Richard Pryor shows up with energy and comic timing as Mojo The Medicine Man, who attracts his cult with the divine words “Let Mojo heal it!” Continue reading
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Category: Black Facts
8/24/25 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Shirley Caesar, Dorthy Norwood, Inez Andrews, & Albertina Walker – Mary Don’t You Weep and More
The Caravans (Inez Andrews, Dorthy Norwood, Shirley Caesar, Albertina Walker, Delores Washington) singing at the 2007 BET Gospel Celebration. Continue reading
8/22/25 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project’s Artists Speak
By Walter Rutledge
The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project (CBDLP) 2025 presentation, Unbound: Shattered Frames, Endless Visions will grace the stage of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance this Saturday, August 23, 6pm. This unprecedented dance/theatre event showcases ten of Chicago’s most dynamic and diverse dance companies. The event is more than a dance concert. The production is a collective of Chicago-based artists celebrating the continued historic contributions of the Black dance community on the city’s cultural landscape. Continue reading
8/21/25 O&A NYC DANCE: O&A NYC Embeds With CBDLP for Chicago Dance Event
By Walter Rutledge
Out and About NYC Magazine (O&A NYC) will embed with the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project (CBDLP) for the Unbound: Shattered Frames, Endless Visions performance on Saturday, August 23, 6pm at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. The magazine has begun to document the artists from the ten dance companies performing in this unprecedented evening of Black dance excellence. The event is being documented with written commentary, video interviews and a review of the performance. The historic and cultural importance of this “consortium of the creative” needs to be brought to the attention of the theater going public. Not just in the great city of Chicago but to our international audience. Continue reading
8/19/25 O&A NYC DANCE: The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project And Dr. King’s Beloved Community
By Walter Rutledge
The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project (CBDLP) will present Unbound: Shattered Frames, Endless Visions on Saturday August 23, 6pm at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205 E. Randolph Street). Co- Directors Kevin Iega Jeff and Mashaune Hardy in coordination with co-curators Gary Abbott and Jeff have assembled a cast of ten of Chicago’s most exciting and progressive dance companies. This production will put meaning/message to movement for a transformative evening celebrating the city’s Black dance excellence. It will also emphasize the historic impact of Black dance on the cultural identity of the city of Chicago. Continue reading
8/16/25 O&A NYC DANCE: The Era Footwork Crew – Chicago’s Urban Terpsichoreans
By Walter Rutledge
Los Angles urban dance warriors perform Krump, Memphis dancers have the Juke, New Yorkers are Flexn and Chicago homies dance Footwork. Footwork music began evolving in Chicago in the early 90s, drawing on Ghetto House and Juke but adding complex layers of odd, almost compulsively frenetic rhythms; it grew hand in hand with the athletic, high-octane dance style that shares its name.
The dance/theatre urban storytelling style is accompanied by original lyrics and music tracks that reflect social justice, inequality and systemic racism. For over ten years Chicago’s Era Footwork Crew has introduce Footwork to the urban “dance battles” and the greater international dance community. Era Footwork Crew continues to make the urban dance style as synonymous to Chicago’s cultural identity as Deep-Dish Pizza. These Urban Terpsichorean will be part of the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project (CBDLP) in Unbound: Shattered Frames, Endless Visions, which will premiere Aug 23, 2025, 6:00pm at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205 E. Randolph Street). Continue reading
8/14/25 O&A NYC DANCE: Kevin Iega Jeff and The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project – Pedagogy. Community. Legacy
By Walter Rutledge
Life is an ever changing, ever evolving adventure. On the adventure life requires us to react, adapt and hopefully reinvent. Sadly, when we stop making history we become a part of history.
Kevin Iega Jeff continues to make history. His latest adventure is the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project (CBDLP) in Unbound: Shattered Frames, Endless Visions, which will premiere Aug 23, 2025, 6:00pm at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205 E. Randolph Street). Jeff is both the Co-Director (Mashaune Hardy Co – Director) and Co- Curator (Gary Abbott Co – Curator) of this production, which promises to be evening of Black Dance excellence. CBDLP unites ten Chicago dance companies for an evening of diverse and artistically/socially relevant performances. Continue reading
8/9/25 O&A NYC ITS SATURDAY- ANYTHING GOES: The Beloved- Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem in Lester Horton‘s 1949 masterwork The Beloved the duet (based on a true story) performed by Cassandra Phifer and Hagues Magen. Continue reading
8/8/25 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Chicago’s Hiplet Ballerinas To Perform In The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project Debut
By Walter Rutledge
Who would defile the sacred world of ballet (the last bastion of “pure” euro-centric dance and culture) by adding a healthy dose of urban flair? Move over Swan Lake and make way for the Hiplet Ballerinas. The Chicago – based dance company, whose unique style has taken the dance world by storm. The company will be part of The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project – Unbound: Shattered Frames, Endless Visions on Saturday, August 23, 6 pm at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205 E. Randolph Street). The performance is a showcase of Black dance excellence and will feature ten of the city’s most innovative and diverse dance companies. Continue reading
7/27/25 O&A NYC SUNDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ: Mary Lou Williams at Les Mouches, NYC, 1978 Cabaret Show
Legendary jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams performs a one-hour cabaret show at Les Mouches in NYC, 1978. Carline Ray, one of the original Sweethearts of Rhythm, is on bass. Continue reading
