8TH ANNUAL BROOKLYN FOLK ARTS DAY
June 08, 2019
12:00pm – 8:30pm
Photo by Roman Makhmutov.
The 8th Annual Brooklyn Folk Arts Day was presented in partnership with Brighton Beach's Folk Dance Club Kaleidoscope on June 8, 2019.
We spent the day in the cultural hub of Brighton Beach, with a full schedule of traditional arts workshops, presentations, and performances. We toured multiple cultural sites of Brighton Beach while learning about the rich folk arts history of the community:
12 - 2 pm Songs for Brighton Beach Musician Samantha Shokin shared her experience discovering Ukrainian and Yiddish music, joined by Russian Cossack singer Valentina Kvasova and accordionist Ilya Shneyveys.
Location: Kaleidoscope Folk Dance Club | 217 Brighton Beach Ave, Fl 2, Brooklyn, NY 11235
2- 4 pm Dance on the Boardwalk The youth of Kaleidoscope Folk Dance Club led a workshop with live music on the boardwalk, including Gramy-nominated singer Melvis Santa exploring Orisha songs and rhythms from Afro-Cuban traditions.
Location: Boardwalk between Brighton 2 St. and Brighton 4 St. in front of the playground
4 - 4:30 pm Walking Tour of Brighton Beach BAC Folk Arts Associate Husniya Khujamyorova led a tour of the markets and shops beneath the B/Q train, reflecting Brighton Beach's rich history.
Location: Tour starts at St. Petersburg Bookstore | 230 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11235
4:30 - 6:30 pm Dance Workshops with Marvarid Uzbek Dance Show and Esraa Warda Marvarid Uzbek Dance Group will performed a traditional Uzbek dance and educated attendees about Uzbek folk dances and how they are keeping traditions alive in New York City. Esraa Warda taught indigenous dance practices from Algeria and North Africa with Esraa Warda.
Location: Master Theater, iDance studio | 1029 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11235
6:30 - 8:30 pm Dinner at Cafe Kashkar We visited one of the few restaurants in NYC serving Uyghur food, hailing from the Northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang. The restaurant's owner shared a sampling of food along with his story of migrating from Kashkar to New York.
Location: Cafe Kashkar | 1141 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11235
Programs co-curated by BAC's Folk Arts Society.