Gale Brewer News

 Lotus Music & Dance will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in 2019 with a benefit dinner and performance on Monday, March 25th. This year also marks the 100th Birth Anniversary of bharata natyam dance guru, T. Balasaraswati ("Bala"). They will honor legendary choreographer, George Faison with the inaugural Bala Award for Excellence . Other Honorees include Manhattan Borough President, Gale Brewer for her support of cultural diversity in the performing arts.

Lotus Music & Dance will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in 2019 with a benefit dinner and performance on Monday, March 25th. This year also marks the 100th Birth Anniversary of bharata natyam dance guru, T. Balasaraswati (“Bala”). They will honor legendary choreographer, George Faison with the inaugural Bala Award for Excellence . Other Honorees include Manhattan Borough President, Gale Brewer for her support of cultural diversity in the performing arts.

On Thursday, February 7, China Institute hosted its annual Chinese New Year Gala at the Hwa Yuan Szechuan in New York City to welcome the Year of the Pig. More than 160 guests enjoyed award-winning Chinese cuisine and a scrumptious dessert buffet as well as bespoke Remy XO cocktails by LUCKYRICE.

Co-curators: choreographer Stefanie Nelson of Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup and bestselling author David Shenk (The Forgetting) present the launch of a new festival devoted to memory and forgetting. The inaugural event will feature Stefanie Nelson's A, MY NAME IS…, a dance piece inspired by a family experience with dementia, using several short films from David Shenk's Living With Alzheimer's Film Project. It will take place on January 23, 2019, at Aaron Davis Hall at The City College of New York (129 Convent Avenue at West 135th Street), with performances at 11:00 am and 6:30 pm. Both shows will be followed by a discussion with invited panelists including Meredith Wong from CaringKind's Connect2Culture program, and a reception (evening show only). Tickets are $20 and can be purchased HERE (https://goo.gl/K9FoMb)

The Broadway League and The Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds (COBUG) presented the tenth annual Broadway Salutes ceremony on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at Sardi's Restaurant (234 West 44th St).

Pan American Musical Art Research (PAMAR), founded in 1984 by Uruguayan-born pianist Polly Ferman, now Artistic Director of PAMAR, presents the 13th Annual Latin American Cultural Week(s) (LACW), November 13 through 21, 2018. (Additional events precede & follow official dates.) In support of the #MeToo #YoTambien movement, we feature women artists of the Americas. Polly Ferman, states 'I don't know the figures of how many women do not have their rights or are not recognized in Latin America or in the U.S., but one woman not respected or appreciated is too much. That's why we feature this year Latin American Women in the Arts, and support the #MeToo #YoTambien movement.'

Pan American Musical Art Research (PAMAR), founded in 1984 by Uruguayan-born pianist Polly Ferman, now Artistic Director of PAMAR, presents the 13th Annual Latin American Cultural Week(s) (LACW), November 13 through 21, 2018. (Additional events precede & follow official dates.) In support of the #MeToo #Yo Tambien movement, we feature women artists of the Americas. Polly Ferman, states 'I don't know the figures of how many women do not have their rights or are not recognized in Latin America or in the U.S., but one woman not respected or appreciated is too much. That's why we feature this year Latin American Women in the Arts, and support the #MeToo #YoTambien movement.'

The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute are excited to usher in a new chapter in the organization's evolution, with the unanimous appointment of Melody Capote as Executive Director. For over thirty of the forty-two years CCCADI has been in existence, Ms. Capote has worked alongside founder Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, first as a development associate and later as deputy director. She has been instrumental in developing CCCADI into one of the world's most vital institutions for the preservation of African Diaspora culture, positioned within a lens of social justice. Ms. Capote's experience and commitment to CCCADI makes her a uniquely qualified candidate for the position of executive director. We are thrilled to welcome her into this position.

Actor and IAC Honorary Chair Gabriel Byrne; Corey Johnson, Speaker of the New York City Council; Congressman Joseph Crowley; Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer; New York City Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl; Ciaran Madden, Consul General of Ireland; and other City and State dignitaries joined the Irish Arts Center board, staff, and supporters as they broke ground today on the New Irish Arts Center, a heralded multidisciplinary center that will bring people of all backgrounds together through the excellence and dynamism of Irish arts and culture. The ceremony marked the start of construction on Phase One of the new facility, a state-of-the-art new building at 726 11th Avenue, now fully funded and scheduled to open in late 2020.

