42 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • OCTOBER 21, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Southeast Queens dance studio joins Jamaica Center for the Arts
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e Edge School of the Arts (ESOTA),
which has been an integral part of the
fabric of Queens for 25 years, has found a
new home at the Jamaica Center for Arts
& Learning (JCAL), where it will serve the
southeast Queens community.
Before the school’s doors opened, community
leaders gathered to show their
support at an opening celebration, welcoming
ESOTA to downtown Jamaica.
Th e event was hosted by former ESOTA
staff er Melva Miller, who was the founding
executive director of the Sutphin
Boulevard Business Improvement District
(BID) and previously served as deputy
Queens borough president. She is now
CEO of the Association for a Better New
York (ABNY).
“As New York City opens its doors once
again to patrons of the arts, I am thrilled
that ESOTA found a new home in downtown
Jamaica,” Miller said. “Southeast
Queens has a long tradition of cultivating
arts and culture, and the artists who create
it, and today marks a signifi cant milestone
in that tradition as ESOTA continues
that legacy.”
Like many other arts organizations, the
longstanding dance studio was forced to
close its doors in March of 2020 when the
city was shut down due to COVID.
Th e organization had survived by off ering
virtual classes and celebrated their
25th anniversary with a virtual video performance.
As the city continues to emerge
from the pandemic and make its way back
to normalcy, ESOTA reopened its doors at
JCAL, located at 161-04 Jamaica Ave.
“We’ve had a long and mutually benefi -
cial relationship with JCAL and its leaders
for many, many years. We’ve provided
workshops and cultural programming
for JCAL, and in turn they have
been generous with allowing us to utilize
their amazing space for performances
and events,” said Kerri Edge, artistic
director of ESOTA.
JCAL Interim Executive Director
Leonard Jacobs said the organization is
delighted to advance ESOTA’s longstanding
ties to JCAL through the new agreement
on studio space, offi ce space and a
space for ESOTA’s boutique.
“A legendary arts provider in southeast
Queens, ESOTA’s presence within
our institution will raise the bar in the
community for more than dance instruction,
but through myriad other cultural
Before their doors opened, community leaders had gathered to show their support at an opening celebration, welcoming The Edge Schools of the Arts
to downtown Jamaica.
opportunities that ESOTA can uniquely
provide,” Jacobs said.
Interim Artistic Director Courtney
Ffrench said the agreement comes at a
perfect moment for JCAL.
“ESOTA’s reputation will complement
our growing list of performing and visual
arts classes and programs that JCAL will
off er in 2022 — our 50th anniversary year.
Together, JCAL and ESOTA proudly share
a fundamental value — that the right to an
amazing arts education belongs to everyone,”
Ffrench said.
When JCAL was in its early years on
Jamaica Avenue, the Edge sisters (Donna,
Wendy and Kerri) were young students at
the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center
run by the dance legend aff ectionately
known as “BJ.”
Th e iconic institution at which their
mother Beverly was an early student was
located just outside the bus terminal on
Merrick Boulevard.
“We basically lived at dancing
school, and therefore spent our lives on
‘the Avenue,’” Donna Edge said. “Th e
library, Blimpies, Margherita’s Pizza, Th e
Colosseum, VIM, Gertz Mall were our
stomping grounds. Downtown Jamaica
holds great memories for us and we are
excited to be coming back home.”
ESOTA had been a staple in Laurelton
for its fi rst 25 years of existence. Now,
Donna Edge says, they’re entering a
new quarter-of-a-century in a new, but
familiar home.
“ESOTA’s hitting the ground running,
forging relationships with the
103rd Precinct, Jamaica Center BID,
and the Greater Jamaica Development
Corporation led by President and CEO
Hope Knight. It’s important to Kerri that
people understand, we’re not just moving
in to teach dance. We’re here to contribute
to, and collaborate with, our community,”
Donna Edge said.
Jennifer Furioli, director of the Jamaica
Center Business Improvement District, said
that the BID is thrilled that the Edge School
of the Arts is coming to Jamaica Avenue.
“As a BID, we have participated in many
community events with Kerri and her
team and we look forward to ESOTA
being our next-door neighbor at JCAL,
bringing their history of dance and culture
to downtown Jamaica,” Furioli said.
According to Wendy, a customer service
manager, she is thankful for the unwavering
loyalty of their students, parents, staff ,
alumni and supporters as they navigated
the pandemic.
“Th e kids missed each other, we were
mourning one of our dance moms,
Sharon Green Garrett, and income was
non-existent. But we made things work,”
Wendy Edge said.
Th e staff and students of ESOTA
engaged in online classes and fi lming
for their virtual presentations. Th ey also
continued ESOTA’s unique tradition of
engaging their students in social activism
in the community in their continued
eff orts to raise a generation of “artivists.”
Th e students participated in a solitary
protest march to engage in the social
movement for justice with Edge and Erica
Photo courtesy of JCAL
Ford, a community activist and founder of
Life Camp. When Councilman I. Daneek
Miller asked ESOTA to participate in the
reveal of the Black Lives Matter Mural on
Jamaica Avenue, the school showed up in
force to perform, participate and paint.
“We made good use of our time. But
now it’s time to get back in the classroom!”
Wendy Edge said.
ESOTA is kicking off the season with
performances of “Free to Be, You and
Me” to be presented in Laurelton West
Playground as part of the Green/Arts
Live NYC and City Artist Corps initiatives.
Ashanti’s creative director Brice
D. Vick, “Bring in Da Noise” tapper
Omar Edwards, celebrity choreographer
David “Sincere” Aiken and HBO Max’s
“Legendary” season two winner Arturo
Miyaki-Mugler Lyons are just a few of
ESOTA’s impressive roster of teachers who
are ready to get back to work.
ESOTA began classes in its new home
on Saturday, Oct. 2. It will be ESOTA’s
26th Season. Registration was held on
Friday, Oct. 1, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at
JCAL, and will continue each Saturday
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until classes reach
capacity.
Class size will be limited to accommodate
strict COVID guidelines that include
adhering to the mayor’s executive order
that all dancing schools require staff , students
and visitors over the age of 12 to be
vaccinated in order to operate.
For tickets to “Free to Be, You and Me”
and more information about ESOTA, visit
edgeschooloft hearts.com.
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