Arts and Culture

Astoria

04/25/13 9:00am

Event Highlight: Rich + Tone Talauega, Choreographers for Michael Jackson, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez

Education, Long Island City, Music

Rich + Tone, Choreographers for Michael Jackson and Madonna

Image Source: Dripbook

They were discovered by Michael Jackson’s choreographer while freestyling at a Southern California club. Then they skyrocketed to dance fame. Brothers Rich and Tone Talauega have since danced with Madonna, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, The Backstreet Boys, Gwen Stafani and Black Eyed Peas, among others. They are probably most famous for rocking Madonna’s Super Bowl XLVI halftime show at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in 2012. On April 26, the Taluegas will present highlights and give a live demonstration of their choreography at the Museum of the Moving Image. Their performance is part of Spectacle: The Music Video, an exhibition celebrating the art and history of the music video.

Museum of the Moving Image

36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria/LIC

Friday, April 26

7pm – 9pm | Free, but first come, first served

35th Avenue, Astoria, LIC, Museum of the Moving Image, Rich + Tone, Spectacle: The Music Video, Talauega

by brownstoner

04/25/13 8:47am

The Writing Is On the Wall for 5Pointz

by brownstoner

Real Estate

5Pointz, one of the borough’s biggest tourist attractions, is not long for this world, reports The Daily News. Plans to tear down the former water meter factory, whose facade has been a showcase for some of the biggest graffiti artists in the city, and build two 40-plus-floor residential towers are moving ahead. “It’s sad for the area,” said Rob Mackay the Queens Economic Development Corp. “We’re going to lose a steady flow of tourism.” How do you feel about this loss to the borough? Will it indeed be a blow to the tourism industry?

Howard Beach

04/24/13 9:00am

Event Highlight: Jamaica Bay Community History Night

Categories, Education, Nature, Rockaways

Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Broad Channel Branch Library, Crossbay Boulevard, Howard Beach, Hurricane Sandy, Jamaica Bay, Jamaica Bay Community History Night, Jamaica Bay Lives, Queens College, Queens Library, Queens Memory Project, Rockaway

Image Source: Arcadia Publishing: Jamaica Bay

It’s a chance to make history, star in a movie and live on in perpetuity. Dan Hendrick, who is currently working on the documentary Jamaica Bay Lives, and the Queens Memory Project are looking for people to share their stories, photos, mementos and thoughts on the neighborhoods stretching from Howard Beach through the Rockaways to Breezy Point. On April 24, Hendrick and QMP partners Queens College and Queens Library will be interviewing past and current area residents during Jamaica Bay Community History Night at the Broad Channel Branch Library. Hendrick noted that this is the chance to preserve local history before it becomes a fuzzy memory. He added that Hurricane Sandy has added a whole new chapter to this project.

Jamaica Bay Community History Night
Broad Channel Branch Library
16-26 Crossbay Boulevard, Broad Channel
Wednesday, April 24
4pm – 7pm | Free

Long Island City

by QueensNYC

04/23/13 9:27am

LIC Fire Threatens Star-Studded Art Gala

by QueensNYC

Fire

Foundation for Contemporary Arts

All the big names in the art world were gathered in a converted warehouse on 9th Street between 43rd and 44th Avenues in LIC last night when a fire in the tented rear yard facing 10th Street threatened to end the evening before the first plate of gravlax appetizer had been served. Not to fear: New York’s bravest were on the scene in a matter of minutes and quickly put out the malfunctioning generator that had created the alarming billows of smoke on the roof where the likes of Matthew Barney and Chuck Close had been enjoying scenic views of the setting sun behind the Manhattan skyline. No one was hurt, but diners at the Foundation for Contemporary Arts gala did have to go without heat. Their moods were warmed, however, by the news that each would be leaving the party with his or her own limited edition Jasper Johns print made especially for the occasion.

