5/3/19 O&A NYC WHATS HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND: Friday May 3 Through Monday May 6

The weekend is finally here and New York is gearing up rain or shine. We have music and fashion in Harlem, dance from Lincoln Center to Williamsburg; while the Avengers take it to the limit one more time. Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps, guaranteed to keep you Out and About.

 

 

Lincoln Kirstein’s Modern through June 15 at The Museum of Modern Art: “I have a live eye,” proclaimed Lincoln Kirstein, signaling his wide-ranging vision. Lincoln Kirstein’s Modern explores this polymath’s sweeping contributions to American cultural life in the 1930s and ’40s. Best known for cofounding New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet with George Balanchine, Kirstein (1907–1996), a writer, critic, curator, impresario, and tastemaker, was also a key figure in MoMA’s early history.

Lincoln Kirstein’s Modern | MoMA Exhibition

Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything: The Jewish Museum (1109 5th Ave at 92nd St New York) April 12 – September 8, 2019. A world-renowned novelist, poet, and singer/songwriter who inspired generations of writers, musicians, and artists, Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) was an extraordinary poet of the imperfection of the human condition, giving voice to what it means to be fully alert to the complexities and desires of both body and soul. Featuring 12 artists and 18 musicians from 10 countries, this exhibition offers a deep and rich exploration of the beloved global icon through the lens of contemporary art.

Alicja Kwade, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through October 27, a Polish artist who lives and works in Berlin is this year’s recipient of The Met’s annual commission to create an installation for the museum’s roof garden. These projects are perennial crowd-pleasers, as they add a touch of artistic enhancement to the rooftop’s spectacular views of Central Park and the Midtown skyline. Kwade’s approach seems tailor-made for the site, as it usually entails minimalist sculptural ensembles made of glass, stone and metal—materials that give her efforts a luxurious gloss. Kwade often plays perceptual tricks on the viewer as part of her overall interest in deconstructing the philosophical and scientific teachings we rely on to make sense of the world. At The Met, she reaches for the cosmos with a pair of pieces that evoke the Solar System.

Monumental Journey: The Daguerreotypes of Girault de Prangey at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through May 12, 2019. The work of Girault de Prangey (1804–1892), an artist, architectural historian, archaeologist and daguerreotypist, who spent three years capturing locales throughout Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Jerusalem between 1842 and 1845. During his journeys, he created some 1,000 plates, an amazing feat at a time when photography was a cumbersome practice.

FRIDA KAHLO: APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING at the Brooklyn Museum (through May 12). This is not exactly an exhibition of Kahlo’s art — it contains just 11 paintings, from compelling self-portraits to ghastly New Age kitsch — but an evocation of an artistic life through her elegant Oaxacan blouses and skirts, not to mention the corsets and spinal braces she wore after a crippling traffic accident. Do her outfits have the weight of art, or are they just so much biographical flimflam? Your answer may vary depending on your degree of Fridamania, but the woven shawls and color-saturated long skirts here, as well as gripping photographs of the artist by Carl Van Vechten, Imogen Cunningham, Manuel Álvarez Bravo and other great shutterbugs, suggest Kahlo’s real accomplishment was a Duchampian extension of her art far beyond the easel, into her home, her fashion and her public relationships. (Farago)

Birds Of Paradise (A group exhibition for women’s history month) Caribbean Literary and Cultural Center at the Flatbush Library, 22 Linden Boulevard (btw Flatbush & Bedford Avenue) Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Ava Tomlinson and featuring works by Pamella Allen, Sandra Ayana, Ramona Candy, Mary Chang, Sophia Domeville, Laura James, Gina Samson, Cheery Stewart Joseph, Ava Tomlinson and Valerie Williams. The exhibition runs through May 4. 

