Special Events | Ongoing Instruction

Special Events


Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 12 through 14
New Meanings: Afro-Descendant Percussion Practices—A Symposium
Please join us as we explore the direction and impact of musical developments in the African Diaspora. Through interactive workshops, panels, lecture-demonstrations, video, and concerts, the symposium will examine the contemporary interconnectivity among percussion practices from West Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. Makandal's Master Drummer Frisner Augustin will conduct a drum workshop on Saturday and participate in a roundtable discussion on Sunday. He is joined in the symposium by Pedro Martinez, Roman Diaz, M'bemba Bangoura, Ilu Aye, Café da Silva, Bobby Sanabria, and more. A bus from New York City is available for $40. For registration and further information, please click here.

Sponsored by Williams College, Latino/a Studies, and the Lecture Committee

Location:
'62 Center for Music and Dance at Williams College, 1000 Main Street, Williamstown MA 01267. For driving directions, see http://www.mapquest.com.


Tuesday, February 23, 4 pm
Crossing the BLVD/Crossing the Cultural Divide
Master Drummer Frisner Augustin participates in an afternoon of discussion and performance about Sustaining Life in Arts and Activism. Hosted by actor, educator, radio producer, and EarSay co-founder Judith Sloan, the program features artists Anthony Papa and Felipe Coronel, who spent time in prison and turned their lives around through activism. Half of the proceeds will fund the continuation of EarSay's Transforming Trauma into Art theater workshop for immigrant teenagers, and half will support Haiti relief. Admission is FREE, but donations will be accepted. For reservations (required) click on the Brown Paper Tickets link here.

Co-sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance and Viper Records, and made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Location:
LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, 31-10 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101. For a map of the neighborhood and nearby subway stops, click here.


Thursday, February 25, 1:10 to 4 pm
Black History Month - John Henrik Clarke Lecture and Music Performance
Drummers of Makandal will perform with students from the Haitian Drum Workshop of Hunter College at the annual Black History Month John Henrik Clarke lecture. This year's lecture features Dr. Gina Athena Ulysse of Wesleyan University. Dr. Ulysse, born in Petion-Ville, Haiti, is a scholar and an author. She will perform and lead a discussion of her dramatic monologue weaving spoken word and Vodou chants: Because When God Is Too Busy: Haiti, Me and the World. Hunter College students will participate in a panel discussion about Haiti. Admission FREE.

Presented by the Hunter College Black History Month Committee, Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies, and the Hunter College BMI: Brothers for Excellence. Funding provided by the Offices of the President and Provost.

Location:
Ida K. Lang Recital Hall, 4th Floor, Hunter College North Building. Enter the North Building on East 69th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues. For a map and nearby subway stops, click here.


Attention!!! Atansyon!!!
Haiti Drum and Dance
In the spring of 2010 Makandal will present Haiti Drum and Dance, a performance series highlighting the dance and drum ensemble styles documented during the heyday of Haiti's black consciousness movement (1940s and '50s). Under the direction of Frisner Augustin, Pierre Desrameaux, Pat Hall, and Lois Wilcken, the project will capture the breathtaking panorama of traditional Afro-Haitian performing arts, much of it threatened with loss. To keep yourself posted on the when and where, please write to makandal@earthlink.net and request addition to Makandal's mailing list.

Presented by La Troupe Makandal, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Location:
To come

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Ongoing Instruction