

Paul Gladney better known by the stage name Paul Mooney, is a comedian, writer, social critic, television and film actor. He is best known for his appearances on Chappelle’s Show and as a writer for the comedian Richard Pryor. Continue reading


Paul Gladney better known by the stage name Paul Mooney, is a comedian, writer, social critic, television and film actor. He is best known for his appearances on Chappelle’s Show and as a writer for the comedian Richard Pryor. Continue reading

You have greatness in you… you were born phenomenal!
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In celebration of the FW15 menswear collection, rag & bone debuts a short film as a study of movement featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lil Buck. Continue reading


Caldera is a beautiful Award-Winning CGI animated short film by talented Animation filmmaker and composer, Evan Viera. Through the eyes of a young girl suffering from mental illness, CALDERA glimpses into a world of psychosis and explores a world of ambiguous reality and the nature of life and death. It has received the Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction, Award of Innovation – Seattle International Film Festival, Best Animated Film – Rome Independent Film Festival and Rockport Film Festival and Best Short – View Social Awards. Continue reading
By Adewale Adekanbi
In Photo: Sidra Smith and Adewale Adekanbi Walter Rutledge photographer
On Thursday January 29th the Harlem Fine Arts Show held a press event and reception at the New York Times headquarters in Times Square. The event was the official preview of the upcoming art show take will run Thursday, February 12 through Sunday February 15 at Riverside Church.
In Photo: Robin Bell Steven and photographer Chuck Stewart Adewale Adekanbi photographer
The event announced Jazzmobile as the recipient of the Harlem Fine Arts Show 2015 fundraising initiative. Jazzmobile President Robin Bell Stevens was joined by art and music lovers to share in the good news that comes during the 50th year celebration of Jazzmobile. Founded in 1964 by National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, composer, pianist, educator, jazz legend Dr. Billy Taylor and arts administrator Ms. Daphne Arnstein, Jazzmobile’s mission is to present, preserve, promote and propagate America’s classical music Jazz. Jazzmobile is the oldest not-for-profit organization founded with this as it sole mission.

The Harlem Fine Arts Show (HFAS) is the largest traveling African Diasporic art show in the United States. Inspired by the Harlem Renaissance; HFAS is a platform for artists and galleries to exhibit their work. The arts show provides unparalleled access to thousands of artists, craftsmen, tastemakers, art aficionados and high-level executives bringing art back to Harlem- the Mecca of Black culture.
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Talley Beatty choreographed and performed Mourner’s Bench in 1947. It represents the anguish and loss for former slaves, now free men, killed during the Reconstruction Era at the beginning of the rise of the Klu Klux Klan. Beatty explained to me, “People were murdered by the Klan and at daybreak their relatives would find their bodies in the fields still covered in the morning dew.”
By Walter Rutledge

Martha Graham had a fondness for Greek literature and mythology, and utilized these larger than life characters and themes as a source for inspiration. If we were to describe the present Martha Graham Dance Company using a figure from antiquity it would definitely be the Phoenix. The death of Graham, a nasty legal battle for control of work and the changing public attitude toward “how modern was modern dance” seemed to predict the final curtain call for the venerable dance company.
So many institutions struggled to survive after the death of the company’s name sake and major artistic voice, unfortunately many were not able to redefine their mission and are now just a memory. The Graham Company has found a way to not only redefine, and like the Phoenix, to rise with a renewed vigor. Through innovative programming, thoughtful reconstructions and exciting new commissions the Martha Graham Dance Company is once again making a bold artistic statement.
After what can only be described as a triumphant return to New York City Center last year, the company will begin their 2015 New York Season Tuesday, February 10 at the Joyce Theater. The company pays tribute to Graham’s defining influence as an American Modernist with Shape&Design, a program highlighting the sculptural and architectural aspects of choreography by Graham and others. The expanded season, which runs through February 22, will offer 14 performances over twelve days.
A Conversation With Janet Eilber- Artistic Director Martha Graham Dance Company
Panorama and Chronicle, Graham classics that set the standard for geometric force, are featured, along with Embattled Garden and Errand into the Maze, masterworks with evocative sets by Isamu Noguchi. Shape&Design includes recent works by renowned choreographers Nacho Duato, Andonis Foniadakis, and Annie-B Parson. The company celebrates the 85th anniversary of Graham’s iconic solo Lamentation with the world premiere of four new Lamentation Variations, choreographed by Kyle Abraham, Michelle Dorrance, Liz Gerring, and Sonya Tayeh.

The performance schedule:
Program A: Feb 11, 15 at 7:30pm; Feb 12, 20-21 at 8pm; Feb 22 at 2pm – Satyric Festival Song, Embattled Garden, Lamentation Variations (including pieces by Kyle Abraham and Sonya Tayeh), Rust, Chronicle
Program B: Feb 17, 22 at 7:30pm; Feb 13-14, 19 at 8pm – Lamentation Variations (including pieces by Michelle Dorrance and Liz Gerring), Errand Into the Maze, The Snow Falls in the Winter, Echo.
Each B Program will open with Essential Shape&Design:
Feb 13 – Deep Song and Panorama
Feb 14, 17 – Frontier and “Steps in the Street”
Feb 19, 22 – Deep Song and Primitive Mysteries (Excerpt)
Program C: Feb 15, 21 at 2pm; Feb 18 at 7:30pm – Lamentation, Embattled Garden, At Summer’s Full, Errand Into the Maze, Diversion of Angels

The Gala performance honoring Frank Gehry and Peter Arnell will take place on Tuesday February 10. The program will include Steps in the Street with stage design by Frank Gehry, Shape&Design- a film by Peter Arnell, Misty Copeland in At Summer’s Full and the World Premiere of all four Lamentation Variations by Kyle Abraham, Michelle Dorrance, Liz Gerring, and Sonya Tayeh. A Gala dinner will follow at IAC HQ, featuring Diane von Furstenberg’s Dress The Kick. For Gala tickets contact the Martha Graham Dance Company for tickets to the Gala Performance on Tuesday, February 10. For more information, email info@marthagraham.org or call 212-229-9200.
In Photo: 1) PeiJu Chien-Pott in Lamentation 2) Xiaochuan Xie in Annie-B Parson’s The Snow Falls in the Winter 3) PeiJu Chien-Pott in Martha Graham’s Errand into the Maze
Photo Credit: 1&3) Hibbard Nash 2)Brigid Pierce
To view Graham’s masterwork Appalachian Spring click below:

http://outandaboutnycmag.com/2615-shall-we-dance-friday-appalachian-spring/

Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls performed by Issac Hayes is the ninth episode of the second season of the animated television series South Park, and the 22nd episode of the series overall. Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls originally aired in the United States on August 19, 1998 on South Park. Continue reading

To celebrate the 90th Anniversary Season of the Martha Graham Dance Company April 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th at New York City Center O&A NYC Magazine reposts Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring.
Appalachian Spring premiered on October 30th, 1944, at the Library of Congress, Coolidge Auditorium in Washington DC, with Martha Graham dancing the lead role. Created during the darkest days of War World II Graham wanted to create inspiring art that came out of the American experience. Graham spoke of the work, “To be great art… it must belong to the country in which it flourishes, not be a pale copy of some art form perfected by another culture and another people”. Continue reading


Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an singer-songwriter, actor, and producer. Hayes was one of the creative forces behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes, Porter, Bill Withers, the Sherman Brothers, Steve Cropper, and John Fogerty were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of notable songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. Hayes is also a 2002 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Continue reading