Race barriers in classical ballet: A conversation at NJPAC

Ballerina Ashley Murphy
(photo by Matthew Murphy)

Black Ballerinas: 

Breaking the Boundaries of Classical Ballet

Thursday, January 16, 7-8:30pm

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

1 Centre Street, Newark, New Jersey

Free admission

In 2007, The New York Times asked, Where are all the Black Swans? An urgent dialogue sparked by that question has caused leading dance institutions nationwide to examine the rarity of African-American women among their ranks.

A conversation about raising the profile of the black ballerina, and the economic opportunities for diversifying and expanding audiences, will be held on January 16, the evening prior to a performance by Dance Theatre of Harlem at NJPACs annual tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Moderator:

Charmaine Warren, dance journalist

Announced panelists (as of January 8):

Virginia Johnson, Artistic Director and a founding principal dancer of Dance Theatre of Harlem

Michelle Gadson-Williams, Head of Global Diversity at Credit Suisse

Map/Directions

Moving with ancestral spirits: Dr. Marta Moreno Vega at NJPAC

Meet

Dr. Marta Moreno Vega

Saturday, May 4 (3-5pm)

Chase Room, New Jersey Performing Arts Center

screening of 

Let the Spirit Move You!  Espiritismo in Puerto Rico

Advance screening of Dr. Marta Moreno Vega's new film and research regarding ancestral Kongo-based sacred tradition of Espiritismo in Puerto Rico. Dr. Vega explores the divine knowledge of traditional elders and practitioners and expresses the concern that the tradition will not be passed on / transferred to younger generations because traditional practices are in danger of not continuing.

Also, learn more about Dr. Vega's life-long legacy and work in the following clips, including an excerpt from the HBO documentary: Latino List.

Baraka Sele

guest curator / moderator

information and tickets

NJPAC directions

    Latino List - Marta Moreno Vega Interview on Vimeo

    Latina Spotlight: Dr. Marta Moreno Vega on New Latina

Newark's got 'America's Got Talent'

'America's Got Talent' Provides Boon to Newark Arts Center
by Holly Hall, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, April 12, 2012

Ailey and City Center do a deal

Alvin Ailey Signs Longterm Deal With City Center
by Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, September 26, 2011

NJPAC's Out, Loud and Proud V

New Jersey Performing Arts Center
presents Out, Loud and Proud V

curated and hosted by Pandora Scooter
with Brave Soul Collective and Alix Olson

Saturday, May 7 (7:30pm)

Gay, straight, queer, lesbian, bisexual, transgender—how do you identify? As part of this season’s Alternate Routes GLBT Festival, New Jersey’s own Pandora Scooter returns to riff, rhyme, rant and act as host to some of the spoken word scene’s most provocative new artists—a daring collective of wordsmiths who collectively represent all orientations. Be there when these cutting-edge voices convene to express their personal views on one of life’s hottest topics: sexuality. This year's performers include the three-person Brave Soul Collective and spoken word artist Alix Olson.

Details
Ticketing
Directions

New date for Bill T. Jones at NJPAC

UPDATE from NJPAC:

The following event has been rescheduled from December to February 19. Bill T. Jones has been selected as one of the recipients of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors (The Kennedy Center Honors). He will receive his award with other luminaries, such as Oprah Winfrey and Sir Paul McCartney at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. The presentation will be televised nationally and President and Mrs. Obama will be in attendance. Tickets already purchased will be valid for the February 19th discussion. Patrons with questions should contact NJPAC Ticket Services at 1-888-GO-NJPAC  (466-5722).

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in downtown Newark, welcomes award-winning choreographer-director Bill T. Jones to its Alternate Routes "tell-all" discussion series Legacies and Legends.

Saturday, February 19, 7:30PM in The Chase Room (event description)

Legacies and Legends is a series of intimate conversations with artists, authors, scholars, entrepreneurs, filmmakers and others who have contributed to the cultural, educational, social, political and spiritual contexts and landscapes of society. All discussions are led by Baraka Sele, Producer/Curator of NJPAC’s Alternate Routes. In its inaugural season, the series hosted discussions with Susan L. Taylor and Judith Jamison.

For ticketing, directions to NJPAC and more information, call 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722) or click here.

Bill T. Jones tells all! (NEW DATE)

UPDATE from NJPAC:

The following event has been rescheduled from December to February 19. Bill T. Jones has been selected as one of the recipients of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors (The Kennedy Center Honors). He will receive his award with other luminaries, such as Oprah Winfrey and Sir Paul McCartney at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. The presentation will be televised nationally and President and Mrs. Obama will be in attendance. Tickets already purchased will be valid for the February 19th discussion. Patrons with questions should contact NJPAC Ticket Services at 1-888-GO-NJPAC  (466-5722).

