The Flea to Hold Third Annual Juneteenth Public Performances & Symposium This Summer
These works will occur simultaneously across NYC from June 14-19.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz May. 25, 2023
The Flea has commissioned Jack Fuller, Shelley, Nicole, and Trebien Pollard to stage public performances, along with Flea Artistic Director, Niegel Smith, as part of the theater company’s third annual Juneteenth Public Performances & Symposium.
These works will occur simultaneously across NYC from June 14-19.
A symposium about Juneteenth and this year’s lineup will take place at The Flea on June 14th, at 7:00PM. The symposium will feature all commissioned artists with moderation by acclaimed artist, curator, and producer Monique Martin. The program centers artistic and budgetary autonomy for all participating lead artists.
The Flea’s Artistic Director, Niegel Smith says, “Juneteenth marks the beginning of our journey toward liberation, and I’m thrilled The Flea can continue that legacy by commissioning exceptional Black artists and presenting their work in public spaces for our city.”
“Juneteenth is a day of celebration and a day of remembrance of freedom, freedom to be who you are, to love, dance, sing, create, enjoy and live your best life in no one’s shadow. I can think of no better way to mark the occasion than with the work of these Black Artists capped off by a drag pageant,” said The Flea’s Co-Chair of Board of Directors Nona Hendryx.
Space is extremely limited- RSVPs Required
Reserve Free Tickets: www.theflea.org
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
The Worthy, by Niegel Smith
Sat, June 17th, 11:00AM and 4:00PM
Location: The African Burial Ground Monument
Join an afro-futuristic griot (Niegel Smith) on a Juneteenth walk exploring our city through the lens of black love and queer liberation. Co-led by Talu Green with his commanding Djembe drumming, The Worthy is a performance that will take you through the African Burial Ground National Monument, past civic buildings and through the streets of lower Manhattan as we celebrate the intrinsic worth of Queer Black folks. The walk will conclude at The Flea.
Moving stories of liberation and truth…, by Trebien Pollard
Fri, June 16th, 5:00PM
Location: Mccarren Park, Begins at corner of Nassau Avenue and Lorimer Street
There are so many stories to be told. so many stories to unfold the mysteries of life and death as they live in the thriving and writhing lives of dying stories. stories that pierce the heart while also tearing the soul apart. stories that disappear and stories that get caught in fear.
What does it mean to reclaim language and discover the words one does not have. This new dance by Trebien Pollard is in dialogue with Audre Lorde’s essays entitled, The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action and Poetry is Not a Luxury.
Thoughts and Involuntary Mantras (Stripped), by Jack Fuller
Sunday, June 18th, 3:00PM
Location: Open Streets, 584 Vanderbilt Ave
Join icon Jack Fuller through the musical feast that is Thoughts and Involuntary Mantras. This epic new work is the story of the inner life of a black queer overthinker's first time falling in love. This public act of singing, music and action takes you on a trip into the ways the self internalizes love, or struggles to do so. This unique piece of music theater will unfold on Vanderbilt Ave during Open Streets NYC.
Freedom is Free: Rest, Restoration, Remembering and Restitution,
by Shelley Nicole
Monday, June 19th, 11:00AM
Location: Brower Park, Begins at Brooklyn Avenue & Prospect Place Entrance
For three years Juneteenth has been a nationally recognized holiday (for better or worse) and it’s already becoming commercialized with sales and consumer events. It feels like the spirit and understanding of what this day meant to enslaved Africans is being pushed aside and is in danger of being erased. While Juneteenth is a time to celebrate it’s also a terrible tale of white supremacy and how enslaved Africans in Texas were not informed of their freedom until two years later so that slave owners could get their harvest in one last time with free labor.
With that in mind, my Juneteenth commission will focus on rest, restoration, remembering, and restitution, in the spirit of Sankofa, “Go back and get it!” On this day I will offer a space of intentional breathing, gentle movement, calling in our ancestors, speaking love (self and community) into the circle, and lifting our voices in song. We will also make a community altar to celebrate those who chose to survive and ultimately made it possible for us to be here today.
“I ask folks to wear white or light colors, bring a blanket or something to sit on, items to place on the community altar (photos, flowers, crystals, candles, etc.), a water bottle, and an open heart.”- Juneteenth Performance Artist, Shelley Nicole
The Flea’s Juneteenth Public Performance Symposium & Conversation
Wednesday, June 14th, 7:00 PM
Location: The Flea Theater, 20 Thomas Street
Please join moderator Monique Martin and commissioned artists Jack Fuller, Shelley Nicole, Trebien Pollard and Niegel Smith for a 2023 Juneteenth Public Performances Symposium. This Symposium will offer a deeper exploration of each artist’s unique approach to Juneteenth as a prompt for their creative work.
Come hear about the creative process, the intersection of performance and public life, and all the ways liberation can play out street by street in our beautiful city.
*Check www.theflea.org for up-to-date information about each performance
The Juneteenth Public Performance Program was piloted by The Flea in 2021 and returned in 2022 to great success. Previous commissioned artists included: Chanon Judson’s Time’s Up A Liberation Ritual, a new participatory dance piece in Fulton Park of Bed Stuy; Ebony Noelle Golden’s The Blueing: Ceremonies From In The Name Of The Mother Tree, a collective ritual for water veneration, James Scruggs’ Ask Me About Juneteenth, where an unusual character offered cotton blooms and cash to viewers willing to engage others in a frank conversation about race; Imani Uzuri’s Jus’ Like A Tree Planted By Water, a performance of experimental interpolations of African American spirituals in Harlem; and, Artistic Director Niegel Smith’s The Worthy, a celebratory walk for justice and Black men from the African Burial Ground to The Flea theater uplifting our souls.
Learn more at www.theflea.org.
The Flea was refounded in 2021 with the mission to support and invest in experimental art by Black, brown, and queer artists. The Flea provides space, financial support, producing partnership and other resources so that they may develop and share their vision in community with audiences.
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