• Live from the POEMobile • South Bronx Culture Trail • Gardens of LES
• Bronx Rising! • Bronx Museum 40th Anniversary

Hey Citylorists,

Please enjoy our Tours and Tales September-October 2012 e-letter!

We were so pleased to be able to celebrate the Woody Guthrie Centennial at Brooklyn College this past weekend. Steve Earle, Judy Collins, the Ungers, and Billy Bragg did the legendary Woody justice, and we loved Pete Seeger’s surprise appearance singing Ruben James. He noted Woody’s gift for producing a classic chorus with just four words:

Why oh why oh why oh why
Because because because because
Goodbye goodbye goodbye

The Klezmatics performed a rollicking rendition of Woody’s poem Mermaid Avenue which they set to music. The lyrics as apt today as they were more than 50 years ago when they were written.

Mermaid Avenue that's the street
Where the lox and bagels meet,
Where the hot dog meets the mustard
Where the sour meets the sweet;
Where the beer flows to the ocean
(Where the halvah meets the pickle)
Where the wine runs to the sea;
Why they call it Mermaid Avenue
That’s more than I can see.

Photo by Abby Ronner

• Live from the POEMobile – Cave Canem Poetry Out Loud & Writ Large • City Lore and Bowery Arts + Science present another great POEMobile collaboration, this time with the Cave Canem Foundation, North America’s premier home for black poetry. As part of the annual DUMBO Arts Festival, Cave Canem poets Nicole Sealey, Camille Rankine, JoAnne McFarland, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, and John Murillo will read selected work, while their lines are projected by the POEMobile onto the outside of DUMBO buildings and bridges. Reception at 20 Jay Street, Suite 310-A follows. Additional information about the festival can be found here. See this event on our calendar!

When: Friday, September 28, 7:30pm
Where: Bridge Park 2 in DUMBO, next to the York Street train station.
Admission: FREE
For more information: 212.529.1955 ext 308 or cfletcher@citylore.org, and follow us on Twitter@City_Lore.

• Casita Maria & Dancing in the Streets presents: South Bronx Culture Trail • Join Citylorist Elena Martínez as she leads you on a guided walking tour of the South Bronx Culture Trail. Highlights of the tour include, Casa Amadeo, the longest-run Latin music store in NYC, which our Place Matters program nominated to the National Register of Historic Places; home of Pete Rodriguez the bandleader of the song, I Like it Like That; and the former site of the Club Cubano social club. See this event on our calendar!

Also, make sure to check out Paseo, the performance tour, below.

When: Saturday, October 6, 12:30pm–2:20pm
Where: Casita Maria Center for Arts Education, 928 SImpson St. Bronx, NY 10459
Admission: FREE but need a reservation. Please RSVP to Elaine Delgado 718-589-2230 ext 6190 or edelgado@casitamaria.org.

PASEO
The fire escapes, stoops, and sidewalks of the Hunts Point and Longwood sections of the South Bronx will come alive with mambo dancers, conga players, stickball games, and a salsa concert in a walking celebration of the neighborhood. Choreographer: Joanna Haigood; Music Director; Bobby Sanabria; Performers: Ascensión, Arthur Aviles, La Bruja, Orlando Marín, Franck Muhel, Angel Rodríguez, Ramón Ramos Alayo, and members of the South Bronx community. There will be a bus from Grand Central Station (RSVP required).

When: Saturday, October 6, 3:30pm–5:30pm (Rain date: Sunday, October 7)
Meet at: Casita Maria Center for Arts Education, 928 SImpson St. Bronx, NY 10459
Admission: FREE
RSVP for bus: dancinginthestrets.org/transportation
For more information: Elaine Delgado 718-589-2230 ext 6190 or edelgado@casitamaria.org.

• Come celebrate the gardens of the LES! • Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) presents the Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens, a beautiful fall festival that will showcase 13 community gardens in the Lower East Side. Each garden will be designing its own creative program for the festival, so come and enjoy the education AND entertainment, and learn about the culture of the Loisaida neighborhood gardens! Make sure to check out the Dias y Flores Community Garden, City Lore’s Place Matters program pick for July Place of the Month.

When: Saturday, October 6, 3:30pm–5:30pm (Rain date: Sunday, October 7)
Where: For participating gardens and more information visit our calendar event.

• Bronx Rising!: Music, Film, & Spoken Word from the Borough • The Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC) Laboratory’s Fall/Winter Performance Series running from late October through January and curated by City Lore Folklorist Elena Martínez and Grammy-nominated musician Bobby Sanabria.

The recently opened BMHC Laboratory in Crotona East is a 1,400 square foot performance, gallery and retail space where Bronx artists can innovate and showcase their work, even before the permanent home to the BMHC opens in 2015. The Lab is a music incubator that hosts artists-in-residence, concerts, open mics, film screenings, galleries, arts retail, wellness events and roundtable discussions for musicians, artisans, and the community to enjoy. It is run by WHEDco (Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation).

For more information on the series’ inaugural programs, please visit the WHEDco website. They are in the process of adding the events to their calendar. Keep checking back for updates.

• Bronx Museum 40th Anniversary • Come out on Friday October 12th, to celebrate the Bronx Museum’s 40th Anniversary and watch City Lore’s From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale documentary film. The celebration features a series of special events including a screening of video art courtesy of the Collection of Manuel de Santaren, a silent art auction, and film screenings.

Music performances by Bobby Sanabria & Quarteto Aché, The Valerie Capers Quartet, the Latin Sax Quartet, Charansalsa, Rokafella FC, Francis Akrofys, and The Ghanaian Rhythmic Drummers, global grooves courtesy of DJ Lightbolt, and much more.

Click here to RSVP by Friday, October 5th and see our calendar event for more details.

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Enjoy the City! And if you engage in social media, please like us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube Channel and follow us on Twitter!

Steve and Abby

City Lore is part of a cultural coalition called CATCH, to promote the City’s cultural heritage. Check out the web sites of our wonderful partners, the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, the Latino Children’s Theater, SEA, and the World Music Institute.