at Pier 84: Debbie Knapper and the Knappertime Band, Hudson River Park, 7:00
Wednesday, August 14
through
Sunday, August 18
Language City: Five Nights, Five Boroughs, poetry, music, and movement, the Glade, Little Island, 6:30 or 10:00
Thursday, August 15
Live at the Archway: Queerchella, with art wall by Melanie Hope Greenberg, Manhattan Bridge Archway, Brooklyn, 6:00
The Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series: Sam Martinelli & the Brazilian Jazz Collective, Rockaway Beach Park, 7:00
Queensboro Dance Festival, George Seuffert Sr. Bandshell, Forest Park, 7:00
Friday, August 16
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: World Music Institute, with Gyedu-Blay Ambolley + Natu Camara, Bryant Park, 7:00
Jazzmobile & Summerstage Present A Max Roach 100th Tribute, with M’boom, Featuring Warren Smith and Joe Chambers, the Kojo Melché Roney Experience, Marcus Garvey Park, 7:00
Friday, August 16
through
Monday, August 19
House Fest 2024, Nolan Park and Colonels Row, Governors Island
Saturday, August 17
Queens Borough Dance Festival, Fort Totten Park Lawn, Queens, 5:00
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! with Lila Iké and screening of Bob Marley: One Love, the Lawn at Brower Park, 5:00
SummerStage: Palmwine Festival NYC, with Show Dem Camp Feat. the Cavemen and Friends, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Big Summer Chop & Vibes, Pier 3 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 6:00
SummerStage: The Soapbox Presents The Life of the Party, Marcus Garvey Park, 6:00
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Jalopy Theatre, with Cristina Vane, Slavic Soul Party!, and Guachinangos, Bryant Park, 7:00
Sunday, August 18
SummerStage: Funk Flex Birthday Party with Slick Rick, Dana Dane, Doug E. Fresh, DJ Maseo, and more, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
SummerStage: Special Uptown Edition Celebrating 40 Years of Red Alert & Ralph McDaniels Video Music Box, Marcus Garvey Park, 5:00
Wednesday, August 21
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Hasta La Zeta, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: Vanisha Gould, the Glade, Little Island, 8:30
Thursday, August 22
SummerStage: Brazilian Day, with Alcione, Larissa Luz, DJ Malfeitona, and screening of Gerson King Combo, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: June McDoom, the Glade, Little Island, 8:30
Friday, August 23
SummerStage: Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, with Christian McBride Big Band and Wallace Roney Jr., Marcus Garvey Park, 7:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: Lau Noah, the Glade, Little Island, 10:00
Friday, August 23
and
Saturday, August 24
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: New York City Opera presents Tosca, Bryant Park, 7:00
Saturday, August 24
SummerStage: Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, with Carmen Lundy, Helen Sung, Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few, Tyreek McDole, and DJ Kulturedchild aka Angelika Beener, Marcus Garvey Park, 3:00
Unrehearsed: R&J, Needs More Work Productions vs. Barefoot Shakespeare Company, Summit Rock, Central Park, 4:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: Sullivan Fortner, the Glade, Little Island, 8:30
Sunday, August 25
SummerStage: Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, with Louis Hayes, Superblue: Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter Ft. Huntertones, Ekep Nkwelle, Alexis Lombre, and DJ Kulturedchild aka Angelika Beener, Tompkins Square Park, 3:00
Curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant: Arooj, the Glade, Little Island, 8:30
Tuesday, August 27
SummerStage: Snail Mail, Tim Heidecker and Fenne Lily, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 6:00
Wednesday, August 28
TSQ Live 2024: Live Music with MTA Music, with Gabriel Aldort, TSQ Plaza, Times Square, 5:00
Wednesday, August 28
through
Sunday, September 1
Curated by Standing on the Corner: a week of music and performance art, the Glade, Little Island, 7:00 or 10:00
Friday, August 30
