Harlem Stage has announced its 40th Anniversary Season, taking place from September 2023 to June 2024. It aims to celebrate Harlem Stage as an institution that has been a platform for emerging and established artists of color. Many of the events for the 2023-2024 season feature artists with whom Harlem Stage has built long-term relationships.
Aaron Davis Hall, Inc., later named the Harlem Stage, was opened in 1983 to provide resources, a platform, and an audience for artists of color due to their unequal treatment and recognition. For almost 40 years, the organization has championed the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem. They continue to be a voice for justice as well as historical examination and denunciation of racism and its legacy.
Harlem Stage has hosted legendary artists, including Harry Belafonte, Max Roach, Sekou Sundiata, Abbey Lincoln, Sonia Sanchez, Eddie Palmieri, Maya Angelou, and Tito Puente. The organization has also won the Association of Performing Arts Presenters William Dawson Award for Programming Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming.
Harlem Stage began in a time of great inequity, resulting in a form of censorship by exclusion of visionary artists of color. Our intent was to level the playing field by supporting the development of their new work in new forms. Artists of color are constantly in a dialogue with their worlds—and Harlem Stage has always sought to be a place where all of our constituents can engage in the kind of transformative discourse that enriches our lives and broadens our horizons.
Artistic Director and CEO Patricia Cruz
Events
WaterWorks Commissions
A signature program of the Harlem Stage, WaterWorks is intended to identify and cultivate emerging or established artists of color. It engages with the community through residencies and educational activities.
On Dec. 9, 2023 is the “WaterWorks Emerging Artists Showcase,” which will feature artists such as: interdisciplinary performing artist and painter Shantelle Courvoisier Jackson; singer/songwriter Hannah Lemmons; choreographer and dancer Bobby Morgan; interdisciplinary artist, composer, and pianist Mary Prescott; and trumpeter and composer Kalí Rodríguez-Peña.
March 29 and 30, 2024 will have Ambrose Akinmusire performing “Banyan.” It is an intersection of griot, mentor, and oral historian in social history that culminates in this multi-part suite.
On May 3 and 4, 2024, Tamar-kali will be presenting excerpts from the work-in-progress opera “Black Damask.” The opera is about the life and times William Dorsey Swann, who is the first to dub himself as a “queen of drag.” Following the excerpts will be a discussion with the creators of the opera.
E-Moves
“E-Moves” is Harlem Stage’s flagship dance series and has showcased movement-based creations for over 20 years. For the 40th Anniversary Season, Harlem Stage is inviting back several artists critical to the institutions dance legacy.
On a yet-to-be-announced date is Kyle Abraham, who created “Pavement” through the WaterWorks program and first performed with E-Moves in 2006.
EVIDENCE and Ronald K. Brown will return on Oct. 13 and 14, 2023 for a not-to-be-missed performance featuring work from an emerging choreographer, as selected by Brown. EVIDENCE first performed with the organization in 1998.
April 19 and 20, 2024 will feature the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Their performance in 2024 will include an emerging artist selected by Jones. They performed at the opening of the Harlem Stage Gatehouse in 2006.
On May 17 and 18, 2024, nora chipaumire is presenting “ShebeenDUB” featuring three dancers and a dub DJ. A monumental sound installation, the “soundshitsystem” will be used for the performance. The installation was designed by Ari Marcopoulos and Kara Walker, and constructed by Matt Jackson Studio. nora chipaumire herself is based in Berlin, Germany and Harare, Zimbabwe.
Camilla A. Brown, first in E-Moves in 2004, is returning June 14 and 15, 2024. She is presenting her own work alongside the work of her associate choreographers: Rickey Tripp; Mayte Natalio; Chloe Davis; and Maleek Washington. The theme for the night is “BLACK JOY.”
Guest Curated Programs
On March 1 and 2, 2024, Vijay Iyer is returning to guest curate and perform in “Eternal Spirit: Vijay Iyer and Friends Celebrate the Music of Andrew Hill.” The ensemble includes: drummer Nasheet Waits; trumpet player Milena Casado; and saxophonist Mark Shim. Iyer originally wrote a commissioned work with the Harlem Hall called “Holding It Down.”
Jason Moran will guest curate and perform on April 26 and 27, 2024 for “Pianos for Duke Reimagined: Featuring Jason Moran, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Friends.” Moran originally played Duke Ellington’s music in 1999 with Harlem Stage for “Piano’s For Duke” alongside other superstars of piano. The event for April is to be presented on the 125th anniversary of Ellington’s birth.
Special Projects
Sept. 14, 2023 will have the “Harlem Stage 40th Anniversary Concert” in collaboration with Bryant Park. A thus-far unannounced major jazz artist will be performing.
On Oct. 20 and 21, 2023, Craig Harris will be presenting “TONGUES OF FIRE (in a harlem state of mind),” a combination of music, poetry, and movement. It is an exploration of the evolution of the Harlem community from the ’70s to present day.
“In the Court of the Conqueror,” performed by george emilio sanchez, will be on Nov. 3, 2023. It is a solo performance that revolves around the 200-year-old Supreme Court ruling that reduced sovereignty for native nations, juxtaposed against sanchez’s own experiences with Indigenous identity in an Ecuadorian immigrant household.
On March 22 and 23, 2024, Stew’s “HIGH SUBSTITUTE FOR THE DREAD LECTURER: Baraka Jones in Dub” will be featured. It is in the spirit of his other work, the critically acclaimed “NOTES OF A NATIVE SONG,” and is focused on the twin influences of his life and art.
Uptown Nights
To be fully announced in September 2023, “Uptown Nights” will feature “Uptown Nights Latinx Music Series” from Sept. to Dec. 2023. Uptown Nights is a music series that presents an array of artists from across genres.
For more information, check out Harlem Stage’s website.
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