BAAD! to Present BlakTinX Performance Festival Starting This Month

BAAD!--The Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance forges forward with the 22th annual BLAKTINX FESTIVAL including a new dance concert by noted choreographer Arthur Aviles as well as a workshop of a new musical entitled I Am Sylvia, based on the queer/trans activist Sylvia Rivera. The festival takes place at BAAD!, 2474 Westchester Avenue in the Westchester Square section of the Bronx. Ticket prices vary from free to $20. For information and directions call (718) 918-2110 or visit www.BAADBRONX.org.

The schedule for the shows and events is as follows:

Saturday, September 24 | Free | In-person

Dance Film Double Feature with pizza intermission!

2pm: YULI
Yuli is an energetic, powerful and uplifting movie that follows the rise of the Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta from a scrappy juvenile who was reluctant to dance to an international ballet legend who was the first black dancer to perform some of the most famous ballet roles. Directed by Icíar Bollaín.

4:30pm: YEH BALLET

This inspiring film is about two gifted but underprivileged Mumbai teens who face bigotry and disapproval as they pursue their dancing dreams. Written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala

Saturday, October 1 | 11-9 pm | Free | Virtual

DANCING WHILE BLACK: SHARE PRACTICE THRIVE, A VIRTUAL MARKETPLACE

Dancing While Black continues its 10th anniversary celebration with a virtual full day of intergenerational wisdom - tapping into how we care for our bodies, spirits, and communities with: Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Love Muwwakkil, Brittany Williams, Italy Bianca and Brother(hood) Dance!

Thursday, October 6 | 7pm | In-person/Virtual | Free

AFROMYSTIC

Artist and filmmaker Seyi Adebanjo's Afromystic is a lyrical documentary which follows four LGBTQ Yorùbá practitioners across the waters of Nigeria, Brazil, and the US. Weaving animated mythology, theater, ritual, and Yorùbá Spirituality, the second chapter of Adebanjo's Queer and Trans Òrìṣà Storytelling takes us on a journey of embodying spirit. This work-in-progress screening is followed by Q&A with Adebanjo.

Friday, October 7 | 8pm | In-person | $10

THE GLITCH

Artist Charly Dominguez and actor/dancer Darius Gregory team up for the performance of "The Glitch," a multimedia installation featuring performance art, live body art, movement and poetry. The artists journey from coping with loss to recreating life, making art, and living powerfully.

Saturday, October 8 | 8pm | In-person ($ 15) | Virtual (Free to $15)

DENDARRY BAKERY'S ¡TIME OUT!

Dendarry Bakery (Samira Mendoza, Gladstone Butler, and Mobéy Lola Irizarry) debut a playful and provocative musical performance entitled "¡Time Out!" that examines how time has been weaponized, stolen, and colonized by oppressive forces throughout history, and invites transience into a temporal discourse.

Tuesday, October 11 | 7pm | In-person ($20) | Virtual (Free to $20)

COMING HOME: AFFIRMING AGENCY WITH MEDITATION

Award-winning saxophonist and composer Steven Banks presents a powerful evening that centers Black people in the practice of music and mediation, and invites all participants to explore the effects that meditation can have on their daily lives. Winner of the prestigious 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Banks has established himself as both a compelling and charismatic soloist, and is committed to rethinking and expanding the boundaries of classical music.

Saturday, October 15 | 8pm | In-person ($20) | Virtual (Free to $20)

SOULS OF OUR FEET

BAAD!'s signature dance compilation brings together a bevy of dance styles and talents from the Bronx and beyond. Featuring performances by (l-r) Teek Huggins, Rathi Varma, Deepa Mahadevan, Sofia Bengoa, Na An and Makayla Peterson.