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Asian American Arts Alliance, with Vijay Iyer Trio, Bryant Park, 7:00
Saturday, August 31
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Contemporary Dance, with Mark Morris Dance Group, Blacks in Ballet, and Reed Luplau, Bryant Park, 7:00
Sunday, September 1
Staten Island Philharmonic, Conference House Park, Staten Island, 4:00
Thursday, September 5
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Accordions Around the World, with Dwayne Dopsie, Afro Dominicano, and Lakou Mizik, Bryant Park, 7:00
Friday, September 6
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: American Symphony Orchestra presents Beyond the Hall, led by music director Leon Botstein, Bryant Park, 7:00
Monday, September 9
SummerStage: WNYC and Friends Centennial Celebration, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 7:00
Thursday, September 12
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: Harlem Stage, with Eddie Palmieri, Bryant Park, 7:00
Friday, September 13
Bryant Park Picnic Performances: The Town Hall and Belongó presents The Man with the Golden Horn, featuring James Bond songs, Bryant Park, 7:00
Richard Move / MoveOpolis!’s Devrai (Sacred Grove) is part of “Prelude in the Parks” festival (photo by Ben Parker / courtesy of the Segal Theatre Center of the Graduate Center CUNY)
PRELUDE IN THE PARKS: PERFORMANCES FOR THE PLANET
Multiple locations in all five boroughs
June 7-9, free www.thesegalcenter.org
Musicians, poets, dancers, storytellers, actors, and other creators and performers will spread across all five boroughs June 7-9 for “Prelude in the Parks: Performances for the Planet.” Curated by Mov!ngCulture Projects founding director and creative producer Robin Schatell and Segal Center executive director Dr. Frank Hentschker, the special event, an initiative of CUNY’s Segal Theatre Center, features free site-specific shows in parks and gardens exploring climate change, environmental issues, and the future of the Earth, with presentations by Richard Move / MoveOpolis!, Kinesis Project Dance Theatre, Dennis RedMoon Darkeem, Keith Josef Adkins, Anh Vo, and others.
The pieces, which will use no electricity, run between twenty-five and sixty minutes each, in such locations as Barretto Point Park, Fort Greene Park, the Eastside Outside Community Garden, Tappen Park, and Inwood Hill Park; several are interactive, including nature walks. Below is the full schedule.
Friday, June 7, 6:00
Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble: Pliable Futures, Fort Greene Park, Fort Greene
Richard Move / MoveOpolis!: Devrai (Sacred Grove), with Aristotle Luna, Riverside Park, Manhattan, 6:00 & 6:30
Kinesis Project Dance Theatre: Bridge Matter/The Reach (excerpt), with live music by Johnny Butler, Inwood Hill Park, Gaelic Field, Manhattan
Sidiki Conde and His Tokounou Ensemble: Guinean Environmental Stewardship Traditions, Hunters Point South Park, Long Island City
Anh Vo will perform Weather in Brower Park on June 9 (photo by Evelyn Efreja / courtesy of the Segal Theatre Center of the Graduate Center CUNY)
Saturday, June 8, 3:00
Community Poetry and Tea, with tea ceremony, arts, and culture, Eastside Outside Community Garden, Manhattan, 2:00 – 4:00
Artichoke Dance Company: Water Rises, Newtown Creek Nature Walk, Kingsland Ave., Greenpoint
Dennis RedMoon Darkeem: Land Connections: Reflections with Dennis, Bronx River Community Garden
Pajarillo Pinta’o: Dance in Connection, Barretto Point Park, Bronx
Keith Josef Adkins: The Heat Will Kill Everything (excerpts), with Francois Battiste, directed by Russell G. Jones, Riverside Park, Manhattan
Manners and Respect, Thomas Fucaloro, and Cynthia Rodriguez: Mixed Use, Tappen Park, Staten Island
Sunday June 9, 3:00
Monica Dudárov Hunken and Leah Bachar: Brooklyn Is Not a Sacrifice Zone, Newtown Creek Nature Walk, Greenpoint
Anh Vo: Weather, Brower Park, Brooklyn
Rafael de Balanzo Joue and Daniel Pravit Fethke: Resilience Thinking Walkscape, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Harriet Stubbs will perform at Joe’s Pub on June 2 (Drew Bordeaux Photography)
HARRIET STUBBS
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St. by Astor Pl.
