The FUBU Culture List
Local New York Events…for now!
Dancing the 92nd Street Y: A 150th Anniversary Celebration
Since the 1930s, The 92nd Street Y, New York has welcomed and supported the leading lights of American contemporary dance — providing a space for them to develop and showcase their work when other doors were closed.
This landmark 150th Anniversary performance welcomes the legendary companies whose founders made these halls their home — Ailey II, Martha Graham Dance Company, and José Limón Dance Company. Bridging generations of pioneering dance makers, the evening pairs these dance companies with leading contemporary artists — Omar Román De Jesús, Jamar Roberts, and Hope Boykin — for a one-night-only celebration of the legendary choreographers and performers who shaped modern dance. Inspired by the past, transforming for the future, join us for this once-in-a-lifetime, only-at-92NY event.
The Limón Dance Company performs José Limón’s “There Is a Time,” paired with Omar Román De Jesús’ duet for two men, “Like Those Playground Kids at Midnight.”
The Martha Graham Dance Company performs “Appalachian Spring Suite,” paired with an excerpt of a new work from Jamar Roberts.
Ailey II — The Next Generation of Dance — will perform an Ailey Classics program “Blues Suite,” paired with a world premiere by Hope Boykin, celebrating 92NY’s 150th anniversary.
Tickets include access to a new exhibition, Dance to Belong: A History of Dance at 92NY, in 92NY’s Weill Art Gallery, on view from March 12-October 31, 2024.
Hell's Kitchen
Now she's in New York! Alicia Keys's new musical Hell's Kitchen, inspired by the Grammy-winning musician's New York upbringing, is coming to Broadway just blocks away from the title neighborhood. Get Hell's Kitchen tickets on New York Theatre Guide.
The Hell's Kitchen musical is set in a tiny apartment in the title neighborhood, where 17-year-old Ali has big dreams and a wary mother who tries to keep Ali from repeating her past mistakes. As Ali falls for a young drummer and befriends a piano teacher in her building, she and her mother learn all the possibilities Ali's future can hold — and the racial and coming-of-age obstacles she'll have to overcome to make her dreams come true.
This new show marks Keys's second foray into Broadway theatre following the 2011 play Stick Fly, for which she composed original music. She's best known for her acclaimed music career, which has earned her 15 Grammy Awards. Keys is known for her unique sound that blends R&B, soul, hip-hop, and pop, and some of her biggest hits include "Fallin'," "If I Ain't Got You," and "Empire State of Mind." All these existing hits and more appear in Hell's Kitchen alongside previously unheard songs.
Hell's Kitchen on Broadway is at the Shubert Theatre in the Theatre District, adjacent to Hell's Kitchen. The musical premiered a little further away from the title neighborhood, though: at The Public Theater in Manhattan's NoHo neighborhood. Multiple musicals, including Manhattan native Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton, made the move uptown after premiering at the Public.
Speaking of New York natives, the entire lead creative team of Hell's Kitchen, alongside Keys, was also born and raised in the area. Director Michael Greif, a four-time Tony nominee for directing the NYC-set Rent and other shows, is from Brooklyn. Choreographer Camille A. Brown (two-time Tony nominee for the 2022 revival of for colored girls) hails from Queens, and bookwriter Kristoffer Diaz (Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity) is from Yonkers, just outside the city.
Get tickets to Hell's Kitchen in New York now.
El Niño
Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long hiatus for the company premiere of his acclaimed opera-oratorio, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day, in an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity. El Niño brings together three of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions, all of whom make highly anticipated company debuts: Marin Alsop, one of the great conductors of our time, who has led more than 200 new-music premieres; soprano Julia Bullock, a leading voice on and off stage; and pathbreaking bass-baritone Davóne Tines. Radiant mezzo-sopranos J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack take turns completing the principal trio. The moving, fully-staged new production also marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, resident director at Lincoln Center Theater, who received universal acclaim for her Tony-nominated 2022 production of The Skin of Our Teeth.
Play Time: Scrored by Solange Knowles returns to the New York City Ballet
Set to a free jazz score by Grammy-winning artist Solange Knowles, Gianna Reisen’s Play Time features a cavorting ensemble of ten dancers in metallic and jewel-toned, business suit-inspired costumes covered in pinstripes of brilliantly eye-catching Swarovski crystals designed by Alejandro Gómez Palomo.
