9/21/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Hellzapoppin’ (Lindy Hop Scene In Full Color) 

Lindy hop is the granddaddy of all swing dances, a blend of African and European dance influences that is both uniquely American… and now spans the globe.  Lindy hop takes its name from the Charles Lindbergh’s flight to Paris in 1927. 

If Tango is sultry, and Ballroom dancing is aloof, lindy hop is joyful and playful.  Lindy has a grounded, flowing style that closely reflects its music — from the late 20s hot jazz to the early 40s big bands. Harlem, New York, and in particular the Savoy Ballroom (“The Home of Happy Feet”) is where the dance was developed and innovated from the 1920s onward. Based on earlier dances such as the Charleston, the Black Bottom and the Breakaway, the dance evolved and spread over the decades along with the new swing music. 

Hellzapoppin’ (In Full Color) 

And while the dance continues to evolve today, contemporary lindy hoppers still strive for that same spirit, inventiveness, and musicality of the pioneers of lindy hop like Norma Miller, Dean Collins, Frankie Manning and many more.

9/11/20 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Yanis Marshall “Love Hangover” Diana Ross- Heels Intensive Paris

“I’m so excited to share some of the material I’ve been working on earlier this summer for 3 weeks with my Advanced heels intensive program in Paris, France !” @yanismarshallheelsintensive.
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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

8/17/20 O&A NYC DANCE: Ailey Celebrates Ellington (1974)

Alvin Ailey first began sketching out a suite of Ellington works on the newly formed the Repertory Workshop of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center which later became known as Ailey II. Continue reading

8/13/20 O&A NYC THROWBACK THURSDAY: Prince and Beyoncé perform Prince Medley (2004 Grammy Awards)

Beyoncé had a very good Feb. 8, 2004. She won five out of the six Grammy awards for which she’d been nominated, including Best R&B Song with “Crazy In Love” — and she spent five spirited minutes performing with Prince.
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8/2/20 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Tasha Cobbs – Fill Me Up / Overflow (Live)

Tasha Cobbs performs the live the medley Fill Me Up / Overflow from the 2015 album One Place Live.
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8/1/20 O&A NYC THE MORNING FUNNIES: 12 Days Not a Slave – SNL

A newly emancipated slave, Cecil (Jay Pharoah), finds it hard adjusting to life as a free man in the American South. His white friend Zachary (Edward Norton) tries to explain to him the “price of being free” in this 2013 SNL skit  12 Days Not a Slave.
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7/31/20 O&A NYC THE MORNING FUNNIES: Reggie Reg Plays Denzel Washington and Others- Bad Boys Of Comedy

Reggie Reg Plays Denzel Washington and Others in this Bad Boys Of Comedy episode that aired on April 13, 2014. Continue reading

6/29/20 O&A NYC Song Of The Day: Nina Simone- Mississippi Goddam

Mississippi Goddam by Nina Simone recorded session live in Antibes, July 24-25, 1965. She announced after her 1964 album Nina Simone in Concert that the anthem was her “first civil rights song”. 
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6/28/20 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Todd Dulaney Sings Psalms 18 (Live at World Harvest)

It’s important to me to do more than just sing,” Todd Dulaney said. “This whole thing that we’re doing right now, recording in Africa, It’s a movement. It’s more than just singing music. Continue reading