*****

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in downtown Newark, welcomes award-winning choreographer-director Bill T. Jones to its Alternate Routes "tell-all" discussion series Legacies and Legends.

Saturday, February 19, 7:30PM in The Chase Room (event description)

Legacies and Legends is a series of intimate conversations with artists, authors, scholars, entrepreneurs, filmmakers and others who have contributed to the cultural, educational, social, political and spiritual contexts and landscapes of society. All discussions are led by Baraka Sele, Producer/Curator of NJPAC’s Alternate Routes. In its inaugural season, the series hosted discussions with Susan L. Taylor and Judith Jamison.

For ticketing, directions to NJPAC and more information, call 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722) or click here.

NJPAC gets into real estate

New Jersey Arts Center Sets Real Estate Venture
The project, advocates say, will help revitalize the Newark neighborhood where the center makes its home.
by Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, October 15, 2010

Newark hosts Dodge poetry fest

Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival Tries Newark
by Felicia R. Lee, The New York Times, October 5, 2010

Those five fly ladies return

Remember FLY: Five First Ladies of Dance, with solos made and performed by Dianne McIntyre, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Germaine Acogny, Carmen de Lavallade and Bebe Miller?

Well, if you didn't happen to catch these stellar performers last year at LIU's Kumble Theater (where I reviewed the show for Dance Magazine), you have another chance this December at NJPAC's Victoria Theater:

Saturday, December 11, 7:30pm
Sunday, December 12, 3pm

Each dancer appears in a rarely-performed, signature solo work: 
Bebe Miller’s classic Rain, in which the choreographer powerfully portrays “a woman weighted down by a host of cares, yet refusing to be totally crushed by them” (New York Times); Urban Bush Women innovator Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s recent Bring ‘Em Home, which explores the New Orleans tradition of Second Line dancing while commenting on the failed efforts to assist those displaced by Hurricane Katrina; Dianne McIntyre’s If You Don’t Know, set to a piano score composed by Olu Dara, which fuses improvisational movement and jazz to explore a series of African American lives; contemporary African dance master Germaine Acogny’s Untitled, a riveting new solo that incorporates video and original music to imagine an Africa with a powerful female President; and Carmen de Lavallade in a recreation of her role in The Creation, Geoffrey Holder’s classic dance that tells the Biblical story of creation as interpreted in a poem by James Weldon Johnson.

FLY: Five First Ladies of Dance is a project of 651 ARTS.

Information and ticketing

Directions to NJPAC

Legendary Jamison at NJPAC

New Jersey Performing Arts Center welcomes Judith Jamison on Thursday, May 6 at 7:30pm:

Legacies & Legends: Judith Jamison

Ms. Baraka Sele, Curator/Producer

All seats $28

NJPAC’s new Legacies and Legends is a series of intimate conversations with artists, authors, scholars, entrepreneurs, and other special guests who have made significant contributions to the cultural, social, political and spiritual landscapes that impact our lives. For this installment in the series, we'll spend an intimate evening with Judith Jamison, the legendary dancer, choreographer and artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

For additional information and ticketing, click here. For directions to NJPAC, click here.

Zollar and Chipaumire: A beautiful "City" is born (UPDATED)

A thrilling journey began yesterday at Harlem Stage with the public launch of "Naked City," part of larger conceptual work, visible/invisible, being developed by choreographers Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Nora Chipaumire. Commissioned by Harlem Stage for its WaterWorks Program, the piece honors Harlem's people and their stories and is strongly rooted in the aesthetics and practice of jazz.

Naked City was performed by an international cast of exciting dancers, including several members of Zollar's Urban Bush Women troupe. Hard to believe that these folks did not thoroughly rehearse this piece forwards and backwards for weeks and that they'd only come together earlier in the day to figure out what they were going to present to us! I mean, really!

Since it's truly a baby work-in-progress--one that will continue growing through many more exploratory events like last night's showing and feedback session--I certainly won't offer a review of what I saw. But I will urge you to get on Harlem Stage's mailing list so that you can follow "Baby" as she grows and perhaps, if you take part in one of these events, help her along her way.

Congratulations to Zollar and Chipaumire and their dancers and thanks to Harlem Stage's Patricia Cruz (Executive Director) and Brad Learmonth (Director of Programming) for welcoming us to partake in this auspicious beginning.

Special Update: "Naked City" will be performed by the members of Urban Bush Women at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), November 21-22.