Third Annual Brooklyn Emerging Artists in Theater Festival to Feature over 15 Adventurous Acts, 9/11 - 9/20

On September 11-20, 2014, the third annual Brooklyn Emerging Artists in Theater (BEAT) Festival will take place, showcasing Brooklyn's most current crop of local theater, dance, and voice talent, performing in intriguing locations borough-wide.

Brooklyn's worldwide appeal - created in part by the artists who live and work here - make this festival a true world-class event. The festival celebrates a sense of place and a vibe that is unique to Brooklyn.

"BEAT brings influential and electrifying performance artists to diverse communities across the borough," said Stephen Shelley, Artistic Director and Executive Producer. "The adventurous performances focus on an interplay between audience members, artists, and the spaces themselves."

Highlights of this year's festival will include opening night, hosted at the Brooklyn Museum, two special evenings of site-specific performance at the Green-Wood Cemetery and more than fifteen engaging, eclectic and adventurous performances in Crown Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, East New York and Sunset Park. This year's roster of artists and performances will include renowned poet Aja Monet, an opera by entitled "Stop & Frisk," and Improv Everywhere's The Mp3 Experiment.

There are several free performances; ticketed events are priced up to $35, and a general festival pass is available for $60. For tickets and more information about the festival, visit http://www.beatbrooklyn.com/.

After its inaugural year in 2012, the BEAT Festival tripled its crowd last year, with everything from multiple artist MashUps at the Brooklyn Museum and MetroTech Commons to MCs dueling it out onstage at Park Slope synagogue to a performance centered around a 70's era Coleman Camper on offer.

The schedule of events includes:

BEAT Opening Night
September 11th, 7pm | Free*
The Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238
*Note: The Brooklyn Museum's "suggested donation" entrance policy still applies.

For one night only, the artists in this year's BEAT Festival will transform The Brooklyn Museum into "The Brooklyn Museum of the Performing Arts." Discover adventurous performances in unpredictable corners and halls of Brooklyn's largest cultural institution. Come one, come all - this is a true celebration of Brooklyn performing arts. Special Highlight: Be a part of creating dance at The Brooklyn Museum! In the interactive dance creation project #TweetDance, professional dancers of all styles will turn tweets and short prompts from audience members near and far into minute-long improvised dance performances on the spot. With performances by Aja Monet; Bed-Stuy Veterans: Featuring Ghost, Poba, and Rain; Elisabet Torras Aguilera; #TweetDance by Kyla Ernst-Alper & Maxx Passion; Fixed Agency; LEIMAY; Mashuq Deen; Shirel Jones; Sophia Schrank; Two Sides Sounding

Crossing Over: A Performance Adventure In Green-Wood Cemetery
September 12 & 13 | 7:30pm, 7:50pm, 8:10pm, 8:30pm | $35
Green-Wood Cemetery
500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Note: Each tour lasts approximately 90 minutes and may be hilly and strenuous; wear comfortable shoes

Crossing Over is a nighttime tour of Green-Wood Cemetery featuring four site-specific dance performances, each uniquely created by a distinctive Brooklyn-based choreographer to celebrate the now, with history and place as the stunning backdrop. These dramatic performances will coincide with a journey through Green-Wood led by Atlas Obscura, tour-guide to the world's most wondrous places. The expedition and performances will highlight tombs from New York's remarkable performing arts history, and conclude within the cemetery's hallowed catacombs. With Tours by Atlas Obscura, and site-specific performances created by Elisabet Torras Aguilera, LEIMAY: Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya, Shirel Jones, and Sophia Schrank

The Bed-Stuy Veterans: Featuring Ghost, Poba, and Rain
September 12 | 12pm | Free
With Two Sides Sounding
MetroTech Commons
Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201

September 15 | 4pm | Free
With Dancewave
The Daily News Plaza, Barclays Center
620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

September 17 | 12pm | Free
4 MetroTech Center Lobby
Brooklyn, NY 11201

September 18 | 7:30pm | Free
Mi Tierra Community Park
2501 Pitkin Ave, Brooklyn NY 11208

The Bed Stuy Veterans are the pioneers of NYC Bruk-Up, the foundation of Brooklyn street dance. Bruk-Up originated in the 1990s in Jamaica, where Bruk means Break or Broke, by a man of the same name: BrukUp. BSV has nurtured Bruk-Up into an art form that now utilizes body pops, locks, waves, glides, and shakes to visually represent the music itself. Being in sync with the overall song is of high importance. Each of the Vets has a unique style based on their alter-egos. For the last 20 years they have watched over the style and kept it alive.