Sunday, June 2, $32.50 (plus two drink or one food item minimum), 6:00
212-539-8778 www.joespub.com www.harrietstubbs.com
“If you feel safe in the area that you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area,” David Bowie said in a 1990s video interview. “Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
British classical pianist, William Blake scholar, and Bowie aficionado Harriet Stubbs has built her career on such advice, as evidenced by her latest album, the exciting Living on Mars; the record is the follow-up to 2018’s Heaven and Hell: The Doors of Perception, a title inspired by Aldous Huxley’s autobiographical 1954 book The Doors of Perception and 1956 essay Heaven and Hell and Blake’s 1793 tome The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
Now based in London, Los Angeles, and the East Village, the British-born Stubbs took to the keys when she was three and has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Cutting Room, Tibet House, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. On June 2, she will play Living on Mars in its entirety at her Joe’s Pub debut; be sure to get a good look at her shoes, which are always spectacular.
The eclectic record features Stubbs’s unique solo adaptations of the Thin White Duke’s “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars” as well as Nick Cave’s “Push the Sky Away,” Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird,” and Beethoven’s “Pathétique” in addition to homages to the duos of J. S. Bach/Glenn Gould and Frédéric Chopin/Leopold Godowsky.
My wife and I first became interested in Stubbs when Cave gave her a shout-out at an October 2023 show at the Beacon; earlier this month my wife saw Stubbs perform a private Coffee House Club concert at the Salmagundi Club on Fifth Ave., and then we bumped into her on the street by Sheridan Square. Clearly, our paths were destined to cross.
In this exclusive interview, Stubbs talks about Blake and Bowie, the pandemic, swimming with Cave, and playing in New York City.
twi-ny: You started your career early, first performing publicly as a pianist at the age of four and performing piano concertos as soloist at the age of nine. Growing up immersed in classical music performance, when did you become interested in contemporary pop music?
harriet stubbs: My love of music outside of classical really developed as a teenager and as I was transitioning from a career as a child prodigy to that of an adult artist: what I wanted to do with classical music, how I wanted to remain in it, why, and how these were going to come together to inform my professional adult life. A moment that I remember in particular was hearing the Verve live at Glastonbury in 2008 and realizing that it would always be music that I wanted to dedicate my life to. The thrill of a shared moment in music where everyone has been moved by the same thing is simply extraordinary.
twi-ny: That thrill was changed when the pandemic hit. During the Covid-19 crisis, you played live daily, from your London flat — 250 twenty-minute concerts. Do you have any favorite memories from that rather dark time? How did it feel to get back in front of larger audiences in person again after the lockdown ended?
hs: I think that period was so bleak that every concert in its own way was a deeply moving experience, whether it was two people in the pouring rain or two hundred. Pre-vaccine it was outside of a small window, attached to an amp attached to an upright at a busy intersection of traffic, with people very distanced and masked — who I waved at through the window.
At the time there was no end in sight, so just to have a shared experience in that way — however tentative — was needed more than ever. The two hundredth concert was in December of 2020 and the last at that address and under those circumstances in the dark and the rain. When the spring came, people were starting to be vaccinated, and as they were, I was able to offer them drinks outside; the weather was beautiful (mostly), there was a grand piano, a bay window, and a quiet, residential street where people could hear properly. Being awarded a British Empire Medal [in 2022] by the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was very special, as was Nick Cave showing up to hear “Push the Sky Away”! Those concerts were made by the regulars who came right up until the border opened back up for me to return to New York.
twi-ny: Speaking of Nick Cave, we recently saw him play the Beacon, and he raved about you. Your cover of “Push the Sky Away” is on your new album, Living on Mars. How did the Nick Cave connection come about?
hs: Nick and I met in a park in London a few years ago and became fast friends and swimming partners, and eventually Nick became an integral part of how the album came to be. We swam in a lake together every day and would talk about everything from philosophy to music, politics, literature, and what we were working on as the seasons changed around us.