Gianna Reisen’s Play Time is her third work for New York City Ballet, following Composer’s Holiday (2017) and Judah (2018). Play Timefeatures a commissioned score by Grammy-Award winning singer, songwriter, and visual artist Solange Knowles, her first for a ballet company. The ballet for 10 dancers, which premiered at the 2022 Fall Fashion Gala, includes costumes by fashion designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo for Palomo Spain, featuring Swarovski crystals, and lighting by Mark Stanley.
Premiere
September 28, 2022, New York City Ballet, David H. Koch Theater
Costumes
Alejandro Gómez Palomo for Palomo Spain
DanceAfrica 2024
BAM’s corner of Fort Greene transforms into a pulsing celebration of community, discovery, and collective joy at this beloved annual festival. We join with longtime neighbors, first-time visitors, the DanceAfrica Council of Elders, and our partners at Weeksville Heritage Center and The Billie Holiday Theater (formerly Restoration Arts) to create the nation’s largest festival of African dance—and Brooklyn’s unofficial start of summer. Featuring the iconic outdoor bazaar, traditional dance and music from Cameroon, classes, workshops, late-night dance parties, and FilmAfrica’s lineup of cinematic gems, this can’t-miss cultural celebration electrifies Brooklyn for a 47th year.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The company that changed American dance forever returns to Brooklyn with a robust program of dazzling recent works and modern classics. See “America’s most popular dance company” (The New Yorker) on the BAM stage, where Alvin Ailey first performed in 1956. Over 65 years later, the company continues to champion African American artistry and forge a bold new path for Ailey’s legacy—and modern dance itself.
Please note: Tickets for this event go on sale to the general public in February 2024.
Bilal: Songs From Love For Sale - One Night Only
Bilal
Bilal Sayeed Oliver is a truly independent artist. A singer, songwriter, and producer who has always been ahead of his time - blending jazz, afro-futurism, classic soul, alternative r&b, rock, and even classical in his vocals and music. He's known for his wide vocal range, work across multiple genres, and magnetic live performances. Philip Bailey said Bilal is the rare singer who uses his voice like an instrument.
Interscope Records signed Bilal to a major label recording deal fresh out of college, after studying jazz composition and opera at The New School in NYC. His debut album, “First Born Second," showcased a range from the emotionally charged fan-favorite, "Soul Sista," which peaked at No. 18 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, to the political viewpoints of "Fast Lane" and "Second Child”.
Bilal quickly developed a sizable following at his live shows which were known for being emotional and elecrifying. He received great acclaim from his peers, who noted his range and ability to sing in a freeform style and his classically trained falsetto. The soulful feel of the album caused Bilal to be labeled as "neo-soul,” but throughout his career his expansion in music and pushing of boundaries has proved his point that he is much more than that.
Playing jazz venues and recording more progressive soul music in the following years, Bilal has commercially released four albums to critical success. His unreleased but widely leaked second album “Love for Sale” found wide acclaim among critics and listeners. It features collabs with Dr. Dre and J Dilla and was built around Bilal’s own musicianship, included live instrumentation and had a vibe completely new and different from its predecessor. Interscope shelved the album indefinitely. It still received over half a million downloads and Bilal began touring even though there was no proper release of the album.
As a member of the Soulquarians, an experimental collective that was active from the late 1990s to early 2000s, Bilal has been culturally and musicially influencial on a whole new generation of musicians and producers. His extensive list of collaborations includes Kendrick Lamar, Common, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Guru, Kimbra, J Dilla, Robert Glasper, and The Roots.
"Airtight's Revenge,” his experimental 2011 album, blends jazz, hip-hop, electronic, rock, soul, and blues into one raw, genuine collection of music. The album's single, "Little One", earned Bilal a 2011 Grammy Award nomination in the category of Best Urban/Alternative Performance. That year, he was also on the Roots' Grammy-nominated album Undun (2011) and the Robert Glasper Experiment's Grammy-winning Black Radio (2012).
With the release of his next album, “A Love Surreal,” Bilal immediately achieved commercial success, debuting at No. 1 on iTunes' R&B Chart. On Billboard, the album debuted at No. 17 on the Independent Albums Chart, No. 19 on the R&B Albums Chart, and No. 103 on the Billboard 200. The album received shining reviews, including an 8/10 from SPIN magazine,4.5/5 stars from Allmusic, and 4/4 stars from USA Today.
In an essay on the Soulquarians, Michael A. Gonzales traces the collective's impact to Bilal's contemporary contributions: "Listening to Kendrick Lamar's newest album “To Pimp a Butterfly”, “Bilal has transformed himself for the post-Soulquarian generation that includes Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding and now Kendrick.”
