Don”t Cry, an excerpt from On The Block (After Bearden) a full evenings one act dance work choreographed by Walter Rutledge and based on the six panel mural The Block by Romare Bearden. In the section a man, who deeply loved his wife, visits her grave. Her spirit returns one last time. The images were derived from the second panel of the Bearden rural. Continue reading
The Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC) announced the roster of artists they will present for their 40th Anniversary season June 19 through 22 and June 28 at the Actors Fund Center, 160 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn. The Brooklyn based THPAC has presented companies and choreographers of color for 40 consecutive years making it the oldest continuous presenting organization in the country. The list of artists reaches back to the past with established artists while remaining true to its credo offering performance opportunity to the new and emerging.
“When you put it in prospective back in 1976 there were very few presenters programming artists of color,” states THPAC Executive Chairman Alex Smith Jr. “Dance Theatre of Harlem had made their premiere only five years earlier in 1971, The Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (Ailey II) was two years old, and the George Faison Universal Dance Experience was one of the hottest emerging companies in town. We presented the controversial Eleo Pomare and female powerhouse Dianne McIntyre when mainstream presenters were looking elsewhere. We have planned an exciting season for 2016, look for some surprise appearances from our dance family.”
Over the last forty years THPAC has made it a mission to seek out the new and cutting edge. The organization has helped introduce many of today dance notables including Complexions, Ronald K. Brown Evidence, Kyle Abraham, Camille A. Brown and Sidra Bell. This year promises to be more than a retrospective; it remains a referendum on dance programming for artists of color.
The 2016 40th Anniversary Season:
Sunday June 19
Danse4Nia
Darrel Grand Moultrie George Faison
Germaul Barnes
Gierre Godley
Johnnie Mercer
Philadanco
Rodger C. Jeffery
Tiffany Rea-Fisher
Monday June 20
Alpha Omega
Andre’ Zachery
Bloodline Dance Theater
Creative Outlet
DaVon Doane
Harambee
Judah International Dance Theatre
Patricia Carby
Rod Rodgers Dance Company
Sidra Bell
Tuesday June 21
AREA
Charles Moore Dance Theater
Earl Mosley
Francesca Harper
Nehemiah Spencer
Nijawwon Matthews
Special Ops
Takeshi Ohashi
William Isaac
Wednesday June 22
Abdiel Jacobsen
Bones The Machine
HSA Dance Ensemble
Jamal Story
Jean Emile
Orlando Hunter
Ronald K. Alexander
Walter Rutledge
Tuesday June 28
Marshall Swiney with Beauty For Ashes Contemporary School of Dance
Tickets are on sale for the 2016 Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center 40th Anniversary season. The tickets are $20/$15 (students and seniors) due to the exciting roster and limited seating advanced ticket sales is advised. Tickets can be purchased on-line at www.thelmahill.com. or in the lobby 30 minutes prior to the performance.
The Thelma Hill Performing Art Center (THPAC) will dedicate their 40th Anniversary season to dancer icon and longtime THPAC supporter Loretta Abbott. The 4 day season, which runs from June 19 through June 22 at the Actor Fund Center 160 Schermerhorn Strret in downtown Brooklyn, will showcase 40 choreographers, and dance companies during the milestone 40th season. The artists presented range from early THPAC contributors including such dance luminaries as Emmy and Tony Award winner George Faison, Philadanco, Charles Moore Dance Theatre, and Rod Rodgers Dance Company. Mid-career choreographers Marshall Swiney, Ronald K Alexander, Germaul Barnes and Rodger C. Jeffery; and emerging artists Nijawwon Matthews, DaVon Doane, and Sidra Bell. Continue reading
The Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC) will kick off their 40th Anniversary season with its works-in-progress showcase entitled PEEKS on Tuesday, May 24, 8pm at the Faison Firehouse Theatre (6 Hancock Place). THPAC offers choreographers an opportunity to present dance works in varying degrees of development in front of a live audience. An audience talkback, which provides constructive feedback for both dancers and dance makers follows the showing. Choreographers Marshall Swiney and Walter Rutledge will presents works at this PEEKS showcase. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
During a recent interview with Martha Graham Dance Company Artistic Director Janet Eilber we discussed the collaboration between Martha Graham and Isamu Noguchi on Appalachian Spring. 
Graham and Noguchi worked together over 20 sets for Graham over the course of three decades, including those for her series based on Greek myths; Cave of the Heart (1946), Errand into the Maze (1947), Night Journey (1947), Clytemnestra (1958), Alcestis (1960), Phaedra (1962), Circe (1963), and Cartege of Eagles (1966) Noguchi also designed the set for her biblical and religious themes, including Herodiade (1944), Judith (1950), Seraphic Dialogue (1955), and Embattled Garden (1958). Probably the most recognizable collaboration is for her movement manifesto on Americana Appalachian Spring (1944).