Bayside

04/21/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Rich Little — A Collection of Voices with Special Guests The Four Freshman

Categories, Music

Rich Little: A Collection of Voices with Special Guests The Four Freshman

Image Source: Rich Little

He’s an equal opportunity offender. Rich Little, a master mimic of more than 200 voices, is famous for making fun of politicians. Over the decades, he has skewered JFK, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Clinton, both Bushes and Obama. The so called “Man of a Thousand Voices” even performed at both Regan inaugurations. Not bad for a Canadian. On April 21, Little will bring the fun to Queensborough Performing Arts Center. But he won’t be alone. The Four Freshmen, a vocal group from the 1950s that keeps reinventing itself, will fill the air with harmony-based songs.

Queensborough Performing Arts Center

222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside

Sunday, April 21

3pm – 5pm | $45

Bayside, Four Freshmen, Queensborough Performing Arts Center, Rich Little

Sunnyside

04/20/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Roots of Flamenco — Gypsy Soul

Categories, Music

Roots of Flamenco: Gypsy Soul

Image Source: Tumblr

They aren’t a little country, nor are they a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. But they are Spanish, Indian, Persian, Middle Eastern and Jewish. On April 21, Gypsy Soul (Espiritu Gitano) brings its rich, diverse music and dance to the Thalia Spanish Theatre. The bandleader, guitarist Arturo Martinez, has been a fixture on New York City’s flamenco/gypsy music scene since the 1980s. He will be accompanied by other outstanding artists, including dancers Maya De Silva and Elena Lentini and musicians Tom Chess and Sean Kupisz.

Thalia Spanish Theatre

41-17 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside

Sunday, April 21

4pm – 6pm | $35

Arturo Martinez, Elena Lentini, Espiritu Gitano, Greenpoint Avenue, Gypsy Soul, Maya de Silva, Sean Kupisz, Sunnyside, Thalia Spanish Theatre, Tom Chess

Hunters Point

04/19/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Green Space Blooms — A Queens Festival of Dance and Music

Categories, Long Island City, Music

ArtBark International, Ballet International Africans, Dance Entropy, green space, Green Space Blooms, LatticeWorks Dance Collective, LIC, Long Island City, Open Music Education, Valerie Green

Image Source: Green Space

There once was a place called “Queens.” In the early 2000s, this borough became home to a growing — and growing — community of choreographers and dancers. By April 2007, it was a hotspot, and Green Space Blooms, a festival celebrating local dance and music talent, was born in LIC. Just like the borough, the festival grew and grew, and this year, the seventh annual Green Space Blooms features 40 diverse choreographers. On April 20 and 21, the festivities will include such talent as LatticeWorks Dance Collective, Ballet International Africans and ArtBark International. Plus, Green Space‘s founder, Valerie Green, and its resident company, Dance Entropy, will participate. Each evening will end with a post-performance party with sounds curated by Open Music Education.

Green Space Blooms: A Queens Festival of Dance and Music
Green Space
37-24 24th Street, LIC

Saturday, April 20, and Sunday, April 21

1pm – 3pm | $10

Flushing

04/18/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Korea Sounds Off Against the Greek Isles in Cultural Crossroads 2

Categories, Music

Image Source: Facebook/Electric Shaman

First Brazil battled India. Soon Jamaica will take on Spain before Africa goes up against Peru. But right now, all eyes — and ears — are trained on the Korea-Greece competition at Flushing Town Hall on April 19. Vong Pak’s Korean Drum and Dance Troupe will rock the house with Korean music and dance while dressed in traditional regalia followed by Yianni Papastefanou and his orchestra with their traditional music and dance from the Greek Isles. Part of the ongoing Cultural Crossroads-polooza, the venerable Northern Boulevard performance space is mixing it up with two cultures, one stage and an open dance floor.

Korea Meets Greece
Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing
Friday, April 19
8pm – 10pm | $15

Cultural Crossroads, Flushing, Flushing Town Hall, Korean Drum, Northern Boulevard, Vong Pak, Yianni Papastefanou

Corona

04/17/13 9:00am

QNYC Event Highlight: Cinema of Immigration Film Series

Categories, Forest Hills