|

SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2008 / 5PM-SUNSET
FREE / RAIN OR SHINE
BRING YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK'S 7TH ANNUAL
SOLSTICE EVENT TO WELCOME THE SUMMER AND CELEBRATE THE LONGEST DAY
OF THE YEAR!
- "Pagan Rights" musical performance by My Barbarian
- "Cinema On Air" interactive sound and video "drive-in"
by free103point9 and Electronic Arts Intermix
- "Drum Circle" by JustinJustin and the Alé-Alé
Drummers
- Soulstice Ritual by urban shaman Mama Donna
- Solstice artmaking workshops presented by Materials for
the Arts, The Noguchi Museum, Queens Museum of Art, Free Style Arts
Association, and Socrates Sculpture Park
- Transformation! Face Painting by Agostino Arts
Socrates Sculpture Park will present its seventh
annual Summer Solstice Celebration. This FREE event celebrates
the beginning of summer and the longest day of the year with performances,
music, art, and food. Visitors can take part in free Solstice
artmaking workshops, have their faces painted, enjoy music, picnic
in the Park, or just watch the fun!
My Barbarian
will present "Pagan Rights," an open-air musical performance
that celebrates the spirituality movements of the 1970s through
a series of theatrical vignettes in which the players represent
a Tarot-reading commune, separatist tree-huggers, an Egyptocentric
cult, and Wiccan druids, among other eccentric group identities.
The three singer/actors Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon and Alexandro
Segade will perform soaring harmonies and comedy routines
over a pre-recorded orchestra reminiscent of the progressive pop
of the psychedelic era, accompanied by live music from flute player
Giles Miller and guitarist Tim Koh, backed by mask-wearing dancers
and giant cardboard puppets. A sincere spectacle, "Pagan
Rights" is a thoughtful, and fun, exploration of the hippie
diaspora, tracing counter-cultural histories as a means of making
sense, and fun, of the present day. "Pagan Rights"
debuted in 2005 at the Evidence Room Theater, LA, and has been performed
at venues such as the Hammer Museum, LA; REDCAT, LA; Underground,
Drake Hotel, Toronto; Torpedo, Oslo, Norway; and Participant Inc.,
NY.
free103point9
, in collaboration with
Electronic Arts Intermix and Socrates Sculpture Park,
invites visitors to join them for a summertime "drive-in,"
leaving the car at home and incorporating audience participation.
"Cinema On Air" will be an evening of projected silent
video works, selected from the EAI Collection, including Vito Acconci,
Barbara Buckner, Dennis Oppenheim, Martha Rosler, Wolf Vostell,
and Jud Yalkut and Nam June Paik; accompanied by two simultaneous
sound performances from Damian Catera, Ferrum Virgo, ben owen, and
Matt Wellins heard through radio heaphones. Take a seat in the park,
tune-in to either of the two live soundtracks, watch the works in
silence, or sample all three experiences. Attendees are encouraged
to bring their own radios and headphones. A limited number of radios
with headphones will be available on site.
JustinJustin
and the Alé-Alé Drummers will also be in attendance, performing
"Drum Circle" with emphasis on crowd participation.
Alé-Alé Foundation is an artistic movement founded
by JustinJustin that includes Drummers, Brazilian Samba Dancers
and Capoeiristas. The Alé-Alé Drummers actively
perform throughout the Metro Area with a vast array of talented
musicians and special guests.
Mama Donna
(a.k.a. Donna Henes) is an internationally acclaimed spiritual teacher,
popular speaker, and award-winning writer specializing in multi-cultural
ritual celebrations of the cycles of the seasons and the seasons
of our lives. Her joyful celebration of celestial events have introduced
ancient traditional rituals and contemporary ceremonies to millions
of people in more than one hundred cities for thirty-three years.
For a fourth consecutive year, Mama Donna will attend Socrates'
Summer Solstice Celebration to present her festive Soulstice Ritual.
Kids can participate in creative artmaking workshops throughout
the event, presented by Socrates Sculpture Park, Materials
for the Arts, The
Noguchi Museum, Free
Style Arts Association and the Queens
Museum of Art; or have their faces painted by
Agostino Arts
, Transformation! Facepainting.
Food will be available for purchase. The Park offers the perfect
setting to have a picnic and enjoy the view as the sun sets over
the Manhattan skyline.
Socrates Sculpture Park is grateful for the support and generosity
of Con Edison.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New
York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Council.
Special thanks to the City of New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg,
Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, City Council Speaker
Christine C. Quinn, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, City Councilmember
Eric Gioia, and the City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation,
Commissioner Adrian Benepe.
