“Hello, Dolly!” won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1965, and Armstrong received a Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Male. Louis Armstrong also performed the song (together with Barbra Streisand) in the popular 1969 film Hello, Dolly! Continue reading
As the Harlem Renaissance flourishes in jazzy New York City, Pauline (Vanessa Williams), Esther (Lynn Whitfield) and Alice (Jasmine Guy) struggle to survive. By day, they toil at dreary jobs, dreaming of stardom, riches and happiness. By night, they dance their troubles away at the famous Savoy Ballroom. But when World War II appears on the horizon, the girls find their fortunes unfolding too unevenly to reconcile, and they inevitably begin to drift apart. Continue reading
It’s the Lowdown of Wicked Old Basin Street! And the Music That Made It Wicked! A gambling hall owner relocates from New Orleans to Chicago and entertains his patrons with hot jazz by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman & his Orchestra, and others. Continue reading
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
Sidney Poitier, in one of his most-celebrated roles, appears as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia homicide detective who, while visiting a small Mississippi town, will find himself falsely arrested for a murder and then, in a strained collaboration with the town’s sheriff (Rod Steiger), stays on to help solve the murder. Continue reading
The Queen is a 1968 documentary film directed by Frank Simon and narrated by Flawless Sabrina. It depicts the experiences of transgender woman and “female illusionists” organizing and participating in the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest held at New York City’s Town Hall. Continue reading
Chris Rock visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community in this exposé of comic proportions that only he could pull off. A raucous adventure prompted by Rock’s daughter approaching him and asking, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” Continue reading
Panther is a 1995 cinematic adaptation of Melvin Van Peeble’s novel Panther, produced and directed by Mario Van Peebles. The drama film portrays the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, tracing the organization from its founding through its decline in a compressed timeframe. It was the first narrative feature-film to depict the Black Panther Party. Continue reading
Lorelei Lee ( Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) are just Two Little Girls from Little Rock, lounge singers on a transatlantic cruise, working their way to Paris, and enjoying the company of any eligible men they might meet along the way. Continue reading
The Dance of the Village Elders are back ! This time we exercise, dance and just have fun through the zoom platform
Monday Meditations will take over the SummerStage Instagram channel live every Monday at 12:00PM EST for a 30 minute workshop focused on keeping your mind and body happy, healthy and active with guest host Karine Plantadit, former Alvin Ailey and Broadway Tony Award nominated dancer (Come Fly Away, The Lion King), instructor, choreographer, certified yoga teacher and life coach.
Learn how to prepare healthy Vegan meals with Ailey principal dancer Akua Noni Parker. Akua invites us into her kitchen every week on Tuesday at 5pm. Ingredients are list prior so we can all enjoy CookingWithKu.
