
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.”
Tag: Black History Month
2/27/20 O&A NYC THROWBACK THURSDAY: George Clinton- Atomic Dog 1982

Atomic Dog is a song by George Clinton from his 1982 album Computer Games. The track was released as a single in December 1982 and became the P-Funk collective’s last to reach #1 on the U.S. R&B Chart. Continue reading
2/25/20 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY: Malcolm X on CBC’s Front Page Challenge
He was revered. He was despised. Some saw him as a guardian of civil rights, a force of empowerment and self-respect for blacks in America. Others branded him a provocateur, a racial supremacist and a menace. His words, incisive and unforgiving had the capacity to unite – and divide.
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2/24/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Dear Basketball- Kobe Bryant’s Oscar Winner Short Film


Kobe Byrant’s 2018 Oscar winner Best Animation short film Dear Basketball Continue reading
2/19/20 O&A NYC WITH WALESTYLEZ SPORTS REVIEW: Kobe Bryant Through The Years At All-Star Weekend | All-Star 2020
By Adewale Adekanbi Jr

Ahead of NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, NBA looks back at Kobe Bryant’s most memorable moments as an All-Star. Such an amazing athlete whom embodied the game of Basketball itself.Kobe Bryant is part of O&A NYC Black History Month memoire. Continue reading
2/17/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Hair Love- Oscar Winning Short Film (Full)
Hair Love, an Oscar winning animated short film from Matthew A. Cherry, tells the heartfelt story of an African American father learning to do his daughter’s hair for the first time. Continue reading
2/12/20 O&A NYC WILDIN OUT WEDNESDAY: Richard Pryor Live and Smoking 1971

Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin’ is a 1971 American stand-up comedy concert film starring and written by Richard Pryor and directed by Michael Blum, who also cinematographer and producer. Continue reading
2/10/20 O&A NYC BLACK HISTORY MONTH MORNING FUNNIES: Sammy Davis Junior Impersonates His Peers

A spectacular example of Sammy Davis at his best. Here doing remarkable impressions of Rat Pack friends Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, as well as others. Continue reading
3/16/23 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY- WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: Excerpt of Banda with Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder (1957)
By Walter Rutledge


Geoffrey Holder’s Banda dance debuted in the 1954 Truman Capote/Harold Arlen musical House Of Flowers. Holder the Baron of The Cemetery (based on the Haitian Loa of Death Baron Samedi) received both a performer and choreographer credit in the program. The Broadway musical takes place somewhere in the West Indies during Mardi Gras weekend. Continue reading
9/15/19 O&A NYC SUNDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ CONCERT: Bad Blood- Ulysses Dove

Bad Blood received its World Premiere, in 1984 on Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal. Featuring music by Laurie Anderson (Gravity’s Angel and Walking and Falling) and Peter Gabriel (Excellent Birds) the work in an erotic tour de force battle of the sexes. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre premiered the work in 1986. It is one of seven Dove ballets in the Ailey Company repertoire. Continue reading


