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Tag Archives: St. Philip’s Church
12/16/18 O&A NYC DANCE/FITNESS AND WELLNESS: Dance Of The Village Elders- Thank you!
The Dance Of The Village Elders presented Santa’s Babies on Saturday December 1, at St. Philip’s Church 204 West 134th Street in the village of Harlem. The performance marked our second holiday performance/fundraiser at St. Philip’s Church since regrouping as a “Dance/Fitness Cooperative” in the fall of 2016. The Village Elders are a group of mature adults who understand the needs for fitness and wellness as we age. When a grant that supported the project ended in 2015 instead of disbanding the Elders decided to run the program themselves with the assistance of instructor Walter Rutledge. Continue reading
11/14/18 O&A NYC DANCE/HEALTH AND WELLNESS: Dance Of The Village Elders Present Santa’s Babies
Dance Of The Village Elders presents their annual Christmas Concert/fundraiser appropriated titled Santa’s Babies. The performance will take place on Saturday, December 1, 2018, 4pm at St. Philip’s Church located at 204 West 134 Street in the village of Harlem. The concert title is an homage to the indomitable spirit of the Village Elders; who have made Eartha Kitt’s Christmas classic, Santa Baby, into their signature holiday work. Continue reading
4/26/18 O&A NYC DANCE: The Dance Of the Village Elders Celebrates Dudley Williams
The Dance Of the Village Elders will present Only In The Darkness Can You See The Stars the spring performance/fundraiser on Saturday, April 28, 3pm at St. Philip’s Church 204 west 134thStreet. The performance will celebrate Village Elders friend and supporter Ailey icon Dudley Williams, who danced the role of the elder minister at the works premiere April 30th, 2015, sadly this was Williams’ last performance. Joining the celebration are Harlem arts organizations Harlem School of the Arts dance division (under the direction of Aubrey Lynch), Uptown Dance Academy (Robin Williams Executive Director) pianist Charles Lovell (St. Philip’s Church) singing phenom LaFredrick Coaxner (Abyssinian Baptist Church) and Reverend Tykym Stallings (Lighthouse Ministries Inc., Harlem N.Y.). Continue reading
12/28/17 O&A NYC DANCE/HEALTH AND WELLNESS: The Village Elders Celebrate First Year In New Home
By Walter Rutledge
The Dance Of The Village Elders ended their first fall session at St. Philip’s Church with a performance and a party. The dance and fitness program, which began in 2010, was forced to disband in 2015. In February 2017 the program reorganized as a “Fitness Cooperative”, and relocated to St. Philip’s Church, 204 West 134th Street.
We didn’t have any funds, but we had the will to stay together; so money became the least important reason not to work together. St. Philip’s Church came to the rescue offering us space in the Harlem community, which kept to program accessible to many of our participants. On Thursday December 14 the “Ladies” presented a holiday celebration demonstration/performance to a standing room only crowd of family and friends. The 60 minute presentation, which included a warm up with audience participation, and performances by the Ladies and Three Jazz Kings (Andrew Damakakos, Bless Goode and Judah Marable) courtesy of the Dance Program at Harlem School of the Arts.
Dance Of The Village Elders- Santa Baby excerpt
The celebration continued the following Thursday, December 21, during our last class Everyone brought a dish, and I shifted responsibilities from instructor to disc- jockey. This is always one of my favorite sessions it gives us an opportunity to fellowship. Everyone is relaxed and even more jovial than usual, still reveling in the success of our performance a week earlier.
We will resume classes on Thursday January 4, 2018 2- 3:30pm. The classes are free to the public and all are welcome. Have a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year! We hope to see you in January.
