THE SOUTH BRONX CULTURE TRAIL 4/26/12, 5/17/12, 6/23/12, 10/6/12

Co-produced by Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education and Dancing in the Streets

The South Bronx Culture Trail is a two-year (2012 & 2013) initiative that engages artists, scholars, and community members in developing a physical and virtual trail connecting sites that played a significant role in spawning the rich cultural history of the South Bronx. The initiative also includes intergenerational performances, exhibitions, dance parties, the gathering and dissemination of oral histories, a website, and guided tours of the Culture Trail.

South Bronx Culture Trail Advisory Council: Arthur Aviles, Tina Ramírez, Bill Aguado, Alex Aponte, Anna Arraya Colon, Antonio Sergio Bessa, BG183* (Tats Cru), Benny Bonilla, Américo Casiano, Alvan Colon Lespier, Marcos A. Crespo, Robert Crespo, Elizabeth Figueroa, Ricky Flores, GrandWizzard Theodore Livingston, Elena Martínez, Jorge Popmaster Fabel Pabon, Al Quiñones, Angel Rodriguez, Rosalba Rolón, Rafael Salamanca, Jr., Bobby Sanabria, Robert Sancho, Lisa A. Sorin, Eric Soto, Dave Valentin.

The South Bronx Culture Trail has been made possible in part by a generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation’s NYC Cultural Innovation Fund.

 

 

RECENT EVENTS:

THE SOUTH BRONX CULTURE TRAIL CALENDAR 2012

Saturday, October 6, 2012

CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST YEAR OF
THE SOUTH BRONX CULTURE TRAIL

programs took place or began at:
CASITA MARIA CENTER FOR ARTS & EDUCATION
928 Simpson Street
Bronx, NY 10459

• 12:30-2:30 pm
  GUIDED WALKING TOUR
  OF THE SOUTH BRONX CULTURE TRAIL
  By Elena Martinez

 

• 2:30-3:15 pm
  CASITA / HOME EXHIBITION
  Photographs by members of the South Bronx community
  Curated by Christine Licata.

 

• 3:30-5:30 pm.
  PASEO
  A Walking Site-Specific Performance.
  Director/Choreographer: Joanna Haigood
  Music Director: Bobby Sanabria
  

  Danza Fiesta at PASEO. Photo: Alan Watson

  PASEO was a roving site-specific performance by choreographer Joanna Haigood and music director Bobby Sanabria that celebrated the Hunts Point and Longwood sections of the South Bronx and their astounding contribution to Latin music. With performances by over 80 dancers, musicians, poets, actors, and community members, fire escapes, stoops, and sidewalks came alive with Latin music and dance, stickball games, and street scenes evoking the neighborhoods’ vibrant street life and cultural vitality during the 1940s-‘60s.  Read more

Additional support for Paseo was received from the MAP Fund, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Con Edison and Smartwater.

Thursday, April 26,
7-9 pm 2012
THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE CASITA:
ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY CELEBRATION
Casita Maria 928 Simpson Street, Bronx, NY 10459
The launching of the South Bronx Culture Trail project with a dance party for community members, Casita alumni, and friends of Casita Maria and Dancing in the Streets, and Hunts Point. Music was performed by Bobby Sanabria, Orlando Marin, Angel Rodriguez, Dr. Willie Rodriguez, and GrandWizzard Theodore.

Additional support for this event was received from Con Edison.

Thursday, May 17, 2012 7 pm
MOTHSHOP COMMUNITY STORYTELLING WORKSHOP EVENT
Casita Maria 928 Simpson Street, Bronx, NY 10459
Autobiographical stories told by community members who had participated in an 8-week MothSHOP workshop at Casita Maria.

Saturday, June 23, 2012 2:00 pm & 4:30 pm
SNEAK PREVIEW OF THE TRAIL
Hunts Point & Longwood, the South Bronx
Meeting place: Casita Maria 928 Simpson Street, Bronx, NY 10459
Folklorist & Scholar Elena Martinez led two guided tours of the first leg of the Culture Trail. The tour covered pivotal locations in Latin music history, such as the former Hunts Point Palace and the still-standing Casa Amadeo record store; public art by Rafael Ferrer, John Ahearn, Rigoberto Torres; and former homes of Latin music icons Dave Valentin, Eddie Palmieri, Orlando Marin; and of Tina Ramirez, founder of Ballet Hispanico.
The tour culminated with the unveiling of a South Bronx Culture Trail mural by Tats Cru.