Contemporary performing arts and culture of the African Diaspora

Centered around the concept of liminal spaces (a metaphorical, physical or emotional place a person is in during a transitional period),  this season’s programming explores how these spaces have historically acted as a conduit to imagine and create more sustainable futures for Black people worldwide and offers an opportunity to think – individually and collectively – about “how we will show up in the future that we imagine.”

This season will mark two very important milestones for 651. We are celebrating our 35^th Anniversary this year and preparing for the grand opening of our first-ever permanent home located in the heart of downtown Brooklyn in late Spring/Early Summer 2023.

651 ARTS, in partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center, invite you to explore this in collaboration with our Black Seed Grant recipients April Matthis, Eric Lockley and Goldie Patrick (The Black Seed cohort), as they present excerpts of works currently in development and discuss their unique careers and art-making practices, while defining generative theater and presentation within Black spaces.

The presentation of these works will be followed by a panel conversation featuring The Black Seed cohort, Vinson Cunningham (staff writer and theatre critic at The New Yorker), Lindsay A. Jenkins (culture consultant, dramaturg, producer and educator) and Robyne Walker Murphy as moderator.

The Woodshed Network (TWN), led by NEA Jazz Master and music legend Dee Dee Bridgewater and c0-artistic director Tulani Bridgewater-Kowalski, will return in Spring, 2023 – marking the program’s fourth year. TWN program was conceived by Bridgewater as a mentorship and career accelerator program for emerging self-identifying women artists in Jazz through mentorship, knowledge-sharing, community interaction,  professional development sessions and networking. TWN is a legacy program with deep roots in 651 and embodying the 651 values of cultivating artists and community

651 ARTS presents Edisa Weeks’ popular Roots Party, an interactive making and conversation space. Audiences are invited to join the multi-disciplinary artist in her journey of making 1,865 roots out of paper and twine for the performance installation, 3 RITES: Liberty. During the Roots Party people can come and go as they please, make roots, and enjoy a meal. The Roots Party includes the release of the first two Zines in a series of 3 RITES Zines.

651 ARTS launches its new Song Salon series which centers artists in intimate conversations, musically and otherwise. Historically, salons have played an important role as spaces where Black artists and creatives can come together, safe spaces, creative spaces for us to gather, discuss and express ourselves.

The Song Salon is a place to experience artists and to connect with each other in ways you may not be accustomed to. Intimately. Personally.

The Song Salon is a supportive community, a place for creatives to try new things, revisit old things or simply to talk through things.

Each Thursday in May, an artist is invited to share their performance, process (or plight) in front of a small audience. Two artists are selected and each of them will nominate an artist of their choice to feature on an alternating week.

The series kicks off with Candice Hoyes and Nicholas Ryan Gant (Ghetto Falsetto).

Join us on this multi-sensory journey through time, space, generations, and dimensions! This work-in-progress multi-disciplinary dance work examines everyday items in our lives that serve as portals to oscillating between black past, present and the Afro-future.  Using her Sankofic praxis—process inspired by the Ghaian Akan term of looking back in order to understand how to intentionally move forward—Kendra Ross delves into individual and communal experiences of items that transport us across generations. Inspired by a range of portals like candy, salt, and Crown Royal Bags, audiences will take a site-informed journey through space as we collectively uncover our traditions as fuel to navigate our current societal conditions and plan for what’s next.  Come experience and share this collectively created Black Time Capsule we will form with movement, text, and dialogue.

Created and led by: Kendra J. Ross.

VIRTUAL GRIOT is an original digital series featuring performing artists in the role of Griots as they deliver powerful messages from their neighbors to the people in their neighborhoods.

The series returns for a very special second season in 2023, this time documenting the story of 651 ARTS in preparation for their move into their new Downtown Brooklyn location. This year also marks the organization’s 35^th birthday! 651 ARTS is a legacy organization born in Brooklyn, NY in 1988 as an answer to a call to create programming that centers and values the performing arts and cultures of the African Diaspora. This season of Virtual Griot is dedicated to the capturing and telling of that legacy.

651 ARTS presents the 651 ARTS’ Third Annual Juneteenth Celebration, an annual commemoration of African-American emancipation featuring a weekend of performances and activities. The Celebration will be held outdoors at the institution’s future home. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.