In August 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Bilal wrote and recorded his first EP, Voyage-19, over the course of three days and in collaboration with various musicians in remote experimental sessions, which were streamed live on YouTube. The resulting three-track EP was released digitally the following month, with revenues of its sale and accompanying donations given to the participating artists, many of whom had been struggling financially due to the pandemic.
He is working on new music and currently splits his time between the US and Morocco, where he paints and writes music.
COTTON: Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano and Justin Austin, baritone
Celebrated mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, acclaimed for her riveting performances on the world’s great opera stages, her activism in support of diversity in the arts, and her championing of new music, brings the New York premiere of an immersive exploration of African American stories through song, poetry, and photography.
COTTON is inspired by photographer John E. Dowell’s haunting images of South Carolina cotton fields – captured in his 2018 exhibit Cotton: The Soft, Dangerous Beauty of the Past. The work comprises a song cycle by acclaimed composer Damien Geter – performed by Graves with exciting rising star baritone Justin Austin – with original poems by Nikki Giovanni, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Afaa Michael Weaver, Lauren Alleyne, Charlotte Blake Alston, Glenis Redmond, Alora Young, and Trapeta Mayson, and Dowell’s evocative photographs. A poignant and powerful multidisciplinary work that speaks to the resilience of soul and psyche, led by one of music’s most compelling vocal stars.
COTTON was inspired by the cotton photography of John E. Dowell. The poetry and music were commissioned by Lyric Fest (Philadelphia) in honor of its 20th Anniversary.
Ailey II at the Joyce
This year, Ailey II – The Next Generation of Dance – marks its 50th anniversary of merging the spirit and energy of the country’s finest early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers.
Founded by Alvin Ailey in 1974, this universally renowned company embodies his pioneering mission to establish an extended cultural community that provides dance performances, training, and community programs for all people. Under the leadership of Sylvia Waters, who served as artistic director for 38 seasons, Ailey II flourished into one of the most popular modern dance companies, combining a rigorous touring schedule with extensive community outreach programs.
Today, with Artistic Director Francesca Harper at the helm, she brings fresh perspectives to Mr. Ailey’s legacy, while nurturing new creative voices and propelling the company forward.
Program
Divining (excerpt) by Judith Jamison
Ailey Highlights by Alvin Ailey
Enemy in the Figure (excerpt) by William Forsythe
John 4:20 by Baye & Asa
Luminous by Francesca Harper
Program is 1 hour and 52 minutes. Programs, casting, and prices are subject to change without notice.
Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Terence Blanchard’s stirring drama returns following its landmark company premiere in 2021, with bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green starring as Charles, a young man faced with a fateful decision. Soprano Latonia Moore reprises her heartbreaking portrayal as Charles’s mother, Billie, with rising soprano Brittany Renee doing triple duty as Charles’s love interest, Greta, as well as the embodiments of Loneliness and Destiny. James Robinson and Camille A. Brown’s gripping production includes what is surely the only step dance in opera. Evan Rogister conducts Blanchard’s score, which powerfully melds opera and jazz.
Black Violin Experience
City Winery Presents Black Violin: The Experience Tour live in concert on April 2nd at 8pm
For nearly two decades, Black Violin has been merging string arrangements with modern beats and vocals and building bridges in communities along the way. Members Kev Marcus and Wil Baptiste first met in orchestra class at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, becoming classically trained on the violin and viola through their high school and college careers. Post-college, they reconvened to produce beats for South Florida rappers, and began building an audience in local clubs. They later went on to win Showtime at the Apollo in 2005, and eventually sold out headline performances at venues across the country, including a sold out two-night headline run at The Kennedy Center in 2018. NPR took note and declared “their music will keep classical music alive for the next generation.” Black Violin’s 2019 album release, Take the Stairs, earned a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album”. The band also recently received their second ever Grammy Award nomination for the track “The Message” as Best Americana Performance, in collaboration with The Blind Boys of Alabama.
Black Violin has plays roughly 200 shows a year; many of which are performances for young, low-income students in urban communities. In the last year alone, the group has played for over 100,000 students with the goal of challenging stereotypes and preconceived notions of what a “classical musician” looks and sounds like. “The stereotypes are always there, embedded so deep in our culture,” says Wil. “Just by nature of our existence we challenge those ideas. It’s a unique thing that brings people together who aren’t usually in the same room, and in the current climate, it’s good to bring people together.”
Like They Do In the Movies
“The stories and lies people have told me. And that I have told myself.”
Tony Award® winner, Emmy Award® winner, and Oscar® nominee Laurence Fishburne is both the star and the playwright of this one-man tour de force which he describes as “the stories and lies people have told me. And that I have told myself.”