Janet Eilber discusses Appalachian Spring
(Repost) April 1, 2014- Martha Graham: Appalachian Spring and Rite of Spring:
At first glance the Isamu Noguchi set, with its sparse flat look established the boundaries of the performance space. The “house” structure with the downstage “porch” set on a diagonal stops short of center stage. The flat fence placed downstage left, and the preacher’s pedestal set upstage on an angle from the fence completed the set design.
These configurations of objects create the converging lines; the lines that produce the classic perspective used by artists to direct the eye in paintings. Noguchi’s house mimics Brunelleschi’s drawing of perspective almost exactly. This is not an accident, but a conscience decision by Noguchi and Graham to subtly frame the choreography.
Most of the primary action takes place within the converging lines. Very little group choreography is designed behind the fence and nothing is set stage right of the house. Without obvious overkill Graham was able to effectively direct the viewer’s eye the primary movement conversion.
The close proximity of the downstage porch and fence to the audience builds closeness/empathy for the characters (especially the husband and wife). When these characters look out past the audience we can see the splendor of the open prairie on their faces. And we see it in the glorious “Technicolor” of our individual imaginations.
The universality of the experience extends beyond the American Prairie. This is the story of new beginnings, the optimism of youth, and the promise/hope for the future. Graham’s technical prowess creates a clear and unfettered moving picture, combine this with her ability to convey the humanistic elements of her characters and it becomes apparent why the public has endeared Appalachian Spring for over 70 years.
By Walter Rutledge
The Martha Graham Dance Company begins their 90th anniversary season today at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). The company will present four extraordinary programs on Thursday April 14, Friday April 15, Saturday April 16 and Monday April 18, featuring four of Graham’s most acclaimed masterworks Chronicle (1933), Appalachian Spring (1944) Cave Of The Heart (1946), and Night Journey (1947). In addition to the Graham works company will present premieres by internationally acclaimed choreographers Marie Chouinard, Mats Ek, and Pontus Lidberg, and recent works by Nacho Duato and Andonis Foniadakis. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
Ailey II began their annual New York City 2016 season Wednesday March 30th at the Ailey Citygroup Theater, in the Joan Weill Center For Dance (405 W 55th Street). The two-week season, which runs through April 10, 2016, will offer two programs, All New and Returning Favorites. The season opened with the All New program, featuring four works by Kyle “JustSole” Clark, Jean Emile, Ray Mercer, and Jamar Roberts. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) will perform Donald McKayle’s Rainbow Round My Shoulder tonight with Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance at the Koch Theater, Lincoln Center. This is the second season of the new initiative by the Taylor Company to showcase works by emerging choreographer and modern dance masters during their New York City season. O&A NYC Magazine talked with DCDC Artistic Director Debbie Blunden- Diggs about the work and the New York City performances. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
Natalie Cole, chart-topping R&B singer, winner of nine Grammy Awards and daughter of the legendary singer, bandleader and television groundbreaker Nat (King) Cole died Thursday night at age 65. Cole, who had struggled with a variety of health issues in recent years, was forced to cancel a string of concert performances over the last three months after a recurrence of hepatitis C linked to her earlier drug abuse. The cause of death was reportedly congestive heart failure. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
Outstanding performers have always been the hallmark of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Dancers that consistently test the technical and artistic boundaries of modern dance remain a fundamental part of founder Alvin Ailey’s continuing legacy. Artists Carmen DeLavalallade, Dudley Williams, Judith Jamison, Miguel Godreau, Linda Kent, Sara Yarborough, Sarita Allen, Gary deLoatch, Desmond Richardson, and Renee Robinson all possessed an innate ability beyond technique, a God given gift that unfortunately cannot be taught. When the stage lights hit these special individuals it is refracted into dazing, flawless, pure light that pulls you in… moth to flame. Celeste Linda Sims is pure light. Continue reading
Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
The show will present iconic works from the museum’s collection by more than 20 artists, including John Chamberlain, Chryssa, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and Andy Warhol. Highlights will include Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Soft Shuttlecock (1995), on view in New York for the first time in 25 years. These works will be shown alongside Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019), a major loan to the exhibition, and recent acquisitions by contemporary artists such as Farah Al Qasimi, Alex Da Corte, Lucia Hierro, Martine Gutierrez, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Yee I-Lann, Cara Romero, and Liu Shiyuan, whose practices expand the legacies of Pop.
