As many performances have migrated to virtual spaces since the coronavirus took hold across the world, it has not been easy to keep up with the sheer quantity of cultural opportunities. Particularly the digital dance world has commissioned all kinds of works and adapted countless choreographies for screens new works for the screen.
But some establishments have chosen to reflect on the talents already existent in their mist, finding archival materials and unaired footage of past shows. The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s website now features a section entitled Love From the BAM Hamm Archives which includes more than two dozen interviews, routines, recitals, and presentations since 2008.
Among the featured dance acts are John Jasperse’s “Remains,” which debuted in 2016 at the Next Wave Festival, and “Expressions and Encounters: African, Cuban, and American Rhythms,” a DanceAfrica 2011 show. The credits for each video lead viewers to related archival materials including billboard posters, photos, program books, etc.
The city that never sleeps is currently taking a nap. All the things that make New York City the vibrant, exciting, and enchanting place that it is have modified their programming and reaching customers despite the current restrictions. There are plenty of the city’s finest haunts and jaunts available to enjoy virtually.
Social distancing, school lockdowns, and stay at home orders have made the days of the week virtually indistinguishable. Rosé Mansion makes sure you launch your weekend off right by offering virtual happy hours every week! They even have customized Zoom Backgrounds so you can feel like you are in your favorite mansion room. No happy hour is complete without a glass of wine, and Rose’ Mansion has got you covered. They will deliver a 6 or 12 pack of wine—produced by small businesses—right to your door. And while down your drink you can feel good about giving to charity too: 100% of the money from the online sales go toward paying the staff and reopening the bar.
If you are missing the sounds and beats of New York, you can check out the Music for the Soul of NYC’s Health + Hospitals Heroes. This new series brings inspiration and comfort to the 43,000 staff at NYC’s 11 public hospitals and their patients. It is providing paid work for musicians and features professional NYC musicians performing songs requested by health workers and patients at NYC public hospitals. Music for the Soul is livestreamed on NYC Health + Hospital’s Facebook page every day from noon-1pm.
Thought Gallery is live-streaming hundreds of talks, lectures, performances, and cultural events to enjoy. If you like to curl up with a good book, The New York Public Library is offering access to more than 300,000 FREE e-books and e-audio books during this crisis.
New Yorkers and Big Apple tourists are all impacted by
COVID-19. But not even the raging pandemic can put New York City’s culture to
rest. Check out this list for those looking for some good, old-fashioned New
York fun to enjoy from the safety and coziness of your own home.
The Metropolitan Opera is offering live audio streams of most performances. Some of Broadway’s best musicals are available for viewing on stage but at home. Netflix, AmazonPrime, BroadwayHD, and others are offering classics like Rent, Cats, and Kiss Me, Kate. Check provider websites for full listings.
New York Operas are being audio streamed for home-bound listeners
No matter how you get your New York fix these days, keep
yourself New York ready- and healthy- for when you can finally get back to all
your favorite spots.
New Yorkers really like celebrating the New Year, as many times in as many ways as possible. That’s only one of the reasons the two-weeks of merriment for the Lunar New Year are such an exciting time.
The gala welcome for the Year of the Rat, first of the zodiac animals believed to summon wealth, began on January 25, 2020, and will run through February 9, 2020.
Lunar New Year celebrations are filled with colors and culture
Parades, concerts, presentations, and extraordinary firework displays are scheduled throughout New York City. The city’s several Chinatowns and numerous enclaves of Asian communities eagerly share the rich cultural experience with tourists and well-wishers. Among the fetes are longstanding favorites such as Lower Manhattan’s 21st annual Chinatown parade. New additions to the revelry include the first-ever Asian comedy festival and unique mixings of arts and science at the Lewis Latimer House Museum.
For most New York City families, visiting a landfill is not on the top of the to-do list. But the Freshkills Park is a public park and wildlife habitat the whole family can enjoy.
Once
the world’s largest landfill, Freshkills has been gradually transitioning from
a trash-dump into a nature-gem in Staten Island. At 2,200 acres,
Freshkills Park is nearly triple the size of Central Park and the
largest park to be developed in New York City in over 100 years. It is built on
what was once the largest landfill in the world (Fresh Kills Landfill
ceased operations in 2001). Now the landscape is being engineered with layers
of soil and infrastructure, making it a most unexpected place for wildlife,
recreation, science, education, and art.
For
obvious safety reasons, the landfill is covered by different layers of geomaterials
to stabilize landfilled waste, separate the waste from the environment and park
visitors, and prevent the release of landfill gas to the atmosphere.
As the park is being built in phases, with the entire expanse set to open to the public in a few years, free tours and events provide early access for learning and exploration of more than 700 acres and eight miles of trails. Family activities include cycling (bring your own bike or borrow one there), guided walks with groups like New York City Audubon and the Urban Park Rangers, kite flying, kayaking, wind chime design, and upcycled art. This is a great activity even if you don’t live nearby: Free shuttle buses transport visitors to and from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
The Butterfly Conservatory is now open at the American
Museum of Natural History.
This seasonal exhibit features over 500 butterflies. Once in the conservatory, visitors can walk among the free-flying butterflies and tropical plants.
This exhibit features butterflies from the Pieridae,
Papilionidae and Nymphalidaie families.
Open through May, tickets to this popular exhibit must be pre-purchased.