These are some of my happiest memories. If Nick hadn’t insisted under the moon on a dark New Year’s Day swim that I “get on with” the new album — just as he was starting his [Wild God will be released August 30] — I would never have been on a plane to LA three weeks later to record it. Mike Garson wrote the arrangement of Nick’s “Push the Sky Away” as a thank-you to Nick, and it became the centerpiece.
twi-ny: I’m glad you brought that up. How does a classical pianist end up recording one album with Russ Titelman, who has worked with Randy Newman, Rickie Lee Jones, James Taylor, the Monkees, and Eric Clapton, and then Garson, who’s produced and played with the Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, and, primarily, David Bowie?
hs: I have been in New York for fifteen years now and over that time have had so many adventures, many of which were not directly related to classical music. Russ and I met at Barney Greengrass on the Upper West Side through our mutual friend, author Julian Tepper. Russ wrote his number on a Barney receipt and we would meet for milkshakes. Two years later we were on a train to Pleasantville to “try out” recording together, which then turned into Heaven and Hell: The Doors of Perception, recorded at Samurai NYC.
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Russ invited Marianne Faithfull because of my love of William Blake — I recently wrote the lead editorial article for The Journal of the Blake Society,“Invisible Women in Blakean Mythology” — and really the point of the record was just that, to bring together the worlds of rock and roll, literature, classical, and popular music, to see all of them in each other and to have as Blake would have referred to it an “illuminated” experience. Living on Mars continues this threading of the worlds together, just a little more literally.
[ed. note: Stubbs also participated in a January 2022 panel discussion at the Global Blake conference that you can watch here. Faithfull narrates Blake text over John Adams’s “Phrygian Gates” to open Heaven and Hell: The Doors of Perception.]
twi-ny: There are Blakean influences throughout Bowie’s work, particularly in the 1970s. What makes his music so translatable to classical?
hs: I have always been a Bowie fan, and over the years there have been many ways in which our worlds seemed to collide serendipitously. I loved Bowie as a teenager and through my friendship with May Pang became friends with [producer] Tony Visconti and later Mike Garson, who produced and arranged Living on Mars. Before the Bell Canyon wildfires I went to Mike’s home there and played for him, and we started to conceive of the album. We finally got to record it in 2023 in LA, entirely live, which was a thrilling experience.
twi-ny: Who are your favorite classical composers?
hs: It depends who I am at any given time of the day but usually somewhere between late Beethoven’s final piano sonatas living on the border between life and death or dancing through some gothic Prokofiev.
twi-ny: Besides Bowie and Cave, what other contemporary performers or songwriters do you listen to? Who’s doing things that you find musically intriguing?
hs: I have recently started listening to the Last Dinner Party. My rotation at the moment seems to be some [Krystian] Zimerman Brahms B flat piano concerto, the Magnetic Fields, [Marc-André] Hamelin’s late Busoni, Rob Zombie, Judas Priest, Alter Bridge, and the National, but that’s just this week. Always a mix!
twi-ny: Yes, that is quite a mix. Having performed on both sides of the Atlantic for years, do you notice any difference between American and British or European concertgoers, especially over time, pre- and postpandemic?
hs: I think that location is becoming less relevant to those that consume their music entirely through platforms such as TikTok. I think that the US has been more open to contemporary reimagining of classical music than other locations around the world, but social media has changed that concentration, as has the growing need for audience development. Anywhere that there is a live, enthusiastic audience is the same thrill, but there’s nothing like playing to my adopted hometown of New York; it’s electrifying.
twi-ny: You’ll be in New York on June 2 at Joe’s Pub. Have you ever been there before?
hs: I am so excited to perform at Joe’s. This will be my first show there and I can’t wait!
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
“Our goal is dialogue, not divisiveness,” Art at a Time Like This (ATLT) cofounders Anne Verhallen and Barbara Pollack say about their latest event, a two-day summit featuring panel discussions, live performances, illustrated lectures, and more.
“Dangerous Art/Endangered Artists” takes place June 7–8 at BRIC in Brooklyn, hosted by ATLT and Artists at Risk Connection (ARC). ATLT started on March 17, 2020, as an online community focusing on art as a direct response to what was happening in the world, from the pandemic lockdown to racial injustice. ARC began in 2017, helping international artists and cultural professionals of all disciplines connect to such resources as emergency funds, legal assistance, temporary relocation programs, and fellowships.
