Les Ballet Afrik to Perform at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in July as Part of ALL ARTS' PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE Festival

ALL ARTS will join forces with Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage to present its first live dance program, featuring Les Ballet Afrik, July 15 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Produced under the aegis of ALL ARTS' Past, Present, Future dance film festival, which returns this fall after a highly successful inaugural edition in May 2021, the performances are part of a SummerStage double bill that also features Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. The free event begins at 7pm.

Past, Present, Future partners choreographers and filmmakers to explore what the past, present and future mean to them and their work. For last year's festival, ALL ARTS commissioned films from Kyle Abraham and Dehanza Rogers; Liz Sargent and Pam Tanowitz; and Katherine Helen Fisher and the artists of Kinetic Light that illuminated how dancers interpret various stages of time as motivation. ALL ARTS will announce details of the 2022 film festival, including the participating artists and their projects at a later date.

"Since ALL ARTS was established in 2018, we have endeavored not only to make a meaningful contribution to the media landscape, but to support the various ways that art across disciplines is made and shared with the public," said James King, Artistic Director of ALL ARTS. "We're proud to make this foray into live contemporary dance in collaboration with SummerStage, and to do so with such exceptional artists as Les Ballet Afrik."

Les Ballet Afrik's mission is to represent dance styles from Africa and the United States, with an emphasis on West African, Afrobeat, House and Vogue. The company is founded and led by "distinguished ballroom scene veteran" (New York Times) Omari Wiles, founding father of the House of Oricci, who appeared on the second season of the HBO Max original reality-competition series "Legendary."

For ALL ARTS: Kristy Geslain and Joe Harrell are Executive Producers. James King is Artistic Director. Diane Masciale and Neal Shapiro are Executives in Charge.

Leadership support for ALL ARTS is generously provided by Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim, III, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Jerome L. Greene Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Anderson Family Charitable Fund, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the Estate of Roland Karlen.

About ALL ARTS

ALL ARTS is breaking new ground as the premier destination for inspiration, creativity and art of all forms. This New York Emmy-winning arts and culture hub is created by The WNET Group, the community-supported home of New York's PBS stations. With the aim of being accessible to viewers everywhere, ALL ARTS' Webby-nominated programming - from digital shorts to feature films - is available online nationwide through AllArts.org, the free ALL ARTS app on all major streaming platforms and @AllArtsTV on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. New York area TV viewers can also watch the 24/7 broadcast channel. For all the ways to watch, visit AllArts.org/Everywhere.

About SummerStage

Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage is one of New York's most beloved, broadly accessible, free outdoor performing arts festivals. SummerStage presents free concerts in parks throughout the five boroughs. With performances in genres that represent the cultural fabric of New York City ranging from jazz, hip hop, Latin, global, indie and contemporary dance, SummerStage fills a vital niche in New York City's summer arts festival landscape. Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, more than six million people from New York City and around the world have enjoyed SummerStage. In 2020, Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Anywhere was launched in response to the global pandemic, presenting free digital performances, spanning all genres, available to viewers around the world.

About City Parks Foundation

At City Parks Foundation, we are dedicated to invigorating and transforming parks into dynamic, vibrant centers of urban life through sports, arts, community building and education programs for all New Yorkers. Our programs--located in hundreds of parks, recreation centers and public schools across New York City--reach thousands of people each year. Our ethos is simple: thriving parks mean thriving communities.