Special thanks to Plant Specialists, Inc.
Download Press
Release(.pdf)
PLAYLAB
NYC presents
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE TEMPEST
SATURDAY, JUNE 14 / 3PM & SUNDAY, JUNE 15
/ 1PM and 4PM
FREE / RAIN OR SHINE
THE
JOYCE THEATER in partnership with CITY PARKS FOUNDATION present
TRANSPORTS EXCEPTIONNELS
FRIDAY, JULY 18 / 1PM and 7PM
FREE / RAIN OR SHINE
This special dance performance is a unique and whimsical outdoor
duet between man and five-ton mechanical digger. Choreographed by
Dominique Boivin.
DANCE OUT!
July 1620 (Summer)
The Joyce Theater, in partnership with City Parks Foundation, takes
dance outdoors this July, presenting three breathtaking performances
for five days July 16th- 20th in parks throughout the five boroughs.
The three acclaimed pieces, distinctly created to resonate with
the energy and vibrancy of outdoor life, will all launch consecutively
in the busy East River Park. From there, each company will tour
separately for the week, performing in popular parks that are under-served
throughout the city. Bringing dance to unexpected environments,
The Joyce strives to create a meeting ground that serves both new
audiences as well as the thriving dance community of New York. Performances
will include Michael Schumacher in Dans le Jardin, Transports Exceptionnels
by Dominique Boivin, and Contigo by choreographer Rui Horta and
solo artist Joao P. Pereira Dos Santos.
THE JOYCE THEATER
The mission of The Joyce Theater Foundation is to serve and support
the art of dance and choreography, promote the richness and variety
of the art form in its fullest expression, and enhance the public
interest in, and appreciation of, dance and the allied arts of music,
design, and theater. The Joyce Theater programs embrace the
entire spectrum of movement styles and traditions, from the time-honored
to the untried, and are designed to encourage, sustain, and educate
a diverse audience.
Performance Schedule:
DANS LE JARDIN
Wed, July 16: East River Park (MANHATTAN) at 7pm
Thu, July 17: Cuyler Gore (BROOKLYN) at 1pm and 7pm
Fri, July 18: Pinocchio Park (STATEN ISLAND) at 1pm and 4pm
Sat, July 19: St. Mary's Park (BRONX) at 4pm and 6pm
Sun, July 20: Queensbridge Park (QUEENS) at 4pm and 7pm
TRANSPORTS EXCEPTIONNELS
(Images
© Jean-Louis FERNANDEZ)
Wed, July 16: East River Park (MANHATTAN)
at 7pm
Thu, July 17: Coney Island Beach at Parachute Jump (BROOKLYN) @
4pm and 7pm
Fri, July 18: Socrates Sculpture Park
(QUEENS) at 1pm and 7pm
Sat, July 19: St. Mary's Park (BRONX) at 1pm,
5pm and 7pm St.
Sun, July 20: South Beach Boardwalk (STATEN ISLAND) at 1pm, 4pm
and 7pm
CONTIGO
Wed, July 16: East River Park (MANHATTAN) at 7pm
Thu, July 17: East River Park (MANHATTAN) at 7pm
Fri, July 18: South Oxford Park (BROOKLYN) at 7pm
Sat, July 19: South Oxford Park (BROOKLYN) at 7pm
Sun, July 20: South Oxford Park (BROOKLYN) at 7pm
Program Details
Dans le Jardin an improvised dance by the Netherlands-based choreographer
Michael Schumacher, is set to live music performed by cellist and
composer Alex Waterman. Using the park as a backdrop and inspiration
for his improvised performance, Michael dances with and around his
surroundings. Partnering with a statue, moving gracefully under
a tree or exploding across a green; the park, music and audience
play equal parts as inspiration and observers for this improvised
performance.
Transports Exceptionnels is a unique and whimsical
outdoor duet between man and five-ton mechanical digger. Choreographed
by Dominique Boivin and accompanied by the dramatic voice of Maria
Callas, the dancer meets, greets, and embraces a moving excavator,
transforming the stage into a construction site, street into playground,
and dance into a tentative balance between nature, man, and machine. Contigo,
is a work combining acrobatics and dance by Portuguese choreographer
Rui Horta and solo artist Joao P. Pereira Dos Santos, an accomplished
acrobat and master of the Chinese pole. In this awe-inspiring piece
that defies gravity, Dos Santos traverses a 20 foot vertical pole
by moving up and down it, flipping and spinning with brut strength
and drilled precision.
|