(718) 260–2500 Brooklyn Paper’s essential guide to the Borough of Kings June 7–13, 2019
MUSIC
They’re going back to their roots!
A free summer concert series will return to
the banks of the Gowanus Canal this month. The
Creekers Jamboree series, sponsored by the Gowanus
Dredgers Canoe Club, will bring Americana
and roots music to the club’s Second Street
Boathouse on the third Thursday of each month,
starting on June 15 and continuing through October.
The debut performer said that he hopes
to channel the neighborhood’s zany spirit in his
performance.
“Gowanus is really a trip, and it’s beautiful,”
said Queens singer-songwriter Colin Langenus
(pictured), who will share the June 15 bill with
Clinton Hill musician Rose Thomas Bannister.
“There’s money coming in, but there are still weirdos
that have been there a while, and the place
has a lot of character.”
Langenus has recorded an extensive catalogue
over the last three decades, with more than 100
releases under various band names. For his performance
alongside Brooklyn’s Nautical Purgatory,
he will dig up some tunes from his 2011 folk
rock record “Infinite Ease,” along with his progrock
project Usaisamonster, and a blend of originals
songs and covers.
The jack-of-all-trades, who claims to be related
to classic composer Ludwig van Beethoven,
says he draws his artistic inspiration from more
recent songwriters, including Jimi Hendrix and
John Coltrane, along with the 1989 stoner comedy
“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”
Before each show, the boat club will host its
usual weekly free canoe trips along the toxic waterway,
from 1–5 p.m.
The music series, which launched last summer,
is named after a gang that roamed the Gowanus
marshes and creek during the mid-1800s
called the Creekers, which defended the territory
against rival gang the Pointers coming from
Red Hook Point. Both gangs died out in the early
20th century, and members of the Dredgers Canoe
Club say they wanted to pay homage to the
area’s folklore.
“Paying homage to the historical areas is
why we did it,” said concert organizer Liz Rabson
Schnore.
The longtime dredger will also break out some
instruments with her friends for the one-night-only
band Pointers Revenge, which on Aug. 17 will play
folk-influenced version of songs about the Gowanus
Canal written over the last two centuries.
“It’ll be a bit of Pete Seeger environmentalism
and singalong songs,” said Schnore. “It’s
silly and fun.”
Creekers Jamboree at Gowanus Dredgers
Canoe Club 165 Second St. at Bond Street in
Gowanus, www.gowanuscanal.org. Colin Langenus
on June 15 at 5 p.m.; more concerts on
every third Saturday through October 19 at 5
p.m. Free. — Kevin Duggan
By Bill Roundy
Brooklyn Paper
This is your guide to Pride!
This year marks the 50th anniversary
of the Stonewall Riots, which kicked
off the modern gay rights movement, and
the city’s gay community and its allies are
ready to celebrate — as are people around
the world, flying in for World Pride!
Brooklyn’s own twilight Pride Parade
happens on June 8, but there are plenty of
Pride-related festivities before and after the
Park Slope march. We’ve rounded up some
of the best events for you here:
Fri, June 7
Film, “Hairspray”: A screening of the
1988 John Waters film starring Ricki Lake
and drag queen Divine as her mother. With
a dance contest before the show. Old Stone
House 336 Third St. between Fourth and Fifth
avenues in Park Slope, (718) 768–3195, www.
theoldstonehouse.org. Free. 6:30 pm.
Nightlife, Queer First Friday Dance
Party: Temescal Brewing brings its hit party to
Threes Brewing. Threes Brewing 333 Douglass
St. between Third and Fourth avenues
in Gowanus, (718) 522–2110, www.threesbrewing.
com. Free. 7 pm–midnight.
Sat, June 8
Today is Brooklyn’s official Pride Day
— and it includes more than a parade!
5K Pride Run: Kick off your day with
a 5-kilometer Pride Run through Prospect
Park! Every runner will receive a Brooklyn
Pride Run T-shirt and a custom engraved
Pride Run medal after finishing. $40. 10
a.m. Start at Bartel-Pritchard Square (15th
Street at Prospect Park West in Windsor
Terrace, www.brooklynpride.org),
Reading, Drag Queen Story Hour: A
sparkly queen will don her reading glasses
and tell fairy tales to kids. Free. 11 am.
Park Slope Library (431 Sixth Ave. at
Ninth Street in Park Slope), www.bklynlibrary.
org.
Multicultural Festival: Community organizations
and businesses will line Fifth
Avenue from First and Ninth streets throughout
the day. Each end will feature a stage
with bands, speakers, and drag acts throughout
the day, with drag queen Emi Grate emceeing
the stage at First Street, and trans
cabaret singer Lailah Lancing leading the
action at the Ninth Street stage. www.brooklynpride.
org. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Free.