Mr. Fishburne has captured imaginations throughout his extraordinary career with unforgettable performances on stage and screen, from Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It? (Academy Award® nomination for Best Actor), to Sterling Johnson in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running (Tony Award for Best Featured Actor), to his mind-bending turn as Morpheus in the blockbuster film series The Matrix.
Now he brings his legendary storytelling skills to PAC NYC for a World Premiere event helmed by Leonard Foglia, director of Mr. Fishburne’s acclaimed solo performance Thurgood on Broadway.
A PAC NYC Production
Photo: Art Streiber
Bilal @ City Winery
City Winery NYC presents Bilal live in concert on February 29th at 7pm
Philadelphia born, Soul Singer, Bilal is one of the most dynamic artist of our time. Bilal is an eclectic--drawing from gospel, jazz, soul, blues, and hip-hop. Bilal made his major label debut with 2001’s First Born Second. The cd sold over 300,000 copies and announced that Bilal was an artist to watch. Bilal’s sophomore recording Love For Sale leaked to the internet before its official release and would enjoy over half a million downloads. 2010 saw Air Tights’ Revenge, which yielded the Grammy nominated “Little Ones”. In Feb 2013 Bilal released A Love Surreal, which has already garnered critical acclaim being named as one of “People Magazines” top ten albums of the year.” And in 2015 he released his most celebrated project of his career, “In Another Life” produced entirely by retro soul producer Adrian Young. Followed by the him earning he first Grammy Award for his participation on the critically acclaimed, “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar.
"The Legacy Tour" With Syleena Johnson
City Winery NYC Presents Syleena Johnson live in concert on February 25th at 5:30pm
Grammy-nominated recording artist Syleena Johnson is a woman of many titles and talents. Singer, songwriter, author, and daytime talk show host are just a few avenues that she is able to share her gifts with the world. As an R&B/soul songstress, Syleena Johnson was destined to touch people and impact lives. Her sultry voice, combined with her timeless beauty, classic style, and piercing delivery has made her a fan-favorite for nearly twenty years.
Inspired by the pain, struggle, strength, and resilience of women everywhere, Syleena returned to the studio with Grammy award-winning production team, Toxic Productions. In January of 2019, Syleena dropped her highly anticipated single, WOMAN, from her forthcoming new album with the same title. Their collaboration resulted in a battle-cry for women everywhere, signaling a spirit of empowerment and amplifying the desire for cultural change. WOMAN is the opening single on the soundtrack of socially conscious revolution. Both Chicago natives, Toxic and Syleena decided to join forces again on her 11th studio album, Woman, which is set to be her most compelling work to date.
In 2018, Syleena Johnson added the title of author to her repertoire by releasing her highly anticipated self-help book, "The Weight Is Over". “The Weight is Over” is her compelling and triumphant journey toward self-love and discovery, while chronicling her battles with body image birthed in adolescence and carried throughout her music career. Honest, humane, and heart-warming, "The Weight Is Over" shares Syleena's pain and progression; while providing practical ways to identify and eliminate stressors to sustain optimal mental, emotional, and physical health.
Experience Syleena Johnson live with an acoustic sound as she celebrates Black Music Month.
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
“True staying power ... Its unbroken flow from genre to genre [is] AS GRACEFUL AS ANYTHING IN OPERA ... Speaks to contemporary life ... Dreams of a better future ... Has the opportunity to become what is always should have been: AN AMERICAN CLASSIC.” —The New York Times
“Not just a THOUGHT-PROVOKING show, it is also highly entertaining. YOU MUST GO SEE MALCOLM X.” —MSNBC
Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking and influential opera, which premiered in 1986, arrives at the Met at long last. Theater luminary and Tony-nominated director of Slave Play Robert O’Hara oversees a potent new staging that imagines Malcolm as an Everyman whose story transcends time and space. An exceptional cast of breakout artists and young Met stars enliven the operatic retelling of the civil rights leader’s life. Baritone Will Liverman, who triumphed in the Met premiere of Fire Shut Up in My Bones, sings Malcolm X, alongside soprano Leah Hawkins as his mother, Louise; mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis as his sister Ella; bass-baritone Michael Sumuel as his brother Reginald; and tenor Victor Ryan Robertson as Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Kazem Abdullah conducts the newly revised score, which provides a layered, jazz-inflected setting for the esteemed writer Thulani Davis’s libretto.
Please note that video cameras will be in operation during the November 14 and November 18 performances as part of the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions.