As New York City soldiers on under stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, arts organizations are re-inventing themselves online and finding ways to continue by live-streaming events:
The Loisaida Festival recently announced their intentions to live stream events over two weekends in order to celebrate their annual Memorial Day traditions. They shared the lineup and some notes on the upcoming festival here:
Given the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis, the Loisaida Festival will move to the digital realm, streaming live through platforms on Facebookand Youtube on Sunday, May 24 and Sunday, May 31, 2020 from 2:00-4:00pm.
“For the first time in over three decades, our annual Loisaida Festival will transmit live to reach thousands of participants from New York City and beyond in the comfort and safety of their homes,” says Alejandro Epifanio, Director of Loisaida Inc. “Although we are deeply saddened by the devastating impact of COVID-19 in our communities, we hope that the [Virtual] Loisaida Festival will give us an opportunity to come together to celebrate our resiliency, our creativity, and our sense of community.”
The event, hosted by singer and comedienne Jeannie Sol, will feature music by D’marquesina Ny-pr, FUSION JONDA, Joe Louis Vázquez-Ayala, Fernandito Ferrer, and Alynda Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff, with additional performances by Circo Café con Gloria (Circus Performance), Carola Garcia (Theater for Kids), Paula Herrera Nóbile (Video Art), Gabriel Leyva (Performance), Sorely Muentes (Performance), the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (Performance), La Trinchera (Contemporary Dance), and Amneris Morales (Poetry). The event will also stream music videos and short films by Teófilo Torres, Julián Garnik and Melvin Audaz
The 2020 [Virtual] Loisaida Festival’s theme – ¡Cuenta Con Nosotros! – Count on Us! – will highlight the unwavering dedication of our Latinx essential workers, who have bravely fought in the frontlines against the ongoing health crisis, as well as the plight of the LGBTQ community, as depicted in this year’s beautiful commemorative artwork by local artist María Dominguez. It will also emphasize the importance of filling out the 2020 Census in order to secure future Federal, State and City funding for our schools, hospitals, roads, public works, and other vital programs.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted Latino and black communities across our country and in New York City,” says Raul Russi, President and CEO of Acacia Network. “Acacia Network and Loisaida Inc. are proud to be in the frontlines providing critical services to individuals and families in need, and we are inspired on a daily basis by the courage we witness in our essential workforce. We invite you to join us at our [Virtual] Loisaida Festival so we can rejoice together.”
Lower East Side History Month is still going strong with multiple streaming and interactive events, including the People’s LES Trivia map , an online scavenger hunt of sorts, “so you can find your own sweet, historic spots! Happy hunting.” And A Conversation About Recipes and Cultural Identity: Theresa Loong, Laura Nova, and Sarah Kramer on Feed Me a Story’s multimedia documentation of Essex Market that explores what it means to be an American through questions like, “What is your favorite childhood food?” Includes an audio walk of the market, videos with stories and family recipes from vendors and customers, and invites viewers to share ingredients and dishes that spark their own memories of family and community.
Theater For The New City brings its annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, featuring over 150 performing arts organizations, independent artists, poets, puppeteers and filmmakers, online for the first time, beginning Saturday, May 23 at 8:00pm, on their website here: www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Abrons Arts Center has announced its 2020 season will be moved to online platforms, including this upcoming event:
EYEBEAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ABRONS ARTS CENTER:
JEREMY TOUSSAINT-BAPTISTE: IT AIN’T NO THANG (HOW TO LOOK AT A NOTHING)
Goes live: May 28-30
@AbronsArtsCenter and @eyebeamnyc social media platforms
Scores will be available starting May 28th on Eyebeam’s website
In lieu of the premiere of Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste’s Get Low (Black Square), Abrons Arts Center and Eyebeam presents, It Ain’t No Thang (How To Look At A Nothing), a series of text-based scores inviting participants to remotely examine how and to whom attention is paid. At once an act of care and refusal, It Ain’t No Thang… proposes a “choreography of looking” to encourage a deeper consideration of the act of attention. Over the course of the weekend, Toussaint-Baptiste will share a series of scores that asks for sustained attention to the otherwise unnoticed or overlooked subjects, objects, and elements of one’s surroundings, resulting in a temporary refusal of digital hyperspectacle.
All postponed shows from the Spring 2020 schedule included above will also be rescheduled for in-person performances.
To learn more about the Abrons Arts Center, the above artists or upcoming performances, go to http://abronsartscenter.org.