Twilight Parade: The climax of Brooklyn
Pride is the annual Twilight Pride Parade,
filled with gay organizations, businesses,
and supporters. Leading the parade
will be this year’s Grand Marshals: 11-yearold
drag kid Desmond is Amazing and his
mom, Wendy Napoles; Alphonso B. David,
the first openly gay man to serve as chief
counsel to the Governor of New York; and
Kate Barnhart, a longtime AIDS activist.
Twilight Parade (Fifth Avenue from Lincoln
Place to Ninth Street in Park Slope, www.
brooklynpride.org). 7:30 pm. Free.
After the parade, every spot along Fifth
Avenue becomes a queer party spot, though
the real action will be at lesbian bar Ginger’s
(363 Fifth Ave. between Fifth and
Sixth streets in Park Slope, www.facebook.
com/Gingersbar) and soon-to-close
gay bar Excelsior (563 Fifth Ave. between
15th and 16th streets in Park Slope, www.
excelsiorbrooklyn.com).
A few more post-parade options:
Comedy, Pass the Aux presents Lady
Gaga: The variety show celebrates Lady
Gaga with drag performances, singing, and
comedy. $10. 8 pm. Littlefi eld (635 Sackett
St. between Third and Fourth avenues in
Gowanus), www.littlefi eldnyc.com.
Nightlife, Set It Off: The queer hip-hop
dance party joins forces with the Laid Brooklyn
Dance Party for a night of revelry and
music. $10. 8:30 pm. Bell House 149 Seventh
St. at Third Avenue in Gowanus, (718)
643–6510, www.thebellhouseny.com.
Music, Brooklyn Pride Queer Country
After-party: Catch some queer country
acts after the parade, including Paisley
Fields, Ryan Cassata, Karen and the Sorrows,
Mercy Bell, and Goldenchild. $10.
10 pm. Union Hall 702 Union St. at Fifth
Avenue in Park Slope, (718) 638–4400,
www.unionhallny.com.
Kings and queens: Brooklyn drag
collective Switch ‘n’ Play will perform
at the blowout Pride party Everybooty
at BAM Fisher on June 29.
Sun, June 9
Spirit of Stonewall: A community
commemoration the Stonewall Rebellion.
Featuring playwright Lisa Kron, Lavender
Light Gospel Choir, Stonewall Ambassadors
Betty, queer theologian Patrick
Cheng, activist Wazina Zondon, and St.
Pat’s for All founder Brendan Fay. Free.
3:30 pm. St. Ann’s Church 157 Montague
St. at Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights,
(718) 875–6960.
Mon, June 17
Comedy, Ed Sullivan on Acid, Pride
Edition: A special Pride edition of Brooklyn’s
longest-running free comedy show,
featuring queer comedians Bobby Hankinson,
Jess Salomon, Eman El-Husseini,
and more. Free. 9 pm. Freddy’s Bar 627
Fifth Ave. between 17th and 18th streets
in Greenwood Heights, (718) 768–0131,
www.freddysbar.com.
Wed, June 19
Film, “But I’m a Cheerleader” Drink
or Dare: An interactive, drinking game
screening of the 1999 queer romantic comedy
classic. $15. 7:30 pm. House of Yes (2
Wyckoff Ave. at Jefferson Street in Bushwick),
www.houseofyes.org.
Sat, June 29
Nightlife, Everybooty: An all-inclusive,
all-gender celebration of queer nightlife
featuring musicians, dancers, comedians,
visual artists, a dedicated piano bar,
Brooklyn drag collective Switch n’ Play,
and dancing on the rooftop terrace and
throughout the space. $30. 9 pm–2 am.
BAM Fisher (321 Ashland Pl. between Hansen
Place and Lafayette Avenue in Fort
Greene), www.bam.org.
THEATER
They are bringing
the Nights to
Sunset.
A Sunset Park
theater will take
the classic tales
of the Arabian
Nights out of the
Old World and
into the New, with
a new show opening
at Target Margin Theater on June 13. The
production, titled “1001Sur,” explores the timeless
tales of the Middle East through the lens of a
South American bordello, transporting audiences
to the lands of ancient Persia through the magic
of Latin cabaret, according to its director.
“There’s some cabaret-style numbers, songs
from South America that have some relationship
to the stories,” said Nicolas Norena, of the
Million Underscores company.
