Olga El

Though we’re moving through the year with ever more hope, the realities of Covid-19 are still not totally behind us. As the live performing arts world is slowly revived from a forced hibernation, artists who continue to adapt and create continue to need our support.

Meet Felix Jarrar, a tireless, young, queer composer and one of the many artists proving that hard times can inspire some of our greatest work.

Whether it’s the music that helps us get through the day, that movie that makes us smile a little more, or a virtual dance workshop that banishes the ennui even temporarily, art has proven to be critical in times of hardship. Perhaps the hard times are when art is needed the most. Meet Funmilayo Chesney, a pioneer of Congolese dance and holistic health, from Brazil and one of the many artists reminding us perseverance in hard times is possible.

Whether it’s the music that helps us get through the day, that movie that makes us smile a little more, or a virtual dance workshop that banishes the ennui even temporarily, art has proven to be critical in times of hardship. Perhaps the hard times are when art is needed the most.

Pearl Primus (also known as Omowale) was a pioneer of modern dance, dance as protest, and African dance in the United States. She was also cited as an inspiration by acclaimed artists such as Camille Brown, Ntozake Shange, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar; a teacher of Judith Jamison and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; a student of Martha Graham; friend of Paul Robeson; and a woman with a degree in medicine. Her medical career was thwarted by racism so she funneled her gifts to the world through the filter of dance instead.

It may feel like early Fall outside but this weekend the New York International Salsa Conference brings the heat. The largest Latin music and dance festival celebrates its 19th anniversary at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square from Thursday, August 29 to Sunday, September 1, 2019.

Afro Brazil Arts and the New York Mindful Capoeira Center present two spectacular shows featuring the gravity-defying Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira, the warrior stick-dance Maculelê, and soul-moving live music featuring master artists from Brazil, Africa, France, and the USA. The events will take place Satuday, June 8 at 2pm and Sunday, June 9 at 12pm at the Flamboyán Theater, closing a week of workshops and artist showcases at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center.

One of the most illustrious artists from Spain, flamenco titaness Sara Baras is known around the world for her fiery grace and elegant precision. She returns to New York City Center, on March 7 - 10, with Shadows - a testament to female power and transcendence featuring La Farruca - a style of flamenco normally only performed by men. This timely and powerful work crowns Women's History Month, City Center's 75th Anniversary Season, and the 20th anniversary of her own company Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras.

In honor of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 60th Anniversary Celebration, happening now through December 30th at New York City Center, the corresponding dance school, The Ailey Extension, is offering a variety of deals for those wanting to move into 2019 with grace.

The holidays, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 60th Anniversary Celebration, are right around the corner. What better way to celebrate the season than to shimmy, sashay, and jump for joy? In addition to the 10-day dance challenge I'll be completing at the Ailey Extension later this month, I was recently invited to a special teaser session featuring truncated versions of three popular Ailey classes: BellydanceBURN, All Styles Vogue, and DanceFit.

New York City Center's 75th Anniversary Season features an abundance of outstanding programming, from the 15th Fall for Dance Festival to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Anniversary celebration to a gala presentation of Broadway hit A Chorus Line to Balanchine: The City Center Years featuring the best ballet companies in the world. Jorge Otero-Pailos is one of three artists who have been selected to capture the epoch in City Center's first-ever series of visual art commissions.

Packed with dance workshops, vendors and world-class performances, the Goya Foods' New York International Salsa Congress (NYISC) is a massive celebration of everything salsa that takes place from Thursday, August 30, 2018 to Sunday, September 2, 2018 at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

The Ailey Extension, a dance school for the public helmed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, is a partner of NYC Dance Week. It will offer over 30 free classes, in a myriad of styles, for first-time students. There will also be two free classes offered to returning students: Katherine Jimenez's New York Style Mambo class on Saturday, June 16 and Karen Arceneaux's DanceFit class on Friday, June 22.

I have long been aware of Dashu's scholarship. Her extensive research fills in the gaps often left in comparative religion, world history and several other major courses of study. Her multicultural understanding of dance history, especially where women are concerned, and its role in the lifeblood of a given culture is a welcome breath of fresh air in the dance field. I was lucky to be able to interview the historian about her experiences.

Created by Tina Croll and Jamie Cunningham, From The Horse's Mouth is a dance-theatre series that revolves around the lived experiences of dancers from around the globe. Its 20th Anniversary, at the 14th Street Y Theater, was a celebration of the dances of Egypt with a program honoring former prima ballerina of the Cairo Ballet Company, Dr. Magda Saleh.

Felix Jarrar is a 22-year-old composer and pianist whose list of accomplishments includes performances at diverse venues such as Symphony Space, (le) poisson rouge, BAM's Fisher Hillman Studio and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. His works have been performed internationally by members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra and the duo Unassisted Fold. He is currently working on his fourth opera, Tabula Rasa presented by Cantanti Project.

Belly dance's roots in Eastern cultures, North African cultures in particular, is undeniable. Black and Brown dancers fill the scenes of ancient Egyptian wall paintings and of dance history gems such as Dr. Magda Saleh's 1975 documentary “Egypt Dances.” So why is it so hard to find Black and Brown dancers making a name and a living for themselves in the modern belly dance scene?

Michael Goldstein, better known as Mestre Ombrinho, is the director of the Capoeira Angola Quintal and the New York Mindful Capoeira Center as well as the founder of the nonprofit Afro Brazil Arts. He has over thirty years of experience teaching Capoeira to people of various ages and ability levels. His program Teen Leadership Through Mindful Capoeira inspires under-served youth to become positive leaders in their communities.

The first portion of the night was dedicated to the ballet class for students representing both the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Harlem School for the Arts. As a teacher, Copeland embodied gentle, down-to-earth authority, unopposed to getting on the floor to adjust a stance or hold up a limb. With a focus on proper technique, her descriptive breakdown of the body mechanics at work in each exercise, made the tasks easy to understand and her encouraging demeanor exuded both patience and humor.

With its emphasis on honoring the transition of death, as well as those who have passed on and the undying power of love, Dia de los Muertos exemplifies the roots of the commercial holiday we now know as Halloween. If The Nutcracker is the go-to performance of the Winter months, Dia de los Muertos should be made canon for the Fall.