Wonderful is a song by Nigerian singer Burna Boy. It was released on June 26, 2020, as the lead single from his fifth studio album Twice as Tall (2020). Continue reading
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Tag Archives: African dance
8/28/20 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Creative Outlet Offers Free Outdoor Classes
By Walter Rutledge
The bright late morning sun was still drying the dew off the grass, but Fort Green Park was already bustling with energy. As I climbed the white marble stairs the sound of music greeted me halfway up. Patiently waiting at the base of the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument was Jamel Gaines, a tall man sporting a retro curly “fro”.
Soon the large plaza in front of the monument begin to fill with dancers of all ages, shapes and sizes. Gaines, the founder of Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn, has spent the more than 25 years building and cultivating the performing arts in Brooklyn. Long before Starbucks, trendy bars and little ugly dogs found Brooklyn’s urban landscape; Gaines had established an artistic foothold in the Fort Green section at 138 S Oxford Street.
If you have ever visited the Creative Outlet school, it has a feeling of a community/village. Parents monitor classes and assist with moving younger students between classrooms, there is a lunch concession that offers affordable hot meals and healthy snacks to the participants and family members. The focused classes resembled the most disciplined arts academy; the biggest difference of was the amount of melanin.
The pandemic put an end to the communal learning approach, and the use of traditional performing venues. Creative Outlet was forced to close its studios, but not suspend activities. Staying true to form Gaines began teaching free classes outdoors at Fort Green Park three days a week.
Creative Outlet Free Dance Class
On Thursday and Friday at 6pm and on Saturday at 11am Creative Outlet offers free classes dubbed as, “Culturally Healing and Movement Classes”. There are classes for all ages including a fun jazz-based movement class for children on Saturday morning. One of the most reassuring elements about these classes is that Gaines has brought Creative Outlet’s feeling of community with him. The first outdoor class had only six attendees; now there are over forty artists of all ages.
In addition to dance classes the Creative Outlet Queens, an interdisciplinary and multi-generational performing ensemble that also rehearses at Fort Green Park. The “Queens” will perform at Peace One Love a Black Lives Matter celebration on Saturday August 29th from 2-5pm at the Black Lives Matter Mural at Restoration Plaza (Fulton Street between New York Ave. and Brooklyn Ave). Although this is an outdoor event please practice social distancing whenever possible and please wear a mask.
8/24/20 O&A NYC DANCE… AND MORE: Peace One Love- Bringing Brooklyn Together
By Walter Rutledge
Dance has always been a catalyst for change. In 1936 Martha Graham created her masterwork Chronicles as a weapon against the rising menace of fascism in Germany. In 1959 Donald McKayle’s Rainbow Round My Shoulder evoked the hopelessness and inequality of Black men on a southern prison chain gang. On Saturday August 29 Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn (also known as Creative Outlet or just C.O.) will also use the power of dance to heal a community with Peace One Love, an afternoon of the arts celebrating the spirit of the now internationally recognized Black Lives Matter movement. Continue reading
8/8/20 O&A NYC GOING BACK TO AFRICA WITH WaleStylez: Jerusalema Master KG- Ft. African Kids
Kgaogelo Moagi (popularly known as Master KG) is a South African musician and record producer. He was born on January 31, 1996, in Calais village, Tzaneen, Limpopo, South Africa. Continue reading
7/28/20 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY: Dougla
The 2018 return of Geoffrey Holder’s masterwork Dougla to the repertoire Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) was a resounding success. The work is a sensorially sumptuous movement fest; and it is no wonder Dougla has remained an audience favorite since its premiere on April 16, 1974.
7/18/20 O&A NYC BACK TO AFRICA WITH WaleStylez: Cypher Afro dance
By Adewale Adekanbi Jr.
A combination of contemporary popular african dance styles combined with western influence create this fun and exciting dance trend. Continue reading
7/4/20 O&A NYC BACK TO AFRICA WITH WaleStylez: Top 10 Best Traditional African Dances
African traditional Dances refers mainly to the dances performed by the cultural communities found in continent. Communities use these dances to teach, to socialize, ceremonies and for celebrating festivals and moaning funerals while Some dances are exclusively used for spiritual or religious practices.
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6/29/20 O&A NYC BACK TO AFRICA WITH WaleStylez: Triplets Ghetto Kids Dance to Rotimi Ft Wale – “In My Bed”
Triplets Ghetto Kids is an NGO (Inspire Triplets Ghetto Kids) Based in Kampala, Uganda founded by Kavuma Dauda. Continue reading
6/25/20 O&A NYC SONG OF THE DAY: Teyana Taylor – We Got Love ft. Ms. Lauryn Hill
We Got Love by singer-songwriter Teyana Taylor released as a single on December 6, 2019.
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6/18/20 O&A NYC EVENTS: Sneak Preview of Hanging Tree- Juneteenth is African American Independence Day
By Walter Rutledge
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. This observance should hold the status of an African- American Independence Day. Juneteenth 2020 will take place on Friday; and to commemorate the 155 anniversary of independence Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Company of Brooklyn and NYC Summerstage with present a virtual celebration entitled Hanging Tree. This virtual event will take place on Friday June 19, 7pm on Summerstage YouTube.
The production brought together the talents of dancer James “Banks” Davis, musician Talu Green, vocalist Marcelle Davies Lashley, poet Carl Hancock Rux, choreographer/director Jamel Gaines and members of the Creative Outlet family. Mothers and fathers performed with sons and daughters, brothers and sister, nieces and nephews, and present and former company members brought love, creative, reverence and community to the steps, plaza and base of the Doric styled Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Brooklyn’s Fort Green Park. Immediately following the performance there will be a panel discussion lead by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancer/choreographer Hope Boykin.
O&A NYC attended the filming of the presentation and brings you a sneak preview of Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet’s Hanging Tree.
Preview Hanging Tree: A Juneteenth Celebration
On June 19th, 1865 a regiment of Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas. One of Granger’s first order of business was to read to the people of the city a document entitled General Order Number 3. The proclamation began:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”
Juneteenth honors the memory of all people who have broken the chains of oppression and dehumanizing servitude. It is celebration of those who have the obtained freedom, either through the joys of emancipation or the unfortunate inevitability of death. On Friday June 19 we wish you all a joyous Juneteenth and a happy African- American Independence Day.