The tales of the “One Thousand and One Arabian
Nights” is traditionally told through the
framing device of a woman named Scheherazade,
as she seeks to placate her murderous husband,
the Sultan, with 1,001 exotic spiels that end on a
cliffhanger each night, thereby persuading the
great king to spare the girl’s life and allow her
to finish the evening’s yarn another day.
Norena’s adaptation does not do away with
that story-within-a-story structure — instead,
it adds the bordello as an additional narrative
layer, one that features an Argentinian poet relating
the story of Scheherazade, who in turn
describes the stories of Arabian Nights to her
cruel hubby. The resulting triple narrative sees
each story injected with the culture of the other,
as the poet’s Latin influence bleeds into the tale
of the sultan’s wife, who may in turn be telling
stories of far-off India, Syria, or even China,
according to Norena, who said that the structure
of the play reflects how the stories of Arabian
Nights have traveled the globe from one
people to the next.
“These stories were basically started in China,
and were later told in India, then in Persia, and
Syria and Egypt,” he said. “The story of the
Arabian Nights has always been a story of the
exotic, of people telling stories that don’t belong
to them.”
“1001Sur” is part of a performance festival
titled “News of the Strange Lab,” produced by
Target Margin Theater, featuring several theatrical,
dance, and musical acts from June 6–23.
Reimagine the 1,001 Nights at Target Margin
Theater 232 52nd St. between Second and
Third avenues in Sunset Park, (718) 398–3095,
www.targetmargin.org. June 13–16 at 8 p.m.
$20. — Colin Mixson
By Bill Roundy
Brooklyn Paper
It’s the ’wave of the future!
A Brooklyn dance education
group will throw a block party this
weekend to celebrate its new home in
Gowanus! Dancewave will launch its
new spot at the corner of Fourth Avenue
and Degraw Street with a Grand
Opening party on June 8 designed
to introduce the group to the neighborhood,
according the group’s artistic
director.
“We are opening our doors to the
community, and we want to be as inclusive
as possible,” said Diane Jacobowitz.
“We want everyone to celebrate.”
The Saturday party will last from
noon until 4 p.m, and will be led by
master of ceremonies Chuck Chillout,
DANCE
a hip-hop disc jockey with radio
station WBLS. Degraw Street will be
closed to traffic, and the roadway will
host free classes in modern, salsa,
and African dance, along with performances
from the Ifetayo Cultural
Arts Academy and from Dancewave
students.
Inside the Dancewave Center will
be tours, family-friendly games, and
activities, followed by a performance
from several Dancewave companies
at 5 pm. Tickets for the show are just
$10.
The group used a small dance studio
at Fourth Avenue and Dean Street
for the last 11 years, said Jacobowitz,
but the new location more than triples
its space. The new Dancewave Center
has two large studio rooms, which
can be combined into a 100-seat performance
venue — a first for the organization,
which previously rented
other venues for its recitals.
The new space will also allow for
more, larger classes, especially for
adult learners.
The area already offers several venues
for grown-ups looking for healthy
activities, including Brooklyn Boulders
and a Crossfit gym, said Jacobowitz,
so the dance studio will fit
right it.
“It’s a heavy fitness block, so we’re
going to bring more adult classes to
this area,” she said. “It’s not just fitness
— dancing is joy — but we’re
really going to be expanding the adult
programs.”
The new venue will also allow
Dancewave to hold events that go
beyond dance, she said.
“We want it to be more than a dance
center — we want it to be a community
center,” she said. “We want to
open it to poetry readings, and have
art shows, and all kinds of different
events.”
The journey towards the new space
took almost 11 years, said Jacobowitz,
and required a $5.2 million campaign
to renovate the former factory into a
state-of-the-art studio and venue, accomplished
with help from the Borough
President’s Office, the New York
City Department of Cultural Affairs,
and many local supporters.
Raising the cash and dealing with
bureaucracy required a lot of work,
she said.
“It’s a story of patience, perseverance,
and passion — and dealing with
the city,” said the dance director. “This
is a story of triumph.”
Pride and joy
The best LGBT events this month in Brooklyn
Dancing in the streets
Gowanus block party launches new dance studio
Rock the boats
New ‘Nights’
The Million Underscores
Feeling blue: The new Dancewave
Center will soon be used
as a performance space, complete
with theatrical lighting,
said artistic director Diane Jacobowitz.
Trey Pentecost
Dancewave Grand Opening
street party 182 Fourth Ave. at
Degraw Street in Gowanus, (718)
522–4696, www.dancewave.org).
June 8; noon–4 p.m. Free.
Dancewave Student and Friends
Showcase: June 8 at 5 pm. $10.
Photo by Trey Pentecost
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