New York City is in vacation mode that means everyone is taking it easy and savoring lazy warm afternoons and warm humid nights. We have great events indoors and out and many are free! Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps, guaranteed to keep you Out and About.
Wendy Whelan and Marc Bamuthi Joseph: Carnival of the Animals on Wednesday, August 21 at 8pm Central Park, Summerstage, Central Park: Wendy Whelan—the great former New York City Ballet étoile and current Associate Artistic Director—performs an excerpt from Carnival of the Animals, a piece she has been developing with spoken-word artist and playwright Marc Bamuthi Joseph (/peh-LO-tah/). Bookending this piece are solo poems by Joseph and a screening of the 2016 documentary Restless Creature, which chronicles Whelan’s struggles as a dancer in her late 40s.
Low Tide Bar, Beach 96th Street, Rockaway at The Boardwalk on Wednesday, August 21, 11am and 12:30pm and Thursday, August 22, 11am. Rockaway Beach’s annual outdoor dance festival returns with more free, sandy offerings. In lieu of performances, this year’s edition focuses on pay-what-you-wish 90-minute outdoor dance classes in styles including house, vogue and Gaga/people. Think of it as a movement-heavy beach party, and come prepared to sweat.
Dances for Solidarity: Dancing Through Darkness at HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue, Friday, August 23, 7pm, Saturday, August, 2pm & 7pm, Sunday, August 25, 2pm: a program that aims to give prisoners in solitary confinement a sense of connection to the world through shared choreography, presents a piece created in a Texas prison by Dushaan Gillum and performed by six people who have a history of incarceration in New York. Sarah Dahnke directs.
Los Reyes at the Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, New York, through Tuesday, August 27: In Santiago, Chile, Chola and Football are two homeless dogs – who aren’t homeless at all. Scrappy, adorable mutts, they live in Los Reyes, the city’s oldest skateboard park, kept company by dozens of teenage boys who are constantly in motion. (Surely the film’s title also refers to the dogs, truly kings of their quirky world.) One dog constantly schleps around a deflated football (or golf ball or empty soda bottle); the other romps alongside him day and night. The voices of the young skaters, set against the noises of the city, form a soundscape: bragging, complaining, joking, sharing the daily experiences of working-class kids. One day, two dog houses miraculously appear in the park – just in time to provide shelter for the coming winter.
Los Reyes
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Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool at the Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, New York, opens Tuesday, August 23: The central theme of Miles Davis’s life was his restless determination to break boundaries and live life on his own terms. It made him a star. For the people who loved him most, it also made him incredibly difficult to live with. Again and again, in music and in life, Miles broke with convention—and when he thought his work came to represent a new convention, he changed it again. Miles’s bold disregard for tradition, his clarity of vision, his relentless drive, and constant thirst for new experiences made him an inspiring collaborator to fellow musicians and a cultural icon to generations of listeners. It made him an innovator in music—from bebop to “cool jazz,” modern quintets, orchestral music, jazz fusion, rock ’n’ roll, and even hip-hop.
Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool
Snoop Dogg live at Up & Down Party 2019, on Tuesday August 20th, 2019 located at 244 West 14th Street, New York: Live music DJ set by Snoop Dogg along side Rick Wonder and Edav- Dress Code: Dress to impress.
Peter and Will Anderson: Songbook Summit—The Andersons Play Ellington & Armstrong August 13- 15 and August 21- 23 at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway. Twin-brother saxophone players Peter and Will Anderson, masters of vintage jazz styles ranging from swing to hardbop, flip through four chapters of the Great American Songbook in this Symphony Space residency, devoting a week apiece to Duke Ellington (August 13–15) and Louis Armstrong (August 21–23). They are joined by vocalist Molly Ryan and musicians including bassist Vince Giordano.
Blue Man Group: Ready…Go!, on view at the Museum of the City of New York 1220 5th Ave, New York, from July 19, 2019, through September 2, 2019: is a new interactive installation highlighting the creativity and legacy of the bald, blue-hued, silent trio who first burst onto the downtown New York scene in 1988 and still perform nightly at the Astor Place Theatre.
End The Silence at the National Black Theatre, 2031 5th Avenue, New York begins Wednesday, August 21 – Saturday August 24, 7:30 pm: An exploration of why abuse, domestic violence, sexual harassment and exploitation is tolerated or covered up in our churches, communities, and societies. They play looks at faith, the breakdown of trust, and ultimately restoration for perpetrators, survivors and victims. End The Silence asks why the clergy would cover up the abuse of its constituents, and follows the struggles of six women in their fight for justice and to have their voices heard. End The Silence examines the intoxication of power and its ability to corrupt all that are caught in its web.
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.
Afropunk Fest Brooklyn at Commodore Barry Park, Saturday, August 24, 12noon through Sunday, August 25, 10pm. The Afropunk Festival is an annual arts festival that includes live music, film, fashion, and art produced by black artists. The festival made its first debut at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 2005, and has since expanded to other parts of the world.
LINEUP:
JILL SCOTT, FKA TWIGS, LEON BRIDGES, KAMASI WASHINGTON, GARY CLARK JR., SANTIGOLD, LIANNE LA HAVAS, GOLDLINK, TORO Y MOI, NAO, DEATH GRIPS, DANNY BROWN, TIERRA WHACK, IAMDDB, J.I.D, RAVYN LENAE, KELSEY LU, MASEGO, LEIKELI47, H09909, RICO NASTY, SCARLXRD, THANDISWA, EARTHGANG, KARI FAUX, BURNT SUGAR ARKESTRA, FIRE FROM THE GODS, TANK AND THE BANGAS, JUNGLEPUSSY, RAHBI, THE SUFFERS, HYRO THE HERO, ALXNDR LONDON, HELLO YELLO, CHIKA, REBELMATIC, SAMURAI SHOTGUN, BCUC, UPCHUCK, RED ARKADE, BABYGOTBACKTALK
DJ SETS FROM:
SOULECTION, MIKEQ, DJ MOMA, UNIIQU3, RICH MEDINA, DJ KENZHERO, RUDEBOYZ, BAMBII, PAPI JUICE, LSDXOXO, MUZI, DJ DOOWAP, GABSOUL, BATEKOO, DJ NATIVESUN, UNDERGROUND SYSTEM, BOSTON CHERY, BMAJR, BAE BAE
We look forward to seeing you Out and About