Celebrating the Centennial of the Harlem Renaissance and the
Inspirational Legacy of Jazz Luminary, Sun Ra and Afrofuturism
Featuring the First Annual Harlem Doc Festival, Nona Hendryx, Maimouna Youssef aka MuMu Fresh
and Much More
Harlem Stage, the
legendary uptown venue that for over 35 years has promoted the creative legacy
of Harlem and artists of color from around the corner and across the globe, is
proud to present its Fall 2019 seasons of performances. The season is curated
by Monique Martin, Director of Programming for Harlem Stage, and will celebrate
the centennial legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. The season also welcomes
legendary rock goddess, Nona Hendryx, as the Artistic Director for Harlem
Stage's new yearlong initiative focusing on Sun Ra and Afrofuturism. The
initiative will present performances that interweave music, technology,
talks/conversations/humanities,
literature and dance to celebrate the legacy of visionary and pioneer of
Afrofuturism, Sun Ra, along with the contributions of the countless artists he
has inspired. Through these two powerful themes, which will carry into the 2020
season, Harlem Stage will reflect on and celebrate the past, present and
artistic future of Harlem and explore how the Harlem Renaissance continues to
be a rich source of inspiration across the globe while Afrofuturism continues
to push the boundaries of our artistic imagination.
Harlem Stage’s 2019 fall season will feature a variety of
performances, across a range of artistic genres, offering audiences the chance
to experience legendary performers, as well as rising stars.
Two powerful discussions will be presented as part of Harlem
Stage’s discussion series, Dive Deeper. On August 15th, in advance of the fall
season and ahead of the 50thAnniversary of the Harlem Cultural Festival (aka
Black Woodstock) concert by SummerStage in Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem Stage
brings together notable social activist and MC, Talib Kweli, acclaimed
musician, Igmar Thomas (Leader of the Revive Big Band,Lauryn Hill), GRAMMY
Award Winning Trumpeter and Vocalist Keyon Harrold (Common, Jay-Z), legendary
percussionist Juma Sultan (Jimi Hendrix’s former percussionist), Toni Blackman
(Actress, Writer, Hip-Hop Ambassador to the U.S. State Department) and others
for a unique dialogue about art and activism. On October 17th, artists MuMu
Freshand Jason ‘Timbuktu’ Diakité will discuss the impact of Hip-Hop culture
and music around the world.
NEW PROGRAMMING:
New this season is The Cosmic Synthesis of Sun Ra and
Afrofuturism Series, a yearlong celebration of the spiritual, sonic and social
impact of the Sun Ra’s work curated by Artistic Director of the series, Nona
Hendryx with Craig Harris as Musical Director and Composer. The series is
commissioned and presented through Harlem Stage’s WaterWorks commissioning
program.The first event in the series, Order of Chaos, will kick off the 2019
fall season on September 20thwith a night of Afrofuturistic films and music.
Film screenings are curated by filmmakers Craig T. Williams and Celia C.
Peters, who will lead a post screening conversation that will examine and celebrate
the genre that is flipping the script on Black narratives. Audiences can enjoy
screenings of "Prototype," where a programmer conducts a painful
empathy test on lifelike androids in an attempt to win her mother's approval,
and “ROXË15,” which focuses on Roxë Jones, a virtual reality programmer in a
stark, near-future New York City. Hell-bent on a getting to a better life, she
bets her future on technology. The evening culminates with a performance
featuring rock goddess and futurist, Nona Hendryx, and Darian Dauchan of The
Brobot Johnson Experience. For the next performance in the series, in
partnership with the Park Avenue Armory, Nona Hendryx joins Theaster Gates, and
other special guests fora special tribute to Grace Jones. For the final event
in the series this season, Nona Hendryx, Moor Mother and Black Quantum
Futurist, will offer Afrofuturistic musical performances.
Also new this season, Harlem Stage presents the first annual
Harlem Doc Fest, in partnership with The Documentary Forum at The City College
of New York, Maysles Documentary Center, New York Latino Film Festival and
Third World Newsreel. Harlem Stage is proud to host the opening of this dynamic
new documentary film festival with a screening, conversation and reception on
November 15th. The Harlem Doc Fest will explore the cultural richness and
history of Harlem along with critical issues impacting the community. This
weekend-long curated festival of feature and short documentary films will
present screenings throughout Harlem and include conversations with filmmakers,
actors and scholars. The film selection is forthcoming.
