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April 28, 2008
of note

 
  Central Park Nights  2007 julien de bock.  [email protected] 







of  note
 

 celebrates the arts, culture, and history of our distinct yet intersecting diasporas. It is a space where art meets activism, empowerment, and social  responsibility.


 Founder
Editorial Director
Grace Aneiza Ali

Executive Editor
Sandrine Colard

Photo Editor
Julien de Bock

Book Editor
Clarence Haynes

Theater Editor
Stella Amelie Vincenot


www.ofnotemagazine.org

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In this Issue
Art After Dark
A Saint in the City
John Edgar Wideman
Jhumpa Lahiri
PEN Festival
African Wars
Nuyorican Poetry
123 Festival
Nora Chipaumire
Hattie Mae Williams
Complexions
Without the King
Sarraounia
Van Hunt
Ayo
Mireya I. Ramos
Dana Leong
Erykah Badu
Miles from India
Makandal
Rafta, Rafta
Alvin Ailey

notable

No one is born an activist, or a leader, or a revolutionary, or an agent for social change. More often than not, we are catapulted into action because of some grave injustice or tragedy. King, Gandhi, Mandela, and Malcolm all taught us this.

While we try, as a community,  to come to terms with the recent acquittal in the Sean Bell trial,  I've been so moved and inspired by the courage of Nicole Bell.

Out of tragedy and now injustice, a woman who has lost her love, her friend, and the father of her children, has emerged as a formidable voice against a system, put in place to protect and serve us, but instead brutalizes and silences us. 


For the courage with which she transformed loss to a movement for justice, we honor Nicole Bell.  Thank you for inspiring us.

Grace Aneiza Ali




bookmark


Unbowed
A Memoir
By Wangari Maathai

In tandem with last week's Earth Day celebrations,  of note  salutes a world hero and  Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai and her memoir Unbowed, which spotlights Kenya's rampant deforestation.

Maathai, the first African woman and environmentalist to win a Nobel Peace Prize, details her childhood in rural Kenya and her eventual work with the Green Belt Movement. 

Started in 1977, the organization provided job opportunities for poor Kenyan women through the planting of millions of trees. Maathai faced governmental opposition to her activism and was imprisoned and beaten several times. Nonetheless, her dedication to our earth continued. A wise, warm, and compassionate spirit, Maathai reminds us that the safety of the environment, peace, and human rights are all deeply connected.


 
Clarence Haynes


ART


Art After Dark @ The Guggenheim Museum
Friday, May 2 @ 9 pm



Enjoy time with friends, explore the galleries, and listen to some of the best DJs in town, all in the spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building of The Guggenheim Museum

Famed for being the artist behind the ubiquitous OBEY GIANT street campaign, Shepard Fairey rocks the Guggenheim this month with an eclectic mix of old-school hip hop, '80s, rock, and electro, as well as some unexpected oddities and well-known classics.


Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 5th Avenue
@  89th Street
New York, NY 10128


E.P.A. (Environmental Performance Actions)
On view through May 17













E.P.A. (Environmental Performance Actions)  is a group exhibition surveying recent performance work from around the world that addresses current environmental crises. The works, created in the public sphere, draw attention to and engage the public in a dialogue about issues such as climate change, watersheds, urbanization and, ultimately, human survival.


Exit Art
475 Tenth Avenue
@ 36th Street
New York NY 10018


A Saint in the City
On view through May 31


A Saint in the City  presents the visual culture of a dynamic religious movement known as the Mouride way that is inspired by a Senegalese Sufi pacifist, poet, and saint named Amadou Bamba (1853-1927).



Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Latimer/Edison Gallery
515 Malcolm X Boulevard
@ 135th Street
New York, NY 10037

LITERARY ARTS


Fanon by John Edgar Wideman
In conversation with Edouard Glissant
Tuesday, April 29 @ 6:30 pm


John Edgar Wideman's Fanon weaves together a postmodern pastiche of fiction, biography, history, politics, and memoir to evoke the life and message of Frantz Fanon, the influential author of The Wretched of the Earth. Read the New York Times review, " No Way Out."