Saturday, October 22 | 8pm | In-person ($10) | Virtual {Free to $10)

I AM SYLVIA (Musical Workshop)

A veteran of the 1969 Stonewall uprising, Sylvia Rivera was an advocate and fought for the inclusion of transgender people in the larger gay rights movement. This musical workshop covers five decades in the life of this great leader. Written by Abimael Acosta and directed by Luis Caballero.

Thursday, October 27 & Friday, October 28 | 8pm | In-person ($20) | Virtual [Friday only] (Free to $20)

ARTHUR AVILES TYPICAL THEATRE: HOMAGE! THE UNTITLED SERIES 2022

Renowned choreographer Arthur Avilés pays tribute to Martha Graham, Jose Limon and Loie Fuller via Jody Sperling with contemporary interpretations of classic modern dance works that braid in queer and intersectional perspectives into works Aviles originally created in the 1990s. Performances by Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Priscilla Marrero, Dea'Shinique Ramsey, Hunter Sturgis and Josiah Vasquez, with live drumming by Mobéy Lola Irizarry and costumes by Liz Prince.

The program includes:

Untitled #1 after Martha Graham

Untitled #2 after Jose Limon

Puerto Rican Faggot from the South Bronx Steals Precious Object from Giuliani's East Village (Untitled #3 after Loïe Fuller by way of Jody Sperling)

Saturday, October 29 | 8pm | In-person | Free

HALLOKWEEN: ANNUAL HALLOWEEN PARTY

Costume Contest with Cash Prize | Dance Party | Performances | Open Mic Karaoke

Get down with the spirits in your fiercest attire at the annual BAAD! HalloKween event! Hosted by Appolonia Cruz and Vivika Westwood Mugler.

Thursday, November 3 | 6pm | In-person/Virtual (free)|

MRS ROSS' 100TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

BAAD! celebrates one of its long-standing supporters, Mrs. Cybeale Ross, as she turns 100! The reception is open to the community and will feature performances and acknowledgments from her family, colleagues, and friends.

Friday, November 4 & Saturday, November 5 | 8pm | In person/Virtual | In person $20, Virtual Free to $20

DANCING FUTURES: MEGAN CURET PRESENTS PULSATIONS

Bronx-based choreographer Megan Curet examines various movement dialogues and stories that focus on the theme of pulsations within and outside of the body - like the pulsation of blood in one's ears when running or the pulsation of music in a loud dance club.

Friday, November 11 & Saturday, November 12 | 8pm | In person/ Virtual | In person $20, Virtual Free to $20

DANCING FUTURES: BABACAR TOP PRESENTS TALATAY NDER

Babacar Top dives into Senegalese history to March 7, 1820, when the women of the village Nder banded together to defeat an attack that would've enslaved them and taken their land while the men were away. Top journeys through what's archived in their physical, spiritual, emotional and mental being.

Friday, November 18 & Saturday, November 19 | 8pm | In person/Virtual | In person $20, Virtual Free to $20

DANCING FUTURES: JANICE TOMLINSON PRESENTS PRN

Janice Tomlinson, known for verve and prowess in the hip hop dance scene, brings her unique perspective as a registered nurse/dance artist to explore the systemic, physical, emotional, and spiritual repercussions enhanced by strife and the pandemic, and opens a personal lens on healthcare disparities.

Crowned "a funky and welcoming performance space" by The New York Times, BAAD! is a performance and workshop space that presents cutting-edge works in dance and all creative disciplines empowering to women, Latinos and people of color and the LGBTQ(lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community. BAAD! is home to Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre (AATT) and the Bronx Dance Coalition and was founded by Arthur Aviles and Charles Rice-Gonzalez in 1998 in Hunts Point. BAAD! moved to Westchester Square in October 2013 to a gothic revivalist building on the grounds of St. Peter's Church.

BAAD!/AATT receives support from The Ford Foundation, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, The SHS Foundation, The Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Mosaic Fund, The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Jerome Foundation, The MacQuarie Group, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The John and Jody Arnhold Foundation and private donations.

Photo Credit: Chris Lee