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)
The new permanent installation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the subcontinent and enduring, dynamic historical traditions. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries returned in May 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Following a multiyear renovation, the reenvisioned installation reintroduces visitors to the Museum’s collection of sub-Saharan African art through a selection of some 500 works organized to survey major artistic movements and living traditions from across the subcontinent. The new galleries present original creations from the Middle Ages to the present, and one-fourth of the works are on display at the Museum for the first time.
The Met Fifth Avenue
Join us on Sunday, June 7, 2026, at 1:00 PM for the unveiling of the 5th iteration of the Harlem Renaissance 2.0 Banner Project, presented by The Gatekeepers Collective (TGC). This year’s powerful public art installation, "Where Art Meets Activism on 125," honors the lives, legacies, and cultural contributions of Same-Gender-Loving/LGBTQ+ African American trailblazers whose vision, courage, and creativity helped shape Harlem and American culture
The Forum at Columbia University
The Oxtail Off - NYC: This event will feature THE BEST Caribbean food trucks in all of New York City, along with top chefs competing for the Oxtail Off Championship crown! Based on your ticket level, you will be able to receive samplings of Oxtail from competing chefs, or enjoy full plates from our amazing onsite vendors. Vegan, pescatarian, and vegetarian options will be available.
99 Scott Studio
Ballet Tech Kids Dance lighting up The Joyce stage! Celebrating five years as Artistic Director, Dionne Figgins premieres a full-length ballet, "Echoes of the Studio," featuring students dancing alongside BT alumni. This new work highlights the journey of Ballet Tech students from studio to stage, showcasing the inspiration, technique, determination, and heart it takes to bring a trainee’s dancing to life.
THE JOYCE THEATER
American Liberty Ballet presents Sylvia, a myth-inspired tale brought to life with vivid characters and dynamic choreography.
Theater at St. Jean’s150 E. 76th St.New York, NY 10021
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Alicia Graf Mack and Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, the company’s fourth consecutive BAM season promises to be a celebration of joy, beauty, and the transformative power of dance.
Program
Hymn (1993, new production 2026) by Judith Jamison
New York hottest place to be for a fun Sunday evening house music party. JD Frankie Paradise will get you moving whether you dip, twist or just strike a pose.
District - 246 west 35th street
The show will present iconic works from the museum’s collection by more than 20 artists, including John Chamberlain, Chryssa, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and Andy Warhol. Highlights will include Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Soft Shuttlecock (1995), on view in New York for the first time in 25 years. These works will be shown alongside Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019), a major loan to the exhibition, and recent acquisitions by contemporary artists such as Farah Al Qasimi, Alex Da Corte, Lucia Hierro, Martine Gutierrez, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Yee I-Lann, Cara Romero, and Liu Shiyuan, whose practices expand the legacies of Pop.
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)
The new permanent installation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the subcontinent and enduring, dynamic historical traditions. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries returned in May 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Following a multiyear renovation, the reenvisioned installation reintroduces visitors to the Museum’s collection of sub-Saharan African art through a selection of some 500 works organized to survey major artistic movements and living traditions from across the subcontinent. The new galleries present original creations from the Middle Ages to the present, and one-fourth of the works are on display at the Museum for the first time.
The Met Fifth AvenueThe show will present iconic works from the museum’s collection by more than 20 artists, including John Chamberlain, Chryssa, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and Andy Warhol. Highlights will include Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Soft Shuttlecock (1995), on view in New York for the first time in 25 years. These works will be shown alongside Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019), a major loan to the exhibition, and recent acquisitions by contemporary artists such as Farah Al Qasimi, Alex Da Corte, Lucia Hierro, Martine Gutierrez, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Yee I-Lann, Cara Romero, and Liu Shiyuan, whose practices expand the legacies of Pop.
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)
The new permanent installation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the subcontinent and enduring, dynamic historical traditions. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries returned in May 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Following a multiyear renovation, the reenvisioned installation reintroduces visitors to the Museum’s collection of sub-Saharan African art through a selection of some 500 works organized to survey major artistic movements and living traditions from across the subcontinent. The new galleries present original creations from the Middle Ages to the present, and one-fourth of the works are on display at the Museum for the first time.
The Met Fifth AvenueThe show will present iconic works from the museum’s collection by more than 20 artists, including John Chamberlain, Chryssa, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and Andy Warhol. Highlights will include Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Soft Shuttlecock (1995), on view in New York for the first time in 25 years. These works will be shown alongside Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019), a major loan to the exhibition, and recent acquisitions by contemporary artists such as Farah Al Qasimi, Alex Da Corte, Lucia Hierro, Martine Gutierrez, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Yee I-Lann, Cara Romero, and Liu Shiyuan, whose practices expand the legacies of Pop.