City of Water Day, the region's largest and most popular harbor festival, organized by the Waterfront Alliance to get people to, on, and in the water, is taking place this Today, July 14, 2018. The festival hub-presented by The Howard Hughes Corporation-is at Piers 16 and 17 in the historic Seaport District in Lower Manhattan, while dozens of community groups and organizations will host their own City of Water Day In Your Neighborhood events in all five boroughs, Yonkers, and New Jersey. View an interactive map of In Your Neighborhood sites and descriptions of City of Water Day activities around the region.

City of Water Day, the region's largest and most popular harbor festival, organized by the Waterfront Alliance to get people to, on, and in the water, is taking place this Saturday, July 14, 2018. The festival hub-presented by The Howard Hughes Corporation-is at Piers 16 and 17 in the historic Seaport District in Lower Manhattan, while dozens of community groups and organizations will host their own City of Water Day In Your Neighborhood events in all five boroughs, Yonkers, and New Jersey. View an interactive map of In Your Neighborhood sites and descriptions of City of Water Day activities around the region.

Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 2018 Lincoln Center engagement continued last night with the star-studded Ailey Spirit Gala. The one-night-only benefit performance and party featured Honorary Chair Jussie Smollett, who stars on Fox's Empire and recently released his debut album, Sum of My Music. The evening honored Vikas Kapoor and Ailey Trustee Jaishri Kapoor for their remarkable support of the Ailey organization and their dedication to Ailey's educational initiatives. Gala Co-Chairs were Stephen Meringoff & Kim Charlton, Almaz & Marc S. Strachan, and Daria L. & Eric. J. Wallach; and Vice Chairs were Michele & Timothy Barakett, Robyn & N. Anthony Coles, Leslie & Tom Maheras, and Pamela D. Zilly & John H. Schaefer. Over $1 million was raised to support Ailey's extensive educational and training programs for young people, including AileyCamp and scholarships to The Ailey School.

The Classical Theatre of Harlem (Ty Jones, Producing Artistic Director) presents "Antigone," inspired by Paul Roche's adaptation from the classic Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Back for its sixth season of free theater performances and affectionately known as the Uptown Shakespeare in the Park, the Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) is thrilled to return to Marcus Garvey Park this summer, presenting a work that showcases the strength and voices of audacious women responding to rigid societal inequities.

On June 4, the OBIE-winner HERE will honor Tony Award-winner Eve Ensler and HERE's board chair and star attorney Bethany Haynes at Out of the Box for 25 Years, HERE's 25th Anniversary Gala. The evening celebrates HERE's quarter of a century history as a leader in thinking creatively, reimagining performance practice and taking audiences to new frontiers. HERE has been a champion for unconventional theater artists, puppeteers, musicians, and dancers for 25 years including Ensler, whose groundbreaking The Vagina Monologues was developed and premiered at HERE in 1996.

Dances for a Variable Population (DVP) will present three performances of Revival 2 - an outdoor public dance project that re-imagines the works of celebrated 20th century choreographers, taking place at iconic public spaces in New York City and featuring 50 non-professional senior dancers and seven legendary female dance artists.  

On Monday, May 14th, six time Tony Award winning producer, Stewart F. Lane was inducted in to the Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame. The Manhattan Jewish Historical Initiative (MJHI) honors the important and varied contributions of distinguished individuals who have lived and thrived in Manhattan. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer hosted the event, which was held in the historic venue, the Library of The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York.

Theater for the New City is presenting its 23rd annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, a massive annual performance marathon in and around the theater, May 25-27.

On Thursday, April 19th, the clouds cleared and the festive sounds of jazz filled the beautifully lit Broadway Presbyterian Church setting the tone for the nonprofit Bloomingdale School of Music's (BSM) annual scholarship benefit, Notes From 108th Street hosted by Ken Fischer, President Emeritus University Musical Society. The event honored Alexander Bernstein and the nonprofit Artful Learning, founded by Leonard Bernstein. Notes From 108th Street coincided with the worldwide celebration of Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday, and this year's event featured the music of this legendary composer, conductor, educator, cultural ambassador, and humanitarian performed by BSM students and faculty.

The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), honored acclaimed Director Julie Taymor with the distinguished 2018 'Mr. Abbott' Award for outstanding artistry and creativity over the course of her career. The Award was presented at the Foundation's annual gala event on April 2, 2018 in New York City, at the Bohemian National Hall.

The Classical Theatre of Harlem (Ty Jones, Producing Artistic Director), Pemberley Productions and Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre are proud to present Sancho: An Act of Remembrance. This timely theater production celebrates the extraordinary life of Charles Ignatius Sancho, an African man who was born on a slave ship and rose to prominence as a noted abolitionist, composer, social satirist and man of refinement in 18th century English society. Sancho makes his mark in history by becoming the first British-African to cast a vote in England in 1774.