Memorial Day 2013: Dance Africa - Coney Island & Silverlinings

After several Summer starter weekends (Alliteration!) the Grand Opening is here and it's gonna be a bright sunn- hey wtf?!

Ah it's gonna be a dank gloomy overcast affair. Wheee.

 

So while the views may not be all fun and the sun like Memorial Day weekends past (above) Coney Island will be open, the rides will be churning and considering the damage wrecked on the shores after Sandy, this is still a time to get out and celebrate. If you need any more encouragement (you people..) There are many of the same weekend festivals goings on, Smorgasburg, Brooklyn Flea, The Lewis Avenue Flea in Bed-Stuy, and of course that annual favorites of Brooklyn culture:

DANCE AFRICA at B.A.M.!

Here's some pics from the Dance Africa Festival of years past:

 

 For those who don't know the yearly festival features a series of musical, theatrical, and all around dynamic events at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and this weekend will be complimented by street vendors of everything from clothing to home furnishings to some of the best Pan-African-Caribbean-American food you'll find in New York City.

From the website: "Created by Chuck Davis in 1977, DanceAfrica—the nation’s largest festival dedicated to African dance—brings together dance, music, film, and an array of community events for an exhilarating celebration of culture from Africa and its diaspora."

So here's my silver-lining take away; I'm counting on the less than perfect weather to shorten all those foodlines from WillyB to Brooklyn Academy of Music. Yum! Plus a Birthday Party for DJ "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels, can't be a certain type of Brooklynite and miss that!

Check BAM for more details. Running May 17- May 27th 

Dance Africa all this Weekend @ BAM

What a year this has been so far, just yesterday the Great Spirit of Gil Scott-Heron passed across us all, and without gettin in too deep, that event reinforces how much of a year of transitions and lasting world altering change this has been already. There have been similar shifts in my personal life and I've noticed some changes in the local bloggy world, which I'll be getting into in future posts but yes, even without a discernible fictions rapture, it seems there is much realigning in our lives this year.

Thats a big lead in, but in times of uncertainty celebration of life and tradition is always good, and a great example of that is the annual and ongoing event Dance Africa at the Brooklyn Academy of Music this Memorial Day weekend.

Dance Africa has stood for over 30 years as a kick-off to Summer events in Brooklyn and throughout the city and it also the place for Great Culture, Great Food, Great Sounds all downtown in Brooklyn of course. After the damp grey May we've had it's time to get this Summer going!

Check http://www.bam.org for more info

Dance Africa is Back at BAM!

The annual tradition continues this weekend 5/28-5/31 at BAM (in downtown in Fort Greene Brooklyn, natch!)







The performances and events kick-off today and continue with amazing food, especially tasty veggie dishes, and great fashions, large and small artworks, and thats just from the vendors in the street fair outside BAM, inside there are talented performers presenting rich textures of sight and sound.




For details of BAM's Dance Africa events click here.
Here's last year's post  and below are pics from previous years.... Enjoy!!

Weekend Update

Took some quick shots from the Memorial weekend that was around Dance Africa:


That Afro Mosaic Soul


Mmmn Mmm Good


First Steps






Gravy




Afro-Caribbean Colors



and for more check out the slide show