The conservatory is located on the second floor of the museum, in the Whitney
Hall of Oceanic Birds.
Other locations (such as The Bronx Zoo) feature butterfly
gardens, but they are only open during the warmer months, depending on the weather.
The Queens Museum is a hidden gem of amazing exhibits worth a visit. At the moment, there are four temporary exhibitions we think will excite and entertain.
• Its About Us: A New Yorkers Exhibition- Running for only one month, from December 15 to January 15, this exhibit features the creations of participants of museum workshops during 2016, including Experimental Watercolor, Collective Storytelling, Photobook Storytelling, Drawing Sound, Basic Sculpture, Basic Digital Photography, Drawing Journal, Spanish for Mandarin Speakers, Advanced Silkscreen, and Design Thinking.
• Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Maintenance Art- From September 18 2016 until February 19, 2017, the QM is showing a retrospective of Ukeles art which explores issues related to the role of women in society, cultures of work and labor, and urban and community resilience. Perhaps this artist is best know at the official, unsalaried Artist-in-Residence and New York’s Department of Sanitation, a distinction she has had for over 36 years.
• Nonstop Metropolis: The Remix- From April 10 2016 until January 22, 2017 the QM has created a multi-facete project together with the writer, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit. Solnit has written 15 books which discuss the connections between the environment, landscape, community, art, politics, stories and hope.
• A Passion for Tiffany Lamps- Journey with Austrian immigrants Dr. Egon and Hildegard Neustadt as they assemble the largest collection of Tiffany Lamps in the world. It all began in 1935, when the newly married couple purchased their first Tiffany lamp in a secondhand shop in Greenwich Village for $12.50. Over the next 50 years the couple acquired over 200 lamps of every kind. The QM has a special fondness for Tiffany lamps because the company’s glass furnace, bronze foundry, and workshops were housed in Corona, Queens, only two miles from the museum.
The sights and sounds of September 11, 2001 will be forever etched in the hearts and minds of all those old enough to have understood the events of that dreadful and fateful day. On that day 2, 983 people lost their lives when terrorists with horrifyingly murderous intent smashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York; the Pentagon in Washington DC; and a thwarted third attack which took the lives of all aboard Flight 93.
In honor of their memory and the loved ones they left behind, a memorial has been established on the site where the Twin Towers once stood. In their place are twin memorial pools with the names of the murdered are stencil-cut into the bronze panels surrounding the reflecting pools. Each pool covers almost an acre in area and are the biggest manmade waterfalls in all of North America.
A few steps away from the actual memorial there is also a museum. Unlike the memorial, which is free to visitors, the museum charges an entrance fee. The museum tells the story of 9/11 using multi-media displays, archives, narratives and an artifact collection. Guided tours are available, and films, lectures and other special events take place at the museum.
If you can visit the museum, it is highly recommended. But if you can’t, there are still many ways to take the event and create something positive. During this holiday season those at the 9/11 Memorial are asking people to become part of their #2983 Campaign. The goal is to have the community at large help to complete at least 2,983 acts of compassion, gratitude and service as a tribute to each one of those lost in the attacks. If you would like to become part of this worthwhile undertaking, visit the 9/11 Memorial website.
Want to explore some of New York’s most fascinating sights without spending a dime? Here is a brief sampling of a much longer list of great things to do without breaking the bank.
• Hispanic Society of America Museum & Library- Go and see America’s largest collection of Spanish art and more than over 600, 000 rare books and manuscripts. An upcoming gallery talk will be presented on October 19, at 11am. Located on Audubon Terrace between 155 and 156 Streets. Call for more information: 212-926-2234.
• National Museum of the American Indian– This excellent collection of Native American art focuses more on the culture rather than history of America’s indigenous population. In honor of Halloween come celebrate Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead – 2013 on November 2, 2013 at 12 pm. The museum is located on the south side of Bowling Green, in lower Manhattan, adjacent to the northeast corner of Battery Park. Call 212-514-3758 for more information.
• Sony Wonder Technology Lab- Take the kids to a place they will love, and so will you. Explore 21 exhibit areas and 69 interactive stations found in this 14,000 square foot museum. Sony Wonder Technology Lab is located in the Sony Plaza at 56th Street and Madison Avenue. For more information call (212) 833-8100.
Every Friday at 5:30pm until 7:30pm the American Folk Art Museum will present free live music with a cash wine bar to help enjoy the good vibes. Musician who would like to perform at this venue
Free Music on Fridays at the American Folk Art Musem
are invited to contact Lara Ewen. She will examine your special sound and contact you if she believes you will fit into the program. Send an email to: lewen@folkartmuseum.org
The collection at the museum includes objects of the highest quality dating from the 18th century until today. The focus of the collection is to increase the appreciation of traditional folk art and creative expressions of contemporary self-taught artists from the US and elsewhere.
The American Folk Art Museum is located at at 2 Lincoln Square, at Columbus Avenue and 66th Street. The hours are: Tuesday–Saturday: 12pm–7:30 pm; Sunday:12pm–6:00 pm; closed on Mondays.
The upcoming schedule of free performances is:
March 8: Kevin Johnston, Michael Patrick Flanagan Smith, and Casey Shea
March 15: Ari Swan, Ellen Adams, and Andy Fitzpatrick
March 22: Scott Rudd, Adam Day, and Abby Ahmad
March 29: Jeremiah Birnbaum, Caleb Caudle, and Haley Dreis
