BAMkids SpringFest 2023

Celebrate the spirit of the season!

Sat, May 6, 2023

Kids

AGES 2—11

Part of BAMkids Spring 2023

Schedule

The Plaza at 300 Ashland
10:00am Walkabout Entertainment with Joel Jeske
                and Harold Moeller
10:30am Green Groove instrument creation
                with Bash the Trash
11:15am  Bash the Trash Performance
11:30am Bash the Trash Parade
12:00pm Parallel Exit: Joel Jeske, Maia Castro-Santos,
                Randy Kato
12:15pm  Springtime Shine Yoga with Fit N Play Mama
                On the Plaza: Juggling with Joel
12:30pm Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center
1:00pm    Parallel Exit: Joel Jeske, Maia Castro-Santos,
                Randy Kato
1:15pm    Pua Ali'i 'Ilima o Nuioka halau hula
                in collaboration with Hālāwai
1:15pm    On the Plaza: Juggling with Joel
1:30pm    Springtime Shine Yoga with Fit N Play Mama
1:45pm    651 ARTS presents “Portals” By Kendra J. Ross
                (excerpts from a work in progress)
2:00pm    Parallel Exit: Joel Jeske, Maia Castro-Santos,
                Randy Kato
2:15pm    Tinikling: Filipino Dance Demonstration
                and Workshop with The Physical Plant
                On the Plaza: Juggling with Joel
2:30pm    On the Plaza: Tinikling: Filipino stick dance
3:00pm   COBU

Ongoing: Big Reuse, Hula Nation Inc., Emcees Yasmar Cruz and Okai Fleurimont, Harold Moeller

Spring is here! Families are invited to a joyous day of performances, interactive activities, and showcases of local talent. BAMkids SpringFest celebrates the spirit of the season and encourages environmental advocacy and care for our communities. Join us outdoors on Saturday, May 6 and experience an eclectic, fun-filled program of music, dance, comedy, circus arts, and more, brought to you by artists from around the world. Enjoy the sounds of Japan’s shinobue bamboo flute and Bash the Trash’s recycled everyday instruments. Discover ancient styles of Hawaiian hula movement and Tinikling, the national folk dance of the Philippines. Embark with Kendra J. Ross on a multi-sensory journey through time and space in her latest project, PORTALS: Traversing Black Continuums. Stay all day or just drop by—there’s no one way to celebrate!

10am—4pm

VENUE

The Plaza at 300 Ashland
Rain Location: Peter Jay Sharp Building

The BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle would like to welcome you to BAMkids SpringFest 2023. We are honored to have co-curated this festive program for you and your family. Our goal is to bring families together to celebrate the arrival of spring and refocus ourselves as a community so that we can better care for our planet. We love that our borough is full of so many art forms and we welcome spring with the rhythms and dances of Japan, West Africa, the Philippines, and Hawaii. We also hope you’re encouraged to learn more about making environmentally sustainable choices as a family. We’re grateful to have you here and hope you have a wonderful time!

Hectah Arias
Sameer Gupta
Sunny Jain
Kyung Jeon-Miranda
Naomi Jackson
Kathi Ko
Danielle Medina
Sonya Minnis
Bridgette Perry Ambrose
Mari Yahagi

TICKET INFO

FREE

AGES 2—11

ACCESSIBILITY

ASL Interpretation provided by SignNexus

Please email accessibility@bam.org with any questions.

May 2023

30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3

Saturday May 06, 2023

Performances no longer available.

Leadership support for BAM Access Programs provided by the Jerome L. Greene Foundation

Leadership support for programming in the Howard Gilman Opera House and off-site programs provided by:

Leadership support for BAM Community programs provided by The Thompson Family Foundation

Major Sponsor of BAM Community Programs:

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Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Programming at The Plaza at 300 Ashland is made possible by support from Two Trees Management Co.

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PERFORMERS

Yasmar Cruz

Yasmar Cruz was born in Puerto Rico and began her artistic training early in life. She is a published author and has written and directed plays at international theater festivals in New York, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Cruz is the director of Danzartes and received the 2021 Communitas Community Impact Award for a wellness initiative that helped BIPOC women during the pandemic. She holds a master's degree in Dance Education from the City University of New York.

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Okai Fleurimont

Okai Fleurimont is a vocalist, percussionist, and producer who embodies all the music of the African diaspora. Born in Brooklyn, the Haitian-American Fleurimont has embarked on a musical path that encompasses the hard boom bap drum loops of hip-hop, roots music from the Caribbean, and many more styles. He is a skilled conga player and has concentrated on playing the West African djembe drum for more than 10 years.

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Hula Nation Inc

Hula Nation founder Isamar Gonzalez brings together hula hooping, hatha yoga, and meditation within interactive workshops on HoopYogini™ dance. Since 2013, Hula Nation has worked to empower children and families through art and movement workshops, participating in over 300 events and festivals throughout New York City and around the world.

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Big Reuse

Ask all your questions about composting, dig your hands into a worm bin, and learn about local events thanks to funding from Council Member Crystal Hudson. Plus, receive a free one pound bag of compost from Big Reuse while supplies last!

