FEATURING: Femi Kuti, A$AP Ferg, Fab 5 Freddy,Shura, Rich Medina, Sheila Jordan, Christian McBride, VP Records, Dwight Rhoden, Karine Plantadit & More
Upcoming Performances & Conversations With La India, Pabllo Vittar, Angelique Kidjo, Patrick Watson, Venus X, Ibeyi, Emicida, Fenne Lily, Michael Brun, Joan Myers Brown Of Philadanco! & More To Be Announced
Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage is kicking off July with its free digital series SummerStage Anywhere. The platform will offer daily one-of-a-kind digital arts content every week throughout the summer, starting today July 6th. For the most up-to-date scheduling and lineup information, please visit SummerStageAnywhere.org.
SummerStage Anywhere digital schedule for week of July 6th -12th:
Monday, July 6th:Monday Meditations will take over the SummerStage Instagram channel live every Monday starting today at 12:00PM EST for a 30 minute workshop focused on keeping your mind and body happy, healthy and active with guest host Karine Plantadit, former Alvin Ailey and Broadway Tony Award nominated dancer (Come Fly Away, The Lion King), instructor, choreographer, certified yoga teacher and life coach.
Monday, July 6th:Dwight Rhoden, Founding Artistic Director/Resident Choreographer of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, will join SummerStage Dance Curator Danni Gee for our first live episode of Soundcheck: Curator Conversations tonight at 7:00PM EST on the SummerStage Instagram channel. They will discuss Rhoden’s artistic vision, making work that reflects the times, and how the company has been staying engaged during the Covid “pause.”
Tuesday, July 7th: Showcasing global content with two SummerStage alums for our first episode of SummerStage Anywhere Session: Femi Kuti. Kuti, who played SummerStage in 2018, is a performer and activist who travels the world performing the music of his father, celebrated Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. This exclusive digital performance was filmed at The New Afrika Shrine in Lagos, Nigeria, a venue opened for the community of Lagos where ordinary people could come together and be themselves regardless of class. Fela performed frequently at the venue in the 1970s until it burned down, but the legacy continued when his son Femi rebuilt the Shrine in 2000. This performance marked Femi’s return home to the Shrine. Kicking off the evening is SummerStage alum DJ Rich Medina of The Originals with a live DJ set starting at 7:00PM EST, followed by Femi’s performance at 7:30PM EST available on both our SummerStage YouTube channel and SummerStage Facebook channel.
Wednesday, July 8th: Live SummerStage Anywhere Session performance from electro-pop singer and songwriter Shura at 8:00PM EST on our SummerStage Instagram channel. A self-taught YouTube artist, she has collaborated with the likes of songwriter Joel Pott (of indie band Athlete) and Talib Kweli. Shura’s music is often described as “infectious but melancholy electropop” that blurs gender and sexuality.
Thursday, July 9th: Salsa dance all-stars Ernesto and Denisse will host the first SummerStage Studio: Digital dance class, teaching youth and families salsa moves at 2:00PM EST available on both our SummerStage YouTube channel and SummerStage Facebook channel. With 20 years of experience dancing Salsa all around the world, Ernesto and Denisse became partners after moving to New York to dance for Yamulee Dance Company and compete with the four time salsa team World Champions, The New York Movement.
Friday, July 10th: Two powerhouse hip-hop tastemakers will headline our Hip Hop Friday. Join our first Hip-Hop Culture Talk with Fab 5 Freddy and A$AP Ferg at 8:00PM EST available on both our SummerStage YouTube channel or SummerStage Facebook channel. Old school meets new school when these New York legends discuss their process in creating music that reflects and amplifies racial inequalities. Fab 5 Freddy emerged in the downtown underground scene in the late 1970s and has since been regarded as a pioneer of hip hop. Freddy became the first host of the groundbreaking hip hop music video show Yo! MTV Raps. A$AP Ferg emerged from Harlem with a captivating solo rap career in 2007, and is also a member of the hip hop collective A$AP Mob along with artists A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ant, Playboi Carti and others. Following the talk, join Fab 5 Freddy for a live Q&A as he takes questions from the audience starting at 8:30PM EST on the SummerStage Facebook channel.
Saturday, July 11th: Jazz Culture Talk with Sheila Jordan & Christian McBride at 8:00 PM EST available on both our SummerStage YouTube channel and SummerStage Facebook channel. A contemporary and friend of Charlie Parker’s, Jordan is known for her bebop and scat jazz singing style with only an upright bass as her accompaniment. McBride, a six-time Grammy Award winning jazz bassist, composer and arranger, has performed and recorded with Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Roy Haynes, Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Palmieri, as well as with pop, hip-hop, soul and classical musicians like Sting, Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, The Roots, Queen Latifah, and James Brown. These two established Jazz titans will come together to discuss the long lasting impact of Charlie Parker’s work around the celebration of his 100th birthday.
Sunday, July 12th: Weekly #PeopleSpeakSundays curator takeover will launch at 2:00 PM EST with special guest curator VP Records, an independent reggae, dancehall and soca record label based in Queens. This special collaboration will feature a beats workshop and a dub yoga session live on the SummerStage Instagram channel. The series will also highlight crowdsourced performers who submit #PeopleSpeakSundays entries on Instagram.
Looking ahead at the week of July 13th, SummerStage Anywhere will feature exclusive performances with indie musician Patrick Watson, tap class with dancer Ayodele Casel, DJ sets with Latin trendsetter DJ Lobo, conversations with global singer and Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo & dance instructor and PHILADANCO! Founder Joan Myers Brown, New York DJ Venus X Ghetto Gothic Instagram live takeover and more. A full calendar is below.
Still to come this season, performances and conversations with salsa star La India, Brazilian drag queen and pop star Pabllo Vittar, Afro-French Cuban musical duo Ibeyi, Brazilian rapper and MC Emicida, Dominican-Ecuadorian, indie folk singer/songwriter Fenne Lily, Haitian DJ Michael Brun, Joan Myers Brown, and much more.
For the most up-to-date scheduling and lineup information about SummerStage Anywhere, please visit SummerStageAnywhere.org.
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