Hey Bloggers!

I’m thrilled to be penning my first blog entry (I am such a neophyte) on our brand new website. It’s a site that conveys the breadth, depth and originality of the work we showcase every year, and reflects our devotion to creativity, collaboration and community.

This is a particularly exciting time here at Harlem Stage. Earlier this month, in celebration of Dominican Restoration Day, we hosted a free outdoor concert featuring traditional and contemporary Dominican bachata music, played by some of the music’s legendary artists. The concert featured The Bachata Roja Legends with guitar giant Puerto Plata. Local favorites Zon Del Barrio played their lively mix of Latin beats, and DJ David Medina spun music from — and inspired by — the bachata movement, as community members and music lovers gathered and danced at the P.S. 161 field right next to our Gatehouse. It was an inspiring day and we hope the first of many more free community events from Harlem Stage.*

Last week we hosted a community forum featuring a staged reading of Adam P. Kennedy and Adrienne Kennedy’s play, “Sleep Deprivation Chamber.” This award-winning instant classic from the 1990s tells the story of a family forced to deal with the brutal beating of one of its members at the hands of police. It was the perfect foundation on which to build a community discussion about race and law enforcement. After the reading, a panel of former police officers and community activists spoke about issues behind the play, their resonance in Harlem and throughout the city, and answered questions from the audience.

Together these two programs – both free and open to the community – illustrate brilliantly what the arts can do, and what we at Harlem Stage are committed to doing—celebrating, reflecting on, protesting, and questioning what’s happening around us everyday. The arts put focus on the tough questions. They enrich us and inform our thinking in ways we never imagined. And we at Harlem Stage we have the joy of presenting them to you and finding multiple and compelling ways to engage you in the creative process. We want you to be part of our community.

So consider this blog another way to connect with us. We’ll keep you informed about what’s happening here, and you tell us what you think. One thing’s for sure, you’ll always have a place here to find out what’s happening On Harlem Stage.

Pat

* Thanks go to WHCR-FM host Nelson Radhamés who emceed and iASO Records who brought the musicians together. We are grateful for the generous sponsors who made this event possible — Target®, American Airlines and The Ford Foundation — and to our partners, the City Parks Foundation, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 at 1:37 pm in Pat's Pulpit.