Edouard Glissant has been a finalist for the Nobel Prize in Literature and is a distinguished professor in the Ph.D. program in French at The Graduate Center/CUNY.  He is regarded as one of the most prominent writers from the Caribbean and the Francophone world.

Photo: John Edgar Wideman, left, and Frantz Fanon (NYT)

Institute of African American Affairs
19 University Place
Room 102
btw East 8th Street & Waverly Place
New York, NY 10003



Jhumpa Lahiri: Unaccustomed Earth
Wednesday, April 30 @ 7 pm

Best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Jhumpa Lahiri presents eight dazzling stories in Unaccustomed Earth that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they explore the secrets at the heart of family life. Lahiri will read and discuss this collection of her latest work. 

Lahiri's debut collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award and The New Yorker Debut of the Year. Her novel The Namesake was a New York Times Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and was selected as one of the best books of the year by USA Today and Entertainment Weekly.


Strand Books
828 Broadway
@ 12th Street
New York, NY 10003


PEN World Voices Festival: Public Lives/Private Lives
Wednesday, April 30 @ 8 pm



What do we know about writers? That their creativity often comes from the most private and fiercely guarded places? That they're often thrust into public roles, either by choice or circumstance? Join PEN for the opening night of the 2008 World Voices Festival, as some of the world's most beloved and illustrious writers-novelists, journalists, poets, and essayists-peel back the layers of their literary selves in a rare group appearance at Town Hall. With Coral Bracho, Peter Esterhazy, Rian Malan, Ian McEwan, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose,  Annie Proulx, Evelyn Schlag, A.B. Yehoshua; introduced by Salman Rushdie.

View the complete World Voices Festival schedule here.

The Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street
btw  6th Avenue & Broadway
New York, NY 10036



African Wars
With Nuruddin Farah, Abdourahman Waberi, and Chenjerai Hove
Saturday, May 3 @ 3 pm



In collaboration with the PEN World Voices Festival, FIAF presents three of Africa's greatest literary talents-Nuruddin Farah, Abdourahman Waberi, and Chenjerai Hove  in conversation with Violaine Huisman. Forced into exile for their activism, the authors have turned the tongue of their former colonial oppressors into weapons of pacifism. These French and English-speaking writers discuss their practice of literature, their political mission, and the uniting power of language in a conflict-ridden continent.

FIAF (French Institute: Alliance Francaise)
Tinker Auditorium
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022                                                                                                                                                         
 

A Celebration of Nuyorican Poetry: Aloud and Alive at 35

Saturday, May 3 @ 8 pm




This year the Nuyorican Poets Cafe is celebrating its 35th year presenting poetry, theater, music, film, and visual arts programming to the general public. To celebrate this significant milestone, the evening will be hosted by Rosie Perez and Flaco Navaja.

The Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street
btw  6th Avenue & Broadway
New York, NY 10036



DANCE

123 Festival @ The Joyce
Tuesday, April 29 - Sunday, May 11


From April 29 to May 11, experience the next generation of dance. Boasting some of the finest young dancers from around the world, don't miss your chance to see three of New York City's top dance companies: ABT II, Ailey II,  and Taylor.


OPENING NIGHT EVENT
For one night only, see all of these talented dancers in a shared evening of outstanding dance benefitting the three companies.
Tuesday, April  29 @ 7:30pm

The Joyce Theater
175 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10011

Nora Chipaumire

Wednesday, April  30 - Saturday, May 3 @ 7:30 pm


Nora Chipaumire is known for provocative and politically relevant dances that illuminate the struggles of human identity in an increasingly borderless world. Chimurenga, a post-revolution solo, uses movement, film, text, and sound installation to confront the personal and collective trauma of surviving Zimbabwe's second war of liberation. Chipaumire's multimedia performance memoir moves from recollections of a childhood filled with violence into a celebration of life.

Post-Show Talk Wednesday, April 30

Dance Theater Workshop
219 West 19th Street
New York, NY 10011

Dance Talks
Joyce SoHo Residency Artist: Hattie Mae Williams
Thursday, May 1 @ 5 pm


Join Hattie Mae Williams and the Tattooed Ballerinas for a
showing and discussion of a new work-in-progress, Pig Leg.
With projector footage by Christian Salazar, a landscape has
been created with images of Baptist churches and peaceful cemeteries.
The piece is a personal statement about the past, the present, religion
and coming to terms with inevitable losses we each face.