Nedjemankh and His Gilded Coffin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Ever since Howard Carter uncovered the tomb of King Tut in 1922, people have been fascinated by Ancient Egyptian treasures. The Met recently acquired one such object—a gold-leafed covered coffin for a High Priest from Egypt’s Ptolemaic period. It’s on display, along with 70 other Egyptian artifacts from the Met’s collection.

Jean-Michel Basquiat Solo Exhibition: The Brant Foundation announced this week that it will present a solo exhibition of works by the late artist Jean- Michel Basquiat as the inaugural show on March 6 in its new East Village space in New York City. Located at 421 East 6th Street in a century-old, 16,000 square-foot building originally designed as a Con Ed substation, the show is free to the public, but you’ll need a ticket to get in. The show begins on March 6 and tickets can be reserved through May 12, but available dates and times could run out before the show closes on May 15.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre returns to New York City for a sixth season Thursday May 2nd and Friday 3rd at the Ailey Citigroup Theater 405 West 55th Street. The series Spirit of Now showcases three New York premieres that encompass the theme by choreographers Tommie-Waheed Evans, Juel D. Lane, and Claude Alexander III, as well as the iconic works of Elisa Monte & David Brown and Christopher L. Huggins. Juel D. Lane’s How to Kill a Ghost tackles the haunting effects of holding onto something that no longer exists. Bodies as Site of Faith and Protest by Tommie-Waheed Evans transcribes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s inspirational “We Shall Overcome” speech into dance. DBDT’s Spirit of Now combines dazzling physical strength and emotional surrealism that conveys harmony between body and spirit.”

A shared evening of work by Jasmine Hearn & Tatyana Tenenbaum on Thursday May 2 through Saturday May 4  8pm for Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church 131 East 10th St. New York. Bessie Award-winning performer and choreographer Jasmine Hearn uses dance and sound as materials to make, teach, and perform around the world. you think you fancy is a performance project using sound and movement from family, community, and elders. It is a mash-up of the pedestrian, the virtuosic, and the practical, with a focus on tension and vulnerability.

Choreographer and composer Tatyana Tenenbaum’s work explores the phenomenal space of the singing body and its capacity to hold and shape American narratives. Tenenbaum and co-performers/co-creators Marisa Clementi, Pareena Lim, Rebeca Medina, Emily Moore, Jules Skloot, and Saúl Ulerio have been putting into action a relational practice that grows from conversation, trust, togetherness, disagreement, and dissent – a practice of being together through body and voice.

Australian Dance Theatre presents a beguiling exploration of the natural world in The Beginning of Nature at the Joyce Theater, Friday May 3rd through Monday May 6th. This compelling work possesses a hypnotic score sung in Kaurna, the first language of the Adelaide Plains, where the company resides. At times fierce and explosive and at others graceful and meditative, this evocative depiction of the complex rhythms in nature will delight and inspire as it elucidates humanity’s evolving relationship with nature.

New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater (April 23-25, 7:30 p.m.; through June 2). The spring season opens with a week of dances by current choreographers, and while some are unavoidably tedious — Mauro Bigonzetti’s Oltremare comes to mind — there are some treasures. As for the good? Justin Peck’s Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes, set to Aaron Copland’s timeless score, and William Forsythe’s playful and exacting Herman Schmerman. And as for the great? Alexei Ratmansky never phones anything in at City Ballet, so it’s time to bask in a delightful pair: Pictures at an Exhibition and Concerto DSCH.

STREB at the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, 51 N. 1st Street, perform weekends through May 12. The shows that STREB Extreme Action puts on at its Williamsburg headquarters (weekends through May 12) have a carnival atmosphere, and not just because eating and drinking are encouraged. Will the Action Heroes, as the intrepid dancer-acrobats are styled, collide as they hurl themselves off a trampoline? Will they get whacked by swinging cinder blocks or huge metal contraptions? Probably not, but they want you to cringe. Their newest machine is the Molinette, a giant bar that revolves like the blade of a windmill.

The 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival will take place in Lower Manhattan, Chelsea and special venues from Thursday, April 25th to Sunday, May 5th. Robert De Niro and Co.’s Tribeca Film Festival has long shown a spotlight on local indie features, documentaries, foreign films, the latest from big-name talent and the greatest from up-and-coming filmmakers. 

Avengers: Endgame (2019): After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe.

In Carmine Street Guitars at the Film Forum through May 7.  Rick Kelly and apprentice Cindy Hulej build handcrafted, one-of-a-kind instruments from wood salvaged from the city’s defunct buildings. (Unfazed 93-year-old mom Dorothy keeps the books and answers the phone.) Nothing looks or sounds like Rick Kelly’s guitars, which is why they’re embraced by Bob Dylan and Patti Smith, among others. A week in the life of the shop features visits from its devoted clientele: Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Band), Kirk Douglas (The Roots), Eleanor Friedberger, Nels Cline (shopping for Wilco bandmate Jeff Tweedy), jazz guitarists Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot, and filmmaker/composer Jim Jarmusch.

Bolden, is an film based on the life of cornetist Buddy Bolden (1877-1931). One of the seminal figures in jazz history, Bolden left no surviving recordings, having been committed in 1907 at age 30 to the Louisiana State Insane Asylum, where he spent the rest of his life after a diagnosis of acute alcoholic psychosis. 

 

Apollo Music Cafe Featuring John Holiday: Returning to the Apollo on Friday, May 3, 10pm after his break-out performance as John Blue in last season’s world-premiere opera production of Daniel Roumain and Marc Bamuti Joseph’s, We Shall Not Be Moved, John Holiday headlines this intimate Café performance with a set that effortless connects the African American musical traditions of jazz, R&B and gospel with opera.

 Salsa Music for Kids- The Rock and Roll Playhouse (RRPHKIDS) at Industry City, 274 36th St., Brooklyn, a family concert series hosted at Industry City, allows kids to get down to songs created by the most iconic musicians in rock history. This week, kids get their groove on the the music of Salsa. 

Apollo Music Cafe Featuring Alicia Olatuja: Songs From The Minds Of Women on Saturday May 4, 10pm. Praised by the New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone and an amiably regal presence on stage”, Alicia Olatuja has been astounding audiences with her exquisite vocals, artistic versatility and captivating demeanor. She first came into the national spotlight in 2013, whilst performing as the featured soloist with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration. 

Vampire Weekend perform on at Webster Hall on Sunday May 5, 8pm. At this big hometown show, the group—sans co-founder Rostam Batmanglij, who departed a few a years ago—celebrates the release of its new Father of the Bride at the newly re-opened and revamped Webster Hall.

The Big Bang Theory: A Pop-Rock Musical Parody at Theater Center (210 W 50th St, New York) through May 26. World collide when a group of nerds and their lady friends are tested by a character from Star Trek in Karlan Judd’s raunchy musical spoof of the long-running sitcom. Tristan J. Shuler directs. 

Glenda Jackson as King Lear is in her own world as the maddening monarch of Shakespeare’s tragedy. The production at the Cort Theater runs through July 7, 2019.

Ain’t Too Proud follows The Temptations’ journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With their signature dance moves and unmistakable harmonies, they rose to the top of the charts creating an amazing 42 Top Ten Hits with 14 reaching number one. Through friendship and betrayal amid the civil unrest that tore America apart, their moving and personal story still resonates five decades later.

Choir Boy, the Broadway premiere of Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney acclaimed drama at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre261 West 47th Street, centers on the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, which for a half a century has been dedicated to the education of strong, ethical black men. One talented student has been waiting for years to take his rightful place as the leader of the school’s legendary gospel choir. But can he make his way through the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key?