Harlem Stage will also present two nights of live radio
plays on November 21stand 22nd. The Renaissance EP: A Theatrical Mixtape,
created by Harlem Stage’s Director of Programming Monique Martin and curated by
playwright/actor NSangou Njikam (author of
Synching Ink), explores the impact and resonance of the Harlem
Renaissance after 100 years. Combining music, theatre and imaginative Foley
i.e. beat boxer, The Renaissance EP takes you on an anthropological excavation
through time and space to explore the power and legacyof a neighborhood that
has been described as the epicenter of Black Culture and the Radical Black
Imagination.
MUSIC PROGRAMMING:
Musical highlights include two evenings of performances from
GRAMMY nominee Maimouna Youssef aka MuMu Fresh. For the first evening, MuMu
Fresh offers a healing concert that pays tribute to her rich heritage and
ancestors by using tones that correspond to chakras and a range of soothing
instruments. For the second evening,this powerhouse lyricist and MC performs
material from her recently recorded album, produced by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The
PLAYlist titled, "The Healing."
Carnegie Hall Citywide and Harlem Stage present The Baylor
Project, which consists of two-time GRAMMY nominated husband-and-wife vocalist
team Jean Baylor and drummer Marcus Baylor. Deeply rooted in jazz, Jean has
performed with such stars as Marcus Miller and Buster Williams, while Marcus is
a former member of the legendary Yellowjackets—their eclectic musical style is
also steeped in gospel, blues, and soul.
In a special evening celebrating the Harlem Renaissance,
with Check your Invite! A Renaissance
Rent Party Remix, Actor/Playwright/Storyteller Daniel Carlton will examine the
hundreds of colorful parties that beloved Harlem Renaissance writer Langston
Hughes was invited to. Carlton will create a world from archival historical
invitations to dramatize Harlem history from the 1920's - 1960’s using the
settings of the various parties, and the audience will be invited to wait for
Langston Hughes to arrive, as they meet the party hosts and other guests. The
evening culminates in a party with Harlem’s DJ NessDigital spinning classic
jazz and soul from bebop to hip hop, soul and funk.
Closing out the season, catch rising jazz vocalist Brianna
Thomas and her band Fa-La-La-La Funk! as they bring the funk to classic holiday
tunes we know and love with a blend of jazz, R&B, and gospel. The concert
will be peppered with songs from Brianna’s eagerly anticipated sophomore album
‘Everybody Knows.”
“Sun Ra, Afrofuturism, and the Harlem Renaissance can be
seen as points along a temporal spectrum. Those points can be located in space
through the programs of Harlem Stage. These seemingly disparate artistic
movements are connected as manifestations of intense and impactful creative
energy by artists of color. In exploring both of these movements and the
artists who galvanized them, we learn about their achievements, their failures
and their intentions,” said Patricia Cruz, Executive Director of Harlem Stage.
Monique Martin, Director of Programming,said “This season at
Harlem Stage, we are reflecting on the past while looking towards the future.
Our performances celebrate the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance, while
discovering pathways to create a better future. Afrofuturism is the ticket to
reimagining Black identity, and performances this season will examine what
exactly that looks, sounds and feels like.”
Nona Hendryx, Artistic Director for Afrofuturism, said
“Afrofuturism is Afropresent and Afropast, it is not only fiction, it is not
only science, it is a future created in the mind, projected and seen through
the lens of the African diaspora, it is part Science Fiction and Fact. In my role as the Artistic Director of The
Harlem Stage 2019 to 2020 exploration of Afrofuturism, I will lead the curation
of a year long program. The programs
will include Music, Technology, Literature, Film and Dance events celebrating
the magical and fantastical world of Sun Ra ‘Space Is The Place” and his long
line of disciples; from George Clinton to Janelle Monae; collapsing time; past,
present and future, space and place, inner and outer worlds, traveling to
Stars, Quasars, Suns, Moons and delving into Black Holes.
For more information on Harlem Stage, visit:
www.harlemstage.org.
Connect with Harlem Stage:
Facebook facebook.com/myharlemstage
Instagram @harlemstage
Twitter @MyHarlemStage
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