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Bash the Trash presents Green Groove

Bash the Trash (BTT) is a family-friendly performing group that uses musical instruments made from recycled and reused materials. For over 30 years, BTT has been bringing science-based environmental arts education, performances, and hands-on programs to communities, schools, and cultural institutions. The group engages children, families, and educators throughout the US and abroad, reaching over 60,000 students a year in live performances and residencies, as well as web-based programs. BTT is a staple at family stages at festivals, concert halls, performing arts centers, and other venues, including biannual concerts at Carnegie Hall.

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Springtime Shine Yoga with Fit N Play Mama

Come join us for a truly memorable yoga experience! Explore the wonders of springtime and its connections to the natural world, including plants, insects, animals, food, and the environment. Through an interactive storytelling journey, we will move through a series of yoga poses and encourage self-expression, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the joy and energy of the season.

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Parallel Exit

Parallel Exit is an award-winning physical theater/contemporary circus company creating original work that speaks to a culturally boundless audience of any age.

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Joel Jeske

A one-man variety show, Joel Jeske will have you and all members of your family in stitches with his unique mixture of comedy, music, and magic. Acting as host for Parallel Exit’s performances, Joel will delight you with his one-of-a-kind presentation.

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Maia Castro-Santos

A mega-talented young circus artist, Maia Castro-Santos will offer her extraordinary hula hooping skills to SpringFest 2023. Her performance involves a cornucopia of hoops, all spinning simultaneously.

Randy Kato

A Wheel Gymnastics World Champion, Randy Kato aims to spread his love of his unique art form, the cyr wheel, to audiences of all ages. Marvel as he spins, at one with his wheel and at peace with everything around him.

Harold Moeller

This one-wheel wonder will glide through Springfest 2023 on a unicycle, tossing in some juggling and roping along the way. Keep your eyes peeled for this marvel of comedy and circus as he makes his way across the plaza.

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Juggling with Joel

Run away and join the circus with Joel Jeske as he hosts a station featuring all kinds of props, including juggling and spinning plates, giving children and adults the chance to become circus stars. All levels are welcome.

Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center

Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center preserves, teaches, and promotes various styles of Japanese contemporary and traditional music, with a focus on the shinobue bamboo flute and Japanese percussion, including the taiko drum. Part of this mission includes fostering a community of practitioners, scholars, and admirers of Japanese performing arts

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Hālāwai

Hālāwai’s mission is to advance and support an inclusive community with shared interests in the culture and future of the people of Hawaiʻi and other Pacific Islands.

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Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima o Nūioka

Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima o Nūioka is the New York City extension of Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima, the hālau hula (school of traditional Hawaiian dance) founded by Kumu Hula Vicky Holt Takamine, based on Oʻahu. It is a resident company of La MaMa Theatre’s Indigenous Initiative and has performed at the Prince Lot Festival on Oʻahu, the Queen Emma Festival on Kauaʻi, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Millennium Stage, and elsewhere. The company presents hula kahiko (ancient style), and ʻauana honoring Hawaiian gods and goddesses, royalty, and sacred places. Enjoy the beauty, power and grace of the dancers of Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima o Nuioka as they share their dances and chants. Presented by Hālāwai, a New York based non-profit that promotes Hawaiian culture.

651 ARTS

Since its founding in 1988, 651 ARTS has become a trusted convener of contemporary African diasporic artistic expression, a champion and nurturer of emerging artists and their work, and a vital cultural resource for its surrounding community. As it moves forward, part of 651 ARTS’ mission is to preserve the legacy of Black culture in Brooklyn, celebrate the eclecticism of Black performance and to pioneer new visions of African diaspora artists. This year—the transition year—is integral for the institution as it continues to lay the framework that will further help to reinforce 651 ARTS’ role as a leader of African diasporic culture while also establishing it an incubator for artistic innovation in the 21st century.

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651 ARTS presents PORTALS: Traversing Black Continuums By Kendra J. Ross

Kendra J. Ross is a proud Detroit native working as a dancer, teaching artist, choreographer, arts administrator, facilitator, and community organizer in her current home of Bed-Stuy. She is the founder of STooPS and creator of Kreations with Love. At SpringFest 2023, Ross shares her work-in-progress, PORTALS: Traversing Black Continuums, a multi-sensory journey through time, space, generations, and dimensions. The fuller work-in-progress will be presented by 651 ARTS at the Mark Morris Dance Center on May 6 at 6pm.

inikling Filipino Dance With The Physical Plant

Tinikling: Filipino Dance Demonstration and Workshop with The Physical Plant

Based in Queens, The Physical Plant is a dance group focused on presenting various dance perspectives rooted in the culture of the Philippines. The group acknowledges the traditions and evolution of Filipino dance across generations of immigrants and aims to share this culture with the broader New York City community. Tinikling is the national dance of the Philippines, traditionally performed to rondalla folk music with a series of movements while hopping through bamboo poles along the ground. It was created during the Spanish colonial era and originated in the southern Philippine island of Leyte.

COBU

COBU was created in 2000 in New York. Yako Miyamoto, its founder, is a veteran member of the Off-Broadway hit STOMP. COBU has performed at the NBA halftime show at Madison Square Garden, Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater, and We the Peoples at the United Nations. The company has won the Wella International Trend Talent Award, the Audience Favorite Award at Fringe Festival, and the Grand Prize by K-ollaboration, and has been listed as one of the 30 shows to see by Time Out. COBU continues to express the splendor, beauty, and strength of Japan. Members include Yako Miyamoto, Micro Fukuyama, Kana Matsui, Mayu Yamashita.

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