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)
The new permanent installation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the subcontinent and enduring, dynamic historical traditions. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries returned in May 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Following a multiyear renovation, the reenvisioned installation reintroduces visitors to the Museum’s collection of sub-Saharan African art through a selection of some 500 works organized to survey major artistic movements and living traditions from across the subcontinent. The new galleries present original creations from the Middle Ages to the present, and one-fourth of the works are on display at the Museum for the first time.
The Met Fifth Avenue
A dance and wellness classes design for Older Adults taught by Walter Rutledge
204 W 134th St, New York, NY 10030
The show will present iconic works from the museum’s collection by more than 20 artists, including John Chamberlain, Chryssa, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and Andy Warhol. Highlights will include Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Soft Shuttlecock (1995), on view in New York for the first time in 25 years. These works will be shown alongside Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019), a major loan to the exhibition, and recent acquisitions by contemporary artists such as Farah Al Qasimi, Alex Da Corte, Lucia Hierro, Martine Gutierrez, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Yee I-Lann, Cara Romero, and Liu Shiyuan, whose practices expand the legacies of Pop.
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)
The new permanent installation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the subcontinent and enduring, dynamic historical traditions. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries returned in May 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Following a multiyear renovation, the reenvisioned installation reintroduces visitors to the Museum’s collection of sub-Saharan African art through a selection of some 500 works organized to survey major artistic movements and living traditions from across the subcontinent. The new galleries present original creations from the Middle Ages to the present, and one-fourth of the works are on display at the Museum for the first time.
The Met Fifth AvenueThe show will present iconic works from the museum’s collection by more than 20 artists, including John Chamberlain, Chryssa, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and Andy Warhol. Highlights will include Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Soft Shuttlecock (1995), on view in New York for the first time in 25 years. These works will be shown alongside Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019), a major loan to the exhibition, and recent acquisitions by contemporary artists such as Farah Al Qasimi, Alex Da Corte, Lucia Hierro, Martine Gutierrez, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Yee I-Lann, Cara Romero, and Liu Shiyuan, whose practices expand the legacies of Pop.
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)
The new permanent installation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the subcontinent and enduring, dynamic historical traditions. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries returned in May 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Following a multiyear renovation, the reenvisioned installation reintroduces visitors to the Museum’s collection of sub-Saharan African art through a selection of some 500 works organized to survey major artistic movements and living traditions from across the subcontinent. The new galleries present original creations from the Middle Ages to the present, and one-fourth of the works are on display at the Museum for the first time.
The Met Fifth AvenueA dance and wellness classes design for Older Adults taught by Walter Rutledge
720 Nereid Ave, Bronx, NY 10466
The show will present iconic works from the museum’s collection by more than 20 artists, including John Chamberlain, Chryssa, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and Andy Warhol. Highlights will include Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Soft Shuttlecock (1995), on view in New York for the first time in 25 years. These works will be shown alongside Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019), a major loan to the exhibition, and recent acquisitions by contemporary artists such as Farah Al Qasimi, Alex Da Corte, Lucia Hierro, Martine Gutierrez, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Yee I-Lann, Cara Romero, and Liu Shiyuan, whose practices expand the legacies of Pop.
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)
The new permanent installation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the subcontinent and enduring, dynamic historical traditions. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries returned in May 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Following a multiyear renovation, the reenvisioned installation reintroduces visitors to the Museum’s collection of sub-Saharan African art through a selection of some 500 works organized to survey major artistic movements and living traditions from across the subcontinent. The new galleries present original creations from the Middle Ages to the present, and one-fourth of the works are on display at the Museum for the first time.
The Met Fifth AvenueThe show will present iconic works from the museum’s collection by more than 20 artists, including John Chamberlain, Chryssa, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and Andy Warhol. Highlights will include Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019) and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Soft Shuttlecock (1995), on view in New York for the first time in 25 years. These works will be shown alongside Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019), a major loan to the exhibition, and recent acquisitions by contemporary artists such as Farah Al Qasimi, Alex Da Corte, Lucia Hierro, Martine Gutierrez, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Yee I-Lann, Cara Romero, and Liu Shiyuan, whose practices expand the legacies of Pop.
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)
The new permanent installation foregrounds the creativity of artists across the subcontinent and enduring, dynamic historical traditions. The Met’s Arts of Africa galleries returned in May 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Following a multiyear renovation, the reenvisioned installation reintroduces visitors to the Museum’s collection of sub-Saharan African art through a selection of some 500 works organized to survey major artistic movements and living traditions from across the subcontinent. The new galleries present original creations from the Middle Ages to the present, and one-fourth of the works are on display at the Museum for the first time.
The Met Fifth AvenueNew York hottest place to be for a fun Sunday evening house music party. JD Frankie Paradise will get you moving whether you dip, twist or just strike a pose.
District - 246 west 35th street
