FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 30, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 29
summer staycation
Queens Drive-In coming to Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Courtesy of Rooftop Films
JCAL to off er free dance classes for young girls of color
BY JASMINE PALMA
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
In conjunction with the Camille A.
Brown dancers, the Jamaica Center for
Arts & Learning will host a series of free
dance workshops for girls and young
women of color in August.
Th e “Every Body Move Workshops:
Black Girl Spectrum,” an in-person
event taking place on the lawn of the
Jamaica Performing Arts Center, will
take place over six sessions. Participants
must practice social distancing and
wear a mask.
“We were delighted when Camille A.
Brown & Dancers contacted us about
we’ve hoped for an opportunity to bring
our community,”said Courtney Ffrench,
their grant for Every Body Move — and
them back.”
JCAL’s interim artistic director.
asked to partner with JCAL to present
“Hosting Camille Brown’s Every
Camille A. Brown is a choreographer
these workshops,” said Leonard Jacobs,
Body Move workshops outside, on the
and educator whose choreography
JCAL’s interim executive director. “Last
lawn of our Jamaica Performing Arts
focuses on the cultural narrative of
winter, pre-pandemic, we hosted some
Center, is a great — and safe — way to
African-American identity. Via dance
of their incredible teaching artists, and
be socially distant while we re-engage
and dialogue, her work draws on ancestral
stories and contemporary culture
to render a variety of personal experiences.
Th e workshops, which have sold out,
intend to use dance, dialogue and popular
education tools as mediums to magnify
the cultural and creative empowerment
of Black girls and women.
“Black Girl Spectrum (BGS) aims to
nurture and bring awareness to Black girl
brilliance by exploring the spectrum of
identities among Black girls and women
while working to create safe spaces for
them to live as creative citizens,” the center
stated.
The sessions are divided into two
cohorts: young girls of color (7-12
years old) meeting from 10 to 11
a.m. and young women of color (13-
17 years old) meeting from noon to
1 p.m.
Th e workshops will meet Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays spanning two
weeks, from Aug. 10 to Aug. 21.
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e New York Hall of Science will
remain closed until mid-2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, but its vast parking
fi eld in Flushing Meadows Corona
Park will not go unused. It will house the
Queens Drive-In, which will start next
month and off er free and ticketed screenings
of new independent fi lms, as well as
recent and classic fi lms of all genres.
Rooft op Films, in partnership with
the Museum of the Moving Image, the
Hall of Science and the city’s Economic
Development Corporation, will present
fi lms throughout the remainder of the
summer and in the fall.
“For 24 years, it has been Rooft op’s mission
to bring New Yorkers together via
the media of fi lm,” Rooft op Films Artistic
Director Dan Nuxoll said. “With theaters
shuttered and most festivals postponed or
moving to streaming, we hope that these
events will be part of a collaborative healing
process for our neighbors, and give
us an opportunity to once again spotlight
the most daring new fi lms from around
the world.”
Rooft op will also present a drive-in festival
at Th e Brooklyn Armory working
with Mutual Aid Risk and Safety to ensure
both sites meet city and state safety protocols.
Screenings will be available only
to those in an enclosed vehicle at fi rst but
the partners will continue conversations
with the proper agencies to determine
whether in the future it will be safe and
legal to adapt event spaces to accommodate
socially distanced walk-up attendees.
“In this unusual New York summer
without concerts and other large-scale
events in the parks, Queens is proud to
partner with Rooft op Films and others to
present this drive-in movie series as an
option for families and friends to enjoy
together while still prioritizing safety,”
Acting Queens Borough President Sharon
Lee said.”We are especially delighted to
bring New Yorkers a number of these
fi lms free of charge here in the ‘Borough
of Families.’”
A portion of public ticket sales will
be donated to Elmcor, the youth and
adult social services organization serving
Elmhurst and Corona, and free tickets
to most programs will be made available
to residents of Corona and Elmhurst,
the neighborhoods that were hardest hit
by the coronavirus crisis.
“Aft er months of stay-at-home orders
and social distancing, New Yorkers are
craving the opportunity to safely go out
and seek entertainment,” Councilman
Francisco Moya said. “I’m thrilled to see
Rooft op Films team up with the Museum
of the Moving Image and the New York
Hall of Science to provide both its fi rstever
drive-in festival, and I’m proud to
support this fantastic initiative.”
Programming will include screenings
of new independent and foreign fi lms,
new and classic family fi lms, and classic
repertory and thematic programming
by the New York Hall of Science and the
Museum of the Moving Image.
“At MoMI, we believe in the excitement
of being in the same space to watch
movies, and in continuing the legacy of
cinema as a shared experience,” MoMI
Executive Director Carl Goodman said.
“We are also pleased to partner with
Rooft op Films and NYSCI, as it allows
us to bring communal moviegoing back
to Queens during a time when many
have been hit hard, including independent
fi lmmakers who have lost the venues
for their work.”
Visit the Queens Drive-in website in
the coming weeks for schedules and ticket
sales.
“It is our hope that the Queens Drive-
In will help in the process of revitalizing
culture in the borough,” NYSCI President
and CEO Dr. Margaret Honey said. “We’re
beginning by showing fi lms, but as we
are able, we hope to feature cultural programming
from Queens organizations.
Th is partnership among the Museum of
the Moving Image, Rooft op Films and
the New York Hall of Science has made
an additional commitment to use a portion
of the drive-ins proceeds to go to
Queens organizations that are helping the
communities most affl icted by COVID-
19 recover.”
Queens Drive-In is coming to the New York Hall of Science parking fi eld beginning next month.
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