Among the summit participants are Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, American journalist and author Nikole Hannah-Jones, Cuban American interdisciplinary artist, writer, and curator Coco Fusco, Kenyan rapper Henry Ohanga aka Octopizzo, Native American artist and activist Demian DinéYazhi’, Pakistani American artist Shahzia Sikander, and Vietnamese singer and sound artist Mai Khôi. “I was born in Vietnam, where freedom of expression and artistic freedom have always been suppressed,” Mai Khôi, who recently performed her autobiographical show Bad Activist at Joe’s Pub, said in a statement. “I have had to become an activist to protect my right to be an artist because the artist inside me doesn’t want to be killed by the censorship system.”
TICKET GIVEAWAY: “Dangerous Art / Endangered Artists” takes place June 7-8 at BRIC in Brooklyn; tickets are $30 for one day and $50 for both, but twi-ny has two pairs to give away for free. Just send your name and favorite sociopolitical artist to contest@twi-ny.com by Monday, June 3, at 3:00 pm to be eligible. All entrants must be twenty-one years of age or older, and all information will be kept confidential; two winners will be selected at random.
Here is the full schedule (times and participants subject to change):
Summit Day 1: Challenges Facing Artists in Authoritarian Regimes
Opening Remarks, with Anne Verhallen, cofounder and codirector, ATLT, 5:00
Keynote Speaker: Shirin Neshat in conversation with ARC artistic director Julie Trebault, 5:05
Performance: Henry Ohanga aka Octopizzo, 6:00
Artists at the Forefront of Social Movements, with Dread Scott and Samia Halaby, moderated by ATLT cofounder and codirector Barbara Pollack, 6:15
Resiliency in Exile: Rania Mamoun and Mai Khôi, moderated by Ethiopian American writer Dinaw Mengestu, 7:15
Closing Remarks: ARC artistic director Julie Trebault, 7:50
Reception, 8:15
Summit Day 2
Registration + Coffee, 10:30
Here and Now: Censorship as a Political Tool in the United States, with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Aruna D’Souza, 11:00
Global Censorship: What It Looks Like, Who Does It, How to Combat It, with Coco Fusco, Omaid Sharifi, Khaled Jarrar, and Henry Ohanga AKA Octopizzio, moderated by Mari Spirito, 12:15
Is Censorship Discriminatory?, with Lorena Wolffer, Demian Diné Yazhi, and Shahzia Sikander, moderated by Jasmine Wahi, 3:30
Who: DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers, Women of the Calabash, the Billie’s Youth Arts Academy Dance Ensemble, Siren — Protectors of the Rainforest, DJ YB, more What:DanceAfrica Festival 2024 Where:BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave. When: May 24-27, many events free, Gilman dances $22-$95, film screenings $16 Why: The coming of summer means the arrival of one of the best festivals of every year, BAM’s DanceAfrica. The forty-seventh annual iteration focuses on Cameroon, with four companies performing “The Origin of Communities / A Calabash of Cultures” in BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House: DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers, Women of the Calabash, the Billie’s Youth Arts Academy Dance Ensemble, and Siren — Protectors of the Rainforest, highlighting movement and music from the Central African nation. Curated by artistic director Abdel R. Salaam, the festival also includes the DanceAfrica Bazaar with more than 150 vendors, dance workshops and master classes in Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Mark Morris Dance Center, Salifou Lindou’s art installation La course 2,the Council of Elders Roundtable: Legacy & Preservation, and a late night dance party with DJ YB.
This year’s FilmAfrica screenings and cinema conversations range from Jean-Pierre Dikongué Pipa’s 1975 Muna Moto and Mohamed Challouf’s The Many Moods of Muna Moto to Jean-Marie Téno’s Colonial Misunderstanding, Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s 2005 Les Saignantes (The Bloodettes), and Gordon Main’s 2023 London Recruits, all followed by Q&As with the directors.
“This year’s DanceAfrica is a journey into the heart of Cameroon, driven by a quest to explore the ancient roots of African culture and answer profound questions about humanity’s earliest origins,” Salaam said in his mission statement. “How timeless is Africa, and was it the land of the most ancient beings? What were the origins of humanity, thought, consciousness, art, culture, creativity, and civilization?”
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]