Reservation Required.  Call (646) 792-8377


The Joyce SoHo
155 Mercer Street
New York, NY 10012



Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Brooklyn Philharmonic
Friday, May 2 @ 7:30 pm

The Brooklyn Philharmonic and acclaimed choreographer Dwight Rhoden updates Stravinsky's playful ballet, Pulcinella, with nods to the pop culture phenomenon of paparazzi and celebrity gossip. The evening also includes Strauss, Kabalevsky, and a Complexions Contemporary Ballet repertory piece danced to works by Bach.


BAM
Howard Gilman Opera House
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217



Reggie Wilson & Andr�ya Ouamba
Friday, May 9 & Saturday, May 10 @ 8 pm


In this co-presentation with 651Arts, as part of the Mississippi Delta Heritage Project, the ancestry of Cameroon, Gabon, and the Congo resound throughout, as New York choreographer Reggie Wilson and Congolese choreographer Andr�ya Ouamba create an anthropological exploration of movement and its origins. They use movement and music drawn from blues and worship traditions to consider the influences-both real and metaphorical-of Central African culture on world performance forms.


FIAF (French Institute: Alliance Francaise)
Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022

FILM

Without the King
Now playing


This incredible documentary tells the astonishing story of Africa's last absolute monarchy, the Kingdom of Swaziland, King Mswati III. A distant figure out of touch with his home and country, rules by decree living a life of luxury with 12 wives while his subjects suffer from crushing poverty.

Filmmaker Michael Skolnick captured the birth of a nation's revolution and the dawning awareness of a young Swazi princess as she realized with dismay the contrast between her impoverished country and her lavish lifestyle.






The Quad Cinema
34 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011

Sarraounia
Tuesday, May 6 @ 4 pm & 9 pm


Based on historical accounts of Queen Sarraounia, who lead the Azans into battle against the French colonialists, Med Hondo's sweeping epic is not only an engrossing tale of a remarkable woman's bravery, but also a captivating study of revolution against enslavement. Sarraounia's character is richly drawn, replete with angst and romantic considerations, bringing this often obscured brilliant strategist and forceful leader to light.


FIAF (French Institute: Alliance Francaise)
Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022



MUSIC



Van Hunt
Tuesday, April 29 @ 8 pm


S.O.B.'s presents Grammy award-winning R&B singer Van Hunt for a rare solo performance. Van Hunt first hit the mainstream music scene with a self-titled album that The New York Times described  as "the perfect soundtrack for any seduction".

Van Hunt grew up with a soundtrack of classic soul and contemporary R&B and eagerly immersed himself in its tones and moods.  He sets himself apart  as a  skilled multi instrumentalist and prolific songwriter.



S.O.B.'s
204 Varick Street
@W. Houston
New York, NY 10014



Ayo
Thursday, May 1@ 8 pm



FIAF launches World Nomads, a series that examines the cross-cultural exchange of ideas, artistic expression, and style. This transcultural journey begins in contemporary Africa bringing artists together for engaging programs considering Africa's cultural impact on France and the rest of the world.

To open its inaugural World Nomads series, FIAF presents the well-traveled, satin strains of soul singer Ayo, performing selections from her double platinum-selling (France) album, Joyful. Born in Germany to a Nigerian father and a Roma mother, and ever keeping Paris as her spiritual home, Ayo's pedigree seeps deep into bittersweet songs built from the world. Liquid organ riffs, acoustic guitars, and bongos punctuate mellifluous vocals that float with ease over deep reggae beats, evoke the stages of the Elys�e-Montmartre in one moment, and the streets of Lagos in the next.

FIAF (French Institute: Alliance Francaise)
Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022


Mireya I. Ramos
Friday, May 2 @ 9:30 pm


Born to a Dominican mother, a Mexican father, and raised in Puerto Rico, singer/violinist Mireya I. Ramos is a veritable encyclopedia of Latin music and culture. She recently performed at the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival alongside Cuban bandleader Chucho Vald�s, and comes to BAMcaf� Live backed by the mesmerizing mariachi of her eight-piece band MOVIMIENTO.

