Out & About NYC Magazine was founded to offer the arts and lifestyle enthusiast a fresh new look at New York City. We will showcase the established and the emerging, the traditional and the trendy. And we will do it with élan, and panache with a dash of fun.

9/19/14 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Michael Jackson- Smooth Criminal

Shall We Dance

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Smooth Criminal is the seventh single from Michael Jackson’s 1987 Bad album. The song contains a fast-paced beat intertwined with Jackson’s lyrics. It was released as a single on October 24, 1988, and peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. Continue reading

9/18/14 O&A With Walestylez: A Recap of KAWS’ Man’s Best Friend Exhibition at Honor Fraser

By Adewale Adekanbi

kaws-mans-best-friend-exhibition-honor-fraser-001-960x640-1Honor Fraser Gallery in Los Angeles played host to the exhibition Man’s Best Friend from famed street-turned-gallery artist KAWS (aka Brian Donnelly). The latest exhibition from Donnelly seems to play with interpretations of Charles M. Schulz’s iconic Peanuts series. Continue reading

9/18/14 O&A Throwback Thursday: Aretha Franklin

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Aretha Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin’s church as a child. In 1960, at age 18, Franklin embarked on a secular career. Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success to gain the title The Queen of Soul by the end of the 1960s decade.
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9/17/14 O&A: Todd Snyder for PF Flyers

 By Walter Rutledge

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Fashion designer Todd Snyder has teamed up with PF Flyers to create a men’s footwear collection. The partnership came together naturally given Todd’s love for vintage sportswear and PF’s heritage in athletic footwear. This collaboration merges the essence of both brands creating a timeless yet fashion-forward aesthetic. Continue reading

O&A Wildin Out Wednesday: Jamie Foxx as Wanda- In Living Color

wildin out wednesday

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Eric Marlon Bishop known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an African-American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian and musician. Ugly Wanda, played by Foxx, was based on a character LaWanda Page played in a sketch on Redd Foxx (1977). The first sketch to feature Wanda, in which she gives an erotic massage to a man who hasn’t seen her face, is a remake of the original Redd Foxx sketch. The character was named after Page. Jamie took his stage name as a tribute to Redd Foxx. Continue reading

9/16/14 Reflections on Katherine Dunham and Lavinia Williams (part two)

By Noel Nantambu Hall

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On her passing Mme. Williams was recognized by the Haitian government with an official national funeral and a posthumous award, Grand Officer De L’ Ordre National Honneur et Merite. She is survived by daughters Sharon and Sara, both of whom are active in the dance field. Sharon, a master percussionist and Sara, a former leading dancer with the Harkness and Atlanta ballets, the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Continue reading

9/16/14 O&A Inspirational Tuesday: Tony Robbins- Focus

Inspirational-Tuesday

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Where focus goes, energy flows. And where energy flows, whatever you’re focusing on grows. In other words, your life is controlled by what you focus on. That’s why you need to focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear. When you next find yourself in a state of uncertainty, resist your fear. Shift your focus toward where you want to go and your actions will take you in that direction. Continue reading

9/15/14 Reflections on Katherine Dunham and Lavinia Williams (part one)

By Noel Nantambu Hall

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 Katherine Dunham laid some sturdy foundations in arts and education that would not only benefit her era, but mushroom through the years and inspire new foundations and further growth. Education and the self-reaffirming power it wielded on an individual, group or society had clearly evidenced itself on her development and growing consciousness in the mid-nineteen thirties, and at the forefront were dance and anthropology. Continue reading

9/15/14 O&A Hollywood Monday: The Band Wagon: Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse

Hollywood Mondays

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The Band Wagon is a 1953 musical comedy film that many critics rank, along with Singin’ in the Rain, as the finest of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals despite only a modest box-office success. The film tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway play will restart his career. The play’s director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of Faust, and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the star.

The songs were written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, and some were created for the original 1931 Broadway musical also called The Band Wagon. The Broadway production featured a book by George S. Kaufman and starred Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. The movie’s dances and musical numbers were staged by Michael Kidd.

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