Destination Brooklyn is the calendar location for cultural engagement during the Memorial Day weekend.
The exact address is any street adjacent to 30 Lafayette Ave.where the Brooklyn Academy of Music attracts multitudes to feast, shop, reunite and parade African elegance while others prioritize the holiday by attending DanceAfrica, the 45-year-old showcase of traditional movements that represents the diaspora.
For its 46th anniversary, Ghana will take the spotlight to showcase the West African country formerly regarded as the black star nation.
Distinguished by the red, gold and green tri-color banner, in 1957 a single black star established Ghana’s role as the first of the commonwealth countries to win independence from the British empire.
“Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua” is the theme for a tribute to that legacy.
Audiences will be privy to movements from the National Dance Company of Ghana slated May 26 to 29 to provide the hallmark attraction for a plethora of activities that will highlight America’s largest festival of African dance.
Regardless of weather, inside the Peter Jay Sharp Building, traditional indigenous dance styles are expected to lure audiences to the continental spectacle that includes rituals, drumming and colorful costumes.
According to BAM spokespersons, in addition to the formal sit-down entertainment a ceremonial parade will also pay tribute to the ancestors, along with master classes, artist talks, workshops, a club night and an alluring bazaar guarantees rain or shine attendance. The bazaar annually features Caribbean cuisine, crafts, hand-made jewelry, African fashions, hair-braiding specialists, unique house-hold items, books, and artisans representative of the entire continent.
A club scene will reflect contemporary Ghana in a production that features high-life music performed by Arkesltra Africa, a 10-piece ensemble headlined by Afropop vocalist Amma Whatt.
On May 27, DanceAfrica’s resident deejay, DJ YB promise funk, soul, rock, jazz, Afrobeat, and hip-hop for a Late Night dance party at BAMCafe.
Beginning at 10 p.m. the acclaimed General of Afrobeats will helm the turntable keeping the celebration going early into the following day.
Loyalists to this event contend this the nighttime not-to-be-missed experience to engage.
There is also melding of African vernacular forms with hip-hop and contemporary dance forms by the RestorationArt alumni and the acclaimed Forces of Nature Dance Theater.
Caregivers and children are encouraged to participate in daytime activities.
‘Revelations’ return Alvin Ailey to Brooklyn next month
Although all buses, cars, trains and foot traffic lead to BAM in May, patrons will be hard-pressed to miss the return of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in June.
Absent for more than a decade a spring engagement offers a program titled: Brooklyn Bonds and All Ailey at the Howard Gilman Opera House from June 6 to 11.
Returning from a 2010 hiatus, the Ailey Dance company renews the relationship established in 1969 when the company started a residency at BAM which created the Ailey School in Brooklyn.
“As part of its eagerly anticipated return to the BAM stage, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater stages four revered classics with a buoyant Duke Ellington collaboration: a tribute to Nelson and Winnie Mandela; “Solo Cry,” a birthday present from Ailey to his mother and the landmark “Revelations” which debuted in 1960.
For more information, log onto www.BAM.ORG
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