Brooklyn-based nonprofit Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation is proud to present its eighth annual ART IS ALIVE festival on Saturday, September 21.
ART IS ALIVE will feature a multitude of free performances, workshops and classes featuring art forms and artists from the African Diasporic experience, according to a press release.
The festival will take place at The Space at Irondale, 85 South Oxford St., from noon until 9:00pm.
“We’re thrilled to be presenting our eighth annual ART IS ALIVE festival, free to the Brooklyn community. Every year we present the richness of African and African Diasporic multi-disciplinary art forms including vibrant performances, engaging classes, and educational and insightful workshops,” said Kofi Osei Williams, Asase Yaa’s executive director and executive producer of ART IS ALIVE. “Most importantly, this is a family festival, and there’s something for everyone to enjoy.”
Asase Yaa aspires to empower and strengthen youth by offering them an opportunity to learn, study and experience the history, movement and beauty of African Diasporic dance, music and culture at its highest level.
The full day of activities for ART IS ALIVE includes:
Classes
Noon to 2:00pm (45 minutes each)
Afrobeat, Caribbean, and Hip Hop dance classes hosted by Asase Yaa School of the Arts
Workshop
1:00pm (one hour)
Resources for Raising a Child Artist Workshop hosted by Asase Yaa in partnership with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Live Performances
4:00pm to 7:00pm
Asase Yaa Youth Ensemble features various dance forms that include tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, modern, and African, as well as drumming Indigenous African and Afro-beat drum styles.
Batalá New York is the premier all-women, black-led, percussion ensemble, whose music and costumes are primarily from Salvador da Bahia in Brazil.
FIYAA Forces of Nature Incredible Youth Arts Alliance is a new youth dance company created by Abdel R. Salaam, executive artistic director/choreographer and co-founder of the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.
Plezi Rara is a Brooklyn-based Haitian band dedicated to mastering the craft of "rara" an indigenous genre of Haitian festival music that is used for street processions.
Soul Science Lab is a music and multimedia duo powered by emcee, songwriter Chen Lo and composer, producer Asante Amin. They're innovative griots that infuse hip hop, jazz, R&B, and Afro-beat music in their artistry.
