Tuesday Tease: Pride-lesque in New York City!

June 25, 2013
By Victor

Every year at the end of June, Gay Pride is honored in cities big and small all over the world. It’s a time to celebrate successes, reflect on past struggles and of course, to have fun. Pride parades take the party to the streets, drawing crowds as large as 3.5 million people in Sao Paolo and as humble as a few hundred in small-town America.

Pride festivals in major cities can span a whole week of performance art, dancing, activism and much more beyond the parade. Just like burlesque, Pride is about pushing for gender equality and taking control of one’s own sexuality. Burlesque and Pride are natural partners – from boylesque to drag to queerlesque – and in celebration of Pride-week I ‘ve chosen to highlight some of the most interesting, gender-bending burlesque in the birthplace of post-Stonewall Pride: New York City.

TV TRANSVESTITE

Maysles Cinema is celebrating Pride in Harlem this Thursday, June 27 with T.V. Transvestite & The Show Must Go On: The Story of Snookie Lanore. This is your chance to learn about the tough history of Pride in Harlem and how the black pride community is thriving in face of it all today. T.V. Transvestite was filmed in 1982 and hasn’t been publicly screened in decades. It documents early neo-burlesque performances at a Harlem bingo hall and will be followed by The Story of Snookie Lanore – a short documentary film about a drag performer in Harlem picking up where they left off.

Happy 67th Birthday Bob Marley! We Miss You.

February 6, 2012
By Jimmy Berg

Today, on what would have been his 67th birthday, we pay tribute to the great Bob Marley. Marley, sadly passed away in 1981 at the much-too-young age of thirty-six, but he still manages to have an impact and cultural presence today, thirty-one years after his death.

Marley’s ever-present message of unity and perseverance in the face of oppression has inspired indigenous communities worldwide. The Australian Aboriginals burn a flame in his honor in Sydney’s Victoria Park, Native American tribes revere his work and tributes to Marley take place all over the world from South America to India. There’s even a statue of Marley in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia! The United Nations recognized Marley’s inspirational message for the downtrodden and awarded him the Peace Medal of the Third World in 1978. For a musician to receive this honor demonstrates that there was more to Marley than a great voice and a captivating stage presence.

“Marley wasn’t singing about how peace could come easily to the World but rather how hell on Earth comes too easily to too many. His songs were his memories; he had lived with the wretched, he had seen the downpressers and those whom they pressed down.” – Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFGgbT_VasI]
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Do the Ska – Coast to Coast!

May 31, 2011
By Jimmy Berg

Ska music a blend of Caribbean mento and calypso with the American r&b and jazz that Jamaicans were hearing from New Orleans radio stations, emerged in the late 50s and is considered to be the grandfather of reggae music. It established the walking bass line and accented upbeat that would become the foundation of the reggae beat but unlike the laid-back vibe of reggae, ska was high energy dance music. This was indicative of the celebratory feeling pulsing through the Jamaican populous. Jamaica received its independence from the UK in 1962 and the upbeat ska sound became the soundtrack for independent Jamaica.

Many of reggae’s stars got their start in ska. Bob Marley & the Wailers started out as a ska group. Jimmy Cliff, one of the first Jamaican singers to reach an international audience was a popular ska singer, even showcasing the music at the 1964 Worlds Fair in New York City. But, there’s one group that provided the music to many of the best known ska hits: The Skatalites. The original lineup of the band broke up in 1965 but they reformed in 1983 due to renewed interest in ska music and have been touring ever since. Only two of the original Skatalites are still playing with the band, vocalist Doreen Shaffer and saxophonist Lester Sterling. Sadly, original drummer Lloyd Knibb just passed away on May 12, 2011 but the new band keeps the spirit of the original ska sound alive.
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Music >

Tuesday Tease: Pride-lesque in New York City!

Happy 67th Birthday Bob Marley! We Miss You.

Do the Ska – Coast to Coast!

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