Two Sides Sounding
September 12 | 12noon | Free
With Bed-Stuy Veterans
MetroTech Commons
Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201

September 13 | 12noon | Free
Performing Sidney Marquez Boquiren's "Stop and Frisk," plus NYC songs by Brooklyn composers Rachel Peters and Gabriel Kahane
East New York Farmer's Market
Schenck Avenue between New Lots & Livonia Avenues

September 16 | 7:30pm | $20
Two Sides Sounding: The Unsung City
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

New music ensemble Two Sides Sounding sings the stories of everyday heroes fighting the system in NYC. The Brooklyn Historical Society event will feature the premiere of Bruce Bailey, an "urban cantata" on the life and times of the late tenants' rights activist; the opera scene Stop & Frisk, a look at two childhood friends in conflict over a police incident; and the world premiere of Ellen Mandel's NYC Haiku, plus songs by composers Daron Hagen, Gabriel Kahane, Ray Lustig, Gilda Lyons, Rachel Peters and William Bolcom. With performances by Eleanor Taylor (soprano), Brandon Snook (tenor), Daniel Neer (baritone), Jorell Williams (baritone), Mila Henry (piano), and Ted Gorodetzky (director and multimedia composition).

Dancewave, Company I & II
With Bed-Stuy Veterans
September 15th, 4pm | Free
The Daily News Plaza, Barclays Center
620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

With a student population that reflects the full range of NYC's economic and cultural fabric, Dancewave offers young people from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to learn, create, and perform dance together. Founded on the belief that performance is the fastest route to achievement, students are given the unique opportunity to study and perform cutting edge modern dance repertoire. Since its inception in 1995 by Artistic/Executive Director Diane Jacobowitz, Dancewave creates programs that are challenging and artistically substantial, and that address young people's needs for individual achievement and group identity.

Aja Monet
September 15 | 7:30pm | Free
Front Porch Stories
United Community Centers
613 New Lots Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11207

September 19 | 12pm | Free
Backyard Songs
MetroTech Commons
Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201

"The true definition of an artist" is how Harry Belafonte describes Aja Monet, a poet, performer, and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. An internationally established poet, Monet is recognized for a spellbinding voice, an indomitable stage presence, and powerful imagery that captivates audiences across the U.S and around the globe. For the BEAT Festival, she returns to her roots in East New York to share work that addresses issues of family, community, gentrification, and home.

Mashuq Deen
September 17 | 7:30pm | $20
Draw the Circle
Written and performed by Mashuq Deen, directed by Chay Yew
Presented in association with Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn
Flatbush Avenue btwn DeKalb Avenue & Willoughby Street
One University Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Award-winning theater artist Mashuq Deen is the child of Indian immigrants, an activist in the Asian LGBT community, an avid bread baker, and a (stuffed) monster maker. His show, Draw the Circle, is the hilarious and moving story of how a conservative Muslim family deals with a child who defies their most basic expectations of what it means to have a daughter - and one woman's commitment to unconditional love. Told entirely from the point of view of family and friends, yet performed by Deen himself, the show compassionately brings to life the often-ignored struggle of a transgender individual's family.

Fixed Agency
September 18 & 19 | 5pm & 7pm | $30/$20
Private(i) An Immersive Mixed-Reality Adventure
Brooklyn Navy Yard, BLDG 92
63 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205

Founded by multidisciplinary artists Isaac Eddy, Peter Musante, Rachael Richman, and Eva von Schweinitz, Fixed Agency works at the intersection of participatory art, interactive technologies, and mixed-reality experiences. Private(i) - An Immersive Mixed-Reality Adventure, takes place in 2020, in a society of hyper-surveillance. Privacy is illegal. Secrets are a thing of the past. An underground band of "Aloners" have hacked their way off the grid, inviting outsiders into a hidden world. Participants are matched with a Private(i) - an undercover guide - and embark on a covert walking tour deep within the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Through a series of unexpected encounters, they reconnect with a time when privacy still existed. Private(i) is an outdoor experience that lasts 1 hour and requires comfortable footwear.

Improv Everywhere
September 20 | 2pm & 6pm | Free
The Mp3 Experiment
Location to be revealed the day before on ImprovEverywhere.com

Founded by Charlie Todd, the author of Causing a Scene (Harper Collins), Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. The group has executed over 100 missions involving thousands of undercover agents, including the legendary Grand Central Freeze and the infamous No Pants Subway Ride, and its videos have received over 375 million views online. For the Mp3 Experiment, the group will post an original mp3 file that people add to their mobile devices. Participants then synchronize watches, convene at a public place, and blend in. At a predetermined time, they all press Play. Hilarity ensues as the agents carry out ridiculous, coordinated instructions delivered to their headphones via narrator "Steve," and everyone else tries to figure out what the hell is going on.

"The Brooklyn Beat Makes Me"
September 14 | Free
Duration: All day in various locations in Brooklyn

Award-winning designer/artist Chanel Kennebrew will set up a customized #TheBKBeatMakesMe booth at iconic Brooklyn locations to ask passers-by how they respond to the Brooklyn Beat. The digital content she captures in response will memorialize the festival and the moment. Watch our social media for details, and be there!

BEAT Closing Night Party
September 20 | 7pm | $10
Irondale Center
85 S Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Join us for a lively gathering of friends, artists, and special guests (!) to celebrate the close of the Third Annual BEAT Festival. Not to be missed!

Event sponsors include Forest City Ratner, Brooklyn Home Company, Con Edison, Goldman Sachs. Partners include ARTs East New York, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn Museum, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, FAB Alliance, Fort Greene Park Conservancy, Green-Wood Cemetery JPMorgan Chase and Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts, and United Community Centers (UCC).The festival's official media sponsor is WNYC.

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