February Events at the BMHC

Dear BMHC friends and family,

We celebrate Black History Month in February to honor the African-American experience in the U.S. Our regular programming features a lot of examples of music in the African diaspora and this month will represent those traditions from throughout the entire American diaspora—South America, Caribbean and right here in NYC. Enjoy that and more at the BMHC!

BMHC's Artistic Directors

Elena Martinez

Bobby Sanabria

Upcoming Programs

FANDANGO DE LA CANDELARIA

The feast day of La Virgen de la Candelaria is one of the most important dates in the son jarocho calendar. We're celebrating our 3^rd Candelaria program with members of the local son jarocho community as they gather to play una loteria jarocha and join in a fandango.

Friday, February 2nd

6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Free and open to the public

RUEDA DE ORO

The Afro-Colombian dance and percussion workshop/performance led by Juan Ospina returns.

Come learn some Afro-Colombian rhythms and then join in!

Saturday, February 10th

4:00pm-8:30 pm

FREE

MUSIC & DANCE CLASSES

The BMHC's winter session of music and dance classes begins February 5^th. There are only a few spaces left. To register for classes and workshops contact: lmold@whedco.org

WORKSHOPS

BMHC Education Associate, Oxil Febles, is curating a series of Afro-Diasporic dance workshops for Black History Month.  To register, contact: emartinez@whedco.org

Wednesdays

6:30PM-8:30PM 

BRONX RISING!

From Africa to the Diaspora

We celebrate Black History Month with the voices of the diaspora and the ancestral roots in Africa. Featuring NEA National Heritage Award winner, Sidiki Conde.

Saturday, Feb 17^th 

7:00 PM | $10

$7 Student and seniors

ASSAL YA ASSAL

Join us for an evening of bellydance and music curated by Angie Assal.

Sunday, February 18th

3:30 pm

$20 Advance

$25 At the door

PROGRAMS WE LIKE

The BMHC will take part in CITY LORE's NEH Summer Teacher Institute, SOMOS BORICUAS, from July 14th-27th. K-12 educators from all fields (museum educators, etc.) and from all over the U.S.are welcome to apply. If you have any questions please contact: emartinez@citylore.org

*Image from print by Miguel Trelles.

ARTISTS RESOURCES

BRONXARTSPACE

The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) announces the launch of the Longwood @Governors Island Residency Program, a BCA/Longwood Arts Project effort that makes free studio space available to under-represented and under-resourced Bronx visual artists. This residency program will run from May 10, 2024 – October 30, 2024.

BronxArtsSpace invites Bronx-based artists to apply for its Artist Residency program. The program responds to a crucial need for studio space and professional development opportunities for emerging Bronx artists.

SAVE THE DATE

Celebrate 50 years of hip hop and the 40^th anniversary of the documentary, Style Wars. Screening and discussion with producer, noted graffiti photographer, Henry Chalfant. Led by Epi-Center.

Bronx Artist Spotlight

Nelida Tirado

Nélida was exposed to music and dance at an early age. She began her formal training in classical ballet, graham technique and Spanish dance at Ballet Hispanico of New York at the age of six, later forming part of their apprentice company. Barely out of her teens, she was invited to tour the U.S. with Jose Molina Bailes Españoles, Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco, Fred Darsow and Carlota Santana’s Flamenco Vivo.

Her desire to continue learning led her to Spain where she became soloist/dance captain with of Compañia Maria Pages and Compañia Antonio El Pipa, performing at prestigious flamenco festivals and television in Spain. Nélida premiered her solo show "Dime Quien Soy" in The Flamenco Festival New York featuring original composition by Gonzalo Grau. A sold out show at Joe's Pub, it was an original work exploring her multitudes as a dancer in Flamenco and Latin dance, her identity as a Puerto Rican raised in the multicultural Bronx, and how music and dance transcend race and politics. This solo work has recently expanded with more dancers and completed a bubble residency at The Jacob's Pillow Lab March 2021. 

In this video, she leads some of her students in a dance in front of the Bronx Music Hall for the BMH Blast series which chronicled the construction of the new theater with music and dance.

From the Vault

INTERNATIONAL MOTHER TONGUE

This song performed by Afm Aftabuzzaman Spondon at the Parkchester NYPL (program supported by Culture Pass) is "Bangladesh" written by Beatle George Harrison. He wrote this song and organized the Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden with Ravi Shankar in 1971. The goal of the event was to raise awareness and relief for refugees following the Bangladesh Liberation war. As East Pakistan fought to become a separate state as Bangladesh the political turmoil led to atrocities and the displacement of at least 7 million people. Added on to this, natural disasters like the Bhola cyclone and torrential rains and floods created a humanitarian disaster.

We recognize this in February as we celebrate International Mother Tongue Day on February 21st, founded in Bangladesh where it is a national holiday. In 1948, the Government of Pakistan declared Urdu to be the sole national language of Pakistan, even though Bengali or Bangla was spoken by the majority of people combining East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The East Pakistan people protested and demanded Bangla to be at least one of the national languages, in addition to Urdu. The students of the University of Dhaka, with the support of the general public, arranged massive rallies and meetings. On 21 February 1952, police opened fire on rallies. People sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue.

Last Words

"Give light and people will find the way."

--Ella Baker, NAACP/CORE member. This year is the 60^th anniversary of the Freedom Summer voting campaign led by groups like CORE and the NAACP.

Be Part of Our Impact! Donate Today.

The BMHC is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Booth Ferris Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, and The New York Community Trust.

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