FrankieFridays is Brooklyn’s best kept  house music secret! The party takes place every Friday at The Happiness Lounge, 1458 St. Johns Place (bet. Utica Avenue and Rochester Avenue).  The party rocks the best dance classics and soulful house music masterfully mixed by New York City’s own DJ Frankie Paradise. The predominantly mature gay crowd are there to get down, and create a warm inviting atmosphere for all. Reasonably prices drinks and a small admission price (feels more like a donation) of $5 before midnight and $10 after makes this the don’t miss Friday night dance party. 

​Celebrate Spring- May First Saturday at Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, New York) on May 4.
Events include:

5–6 pm- Music: Descarrilao. Enjoy a fusion of Afro-Caribbean, merengue, pop, and cumbia sound from bilingual salsa dura rock band Descarrilao.

5:30–6:30 pm- Artist And Curator Tour: Liz Johnson ArturArtist Liz Johnson Artur and Drew Sawyer, Phillip Leonian and Edith Rosenbaum Leonian Curator of Photography, lead a joint gallery tour of our special exhibition Liz Johnson Artur: Dusha.

6–8 pm- Hands-On Art. Create a print design artwork inspired by One: Egúngún, Eric N. Mack’s installation Lemme walk across the room, and work by Elektra KB in Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art 50 Years After Stonewall330 free tickets in Hands-On Art line at Admissions at 5 pm.6:30–8 pm- Film: Dreams From The Deep End. Dreams from the Deep End (Modupeola Fadugba, 2018, 15 min.) follows Nigerian artist Modupeola Fadugba as she paints NYC’s only 55+ African American synchronized swim team, Harlem Honeys and Bears. Followed by a discussion with Fadugba; Kristen Windmuller-Luna, Sills Family Consulting Curator, African Arts; and swim team members. 330 free tickets in Auditorium line at Admissions at 6 pm.6:30–7:30 pm- Teen Pop-Up Gallery Talks: Teen Apprentices host ten-minute talks about works on view in One: Egúngún.

7–8 pm- Music: Arooj Aftab: Pakistan-born, Brooklyn-based composer and performer Arooj Aftab shares her ambient experimental music that explores themes of female empowerment.

7:30–9:30 pm- Performance: The Fadara GroupTo celebrate One: Egúngún, The Fadara Group presents True To Our Native Land, featuring Chief Ayanda Clarke and friends for a night of African music honoring Yorubaland and African Diaspora ancestors. 

 8–9 pm- Artist And Curator Talk: Nobody Promised You Tomorrow. Artists Park McArthur and Constantina Zavitsanos join Allie Rickard, co-curator of Nobody Promised You Tomorrow, to discuss how their work intersects with disability politics, care, and interdependency. Seating is limited and first come, first served.

9–10 pm- Music: Kaleta & Super Yamba BandBrooklyn-based Afro-funksters Kaleta & Super Yamba Band perform psychedelic sounds with Afrobeat veteran, singer, guitarist, and percussionist Leon Ligan-Majek (a.k.a. Kaleta).

On Sunday May 5th 7pm at the Apollo Theater, Ozwald Boateng, the acclaimed British Fashion Designer will return to New York and stage an immersive fashion experience in the legendary Apollo Theater, Harlem. Opening with a short film that continues the narrative of africanism and guides us into the future of AI, “The idea of what is real” is a subject that has played a pivotal role in the design process of this collection. 

Ozwald has partnered with the Harlem 100 Committee to help celebrate the history and culture of the Harlem renaissance, bringing together a generation of people who embody the very spirit and essence of Harlem. This show will be a celebration of culture, diversity, diaspora, music, history and fashion. 60 models, made up of recording artists, movie stars, sports stars and influencers will take to the runway in the latest Ozwald Boateng collection.

 

We look forward to seeing you Out and About

About OutandAboutnycmag

Out & About NYC Magazine was founded to offer the arts and lifestyle enthusiast a fresh new look at New York City. We will showcase the established and the emerging, the traditional and the trendy. And we will do it with élan, and panache with a dash of fun.
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