BAMcafe Live
Peter Jay Sharp Building
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217



The Dana Leong Band
Saturday, May 3  @ 9 pm

It takes talent to coax deep reggae beats out of a cello. But then again, if you're a hip-hop artist of Chinese and Japanese descent like Dana Leong, you're used to going against the grain-and succeeding radiantly at it. Dana's syncretic mix of hip-hop, jazz, and electronics was recently chosen to represent the US in The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad.



BAMcafe Live
Peter Jay Sharp Building
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217


Erykah Badu
The New Amerykah Tour With Special Guests The Roots
Friday, May 9 @ 8 pm



She grew up listening to '70s soul and '80s hip-hop, but Erykah Badu drew more comparisons to Billie Holiday upon her breakout in 1997, after the release of her first album, Baduizm. The grooves on the album are bass-heavy R&B, but Badu's langurous, occasionally tortured vocals and delicate phrasing remove her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers.





Radio City Music Hall
1260 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10020
 

Miles from India
Friday, May 9 @ 8 pm

This concert features musicians from the groundbreaking recording Miles... From India. Musicians from two separate continents come together in this cross-cultural summit meeting - putting a provocative pan-global-spin on such Miles classics as All Blues, Spanish Key, So What, It's About That Time and Jean Pierre.

Sitar and tablas, ghatam and khanjira, mridangam and Carnatic violin blend seamlessly with muted trumpet and saxophones, screaming electric guitar and grooving electric bass lines, piano, upright bass and drums in this profound fusion of Indian classical and American jazz.

The Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street
btw  6th Avenue & Broadway
New York, NY 10036



OPERA


Makandal
Friday, May 2 @ 7:30 pm




Witness the evolution of  Makandal during a second showing of this highly anticipated new work. Ten acclaimed actors will read the newly finished libretto by Carl Hancock Rux, immersing the audience in this richly layered story inspired by accounts of the first Haitian slave revolt. Makandal explores themes of escape, freedom and homeland as it intertwines the struggles of refugees from Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic with the journey of Haiti's legendary folk hero Makandal.

Harlem Stage
150 Convent Avenue
@ West 135th Street
New York, NY 10031



THEATER


Rafta, Rafta...
Currently on stage

Recent winner of the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, Rafta, Rafta... is a tale of  close-knit Indian family life in Britain. After their wedding feast, two nervous newlyweds are ready for some privacy, but the groom's father doesn't want the party to end and his brother won't let them be. Before long, the groom and his new bride begin to realize that having a honeymoon in his parents' house is not the ideal recipe for romance. Rafta, Rafta... is Ayub Khan-Din's comic look at the generational divide on sex and marriage.







The New Group
Theatre Row
410 W. 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036

BEYOND NEW YORK


Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: 50 Years as Cultural Ambassador to the World
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
May 8 through September 6




Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: 50 Years as Cultural Ambassador to the World, offers a window into Ailey's roots, his repertory of 79 choreographic works, the development of his dance company and the continuation of the Ailey legacy. The exhibition draws on an extensive collection of photographs and includes images of works by the choreographers  as well as extraordinary examples of Ailey's most beloved creations, including "Blues Suite," "Revelations" and "Cry."

Library of Congress
Performing Arts Reading Room
James Madison Building
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C.
 


of note

Grace Aneiza ali
grace.ali@ofnotemagazine.org

Sandrine Colard
sandrine.colard@ofnotemagazine.org

Julien DeBock
julien.debock@ofnotemagazine.org

Clarence Haynes
clarence.haynes@ofnotemagazine.org

Stella Amelie Vincenot
[email protected]

Questions and Submissions
 info@ofnotemagazine.org


Mission


For many of us, the arts are central and inspirational to our life, work, and activism. As people of color, we are making great strides in terms of our representation on the stage, yet we are not equally represented in the audience. Even when it is work celebrating our histories, experiences, and cultures - we are often scantily present in the theaters, auditoriums, galleries, etc. Out of that absence, of note was created. Its mission is to inform the community about noteworthy events with the larger goal of increasing our access to and participation in the arts celebrating people of color.   

www.ofnotemagazine.org