ShowcaseFolk Feet on Fifth
NEIGHBORHOOD DANCE TRADITIONS OF SUNSET PARK AND BAY RIDGE
Members of Sunset Park-based Mexican Folklórico group Quetzalcoatl, directed by Benito Bravo, at Folk Feet on Fifth’s event at the Danish Athletic Club. Photo: Amanda Barrett
BAC Folk Arts' initiative Folk Feet on Fifth, is part of the Folk Feet traditional dance project begun in 2003, to identify, document and present traditional dance in Brooklyn. Folk Feet on Fifth focuses on neighborhood specific dance traditions of Brooklyn’s Sunset Park and Bay Ridge. It concentrates public programming, fieldwork, documentation and outreach on creating cultural networks throughout these two neighborhoods linked by the lively 5th Avenue corridor, from Greenwood Cemetery to the Verrazano.
Folk Feet’s theme changes yearly, and this year, the theme is neighborhood. The focus is social dance as it occurs in-situ, in everyday and night life. We look at the diversity of traditions that are danced within blocks of each other (but often isolated from one another), the importance of place in shaping dance practices, and the perpetuation of cultural practices in these locales.
Folk Feet on Fifth highlights dance traditions that are intimately linked to community places and to neighborhood populations, such as Mexican folkdances performed at Sunset Park churches for the Feast Day of la Virgen de Guadalupe, Palestinian debke lines at weddings at El Widdi banquet hall, or Swedish schottisches danced at St. Lucia celebrations at the historic Danish Athletic Club.
Folk Feet’s theme changes yearly, and this year, the theme is neighborhood. The focus is social dance as it occurs in-situ, in everyday and night life. We look at the diversity of traditions that are danced within blocks of each other (but often isolated from one another), the importance of place in shaping dance practices, and the perpetuation of cultural practices in these locales.
Folk Feet on Fifth highlights dance traditions that are intimately linked to community places and to neighborhood populations, such as Mexican folkdances performed at Sunset Park churches for the Feast Day of la Virgen de Guadalupe, Palestinian debke lines at weddings at El Widdi banquet hall, or Swedish schottisches danced at St. Lucia celebrations at the historic Danish Athletic Club.
Public Programming
Dance traditions in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge are presented through public programs such as symposia, workshops, performances and tours of neighborhood dance places and cultural spaces that bring neighborhood dancers and cultural activists together, and introduce these dances to new audiences. Community members are encouraged to initiate presentation opportunities for traditional dancers in the neighborhood such as workshops, jam-sessions or rehearsals. Contact folkfeet@brooklynartscouncil.org if you have an idea!
Check out upcoming Folk Feet on Fifth events.
In addition, cultural hubs, senior homes, dance studios and others interested in learning dance in the neighborhood are encouraged to organize their own traditional dance class through Folk Feet Dance Workshops.
Dance traditions in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge are presented through public programs such as symposia, workshops, performances and tours of neighborhood dance places and cultural spaces that bring neighborhood dancers and cultural activists together, and introduce these dances to new audiences. Community members are encouraged to initiate presentation opportunities for traditional dancers in the neighborhood such as workshops, jam-sessions or rehearsals. Contact folkfeet@brooklynartscouncil.org if you have an idea!
Check out upcoming Folk Feet on Fifth events.
In addition, cultural hubs, senior homes, dance studios and others interested in learning dance in the neighborhood are encouraged to organize their own traditional dance class through Folk Feet Dance Workshops.
Outreach
Ongoing Folk Arts outreach efforts are concentrated in Folk Feet on Fifth neighborhoods to identify practitioners of traditional dance, involve them in BAC Folk Arts activities and introduce them to professional development opportunities offered by BAC and related organizations.
Ongoing Folk Arts outreach efforts are concentrated in Folk Feet on Fifth neighborhoods to identify practitioners of traditional dance, involve them in BAC Folk Arts activities and introduce them to professional development opportunities offered by BAC and related organizations.
Fieldwork and Documentation
Fieldwork to document traditional dance practices in the communities surrounding Fifth Avenue includes voice-recorded life-history interviews ...more
Fieldwork to document traditional dance practices in the communities surrounding Fifth Avenue includes voice-recorded life-history interviews ...more
Folk Feet is made possible, in part, by Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and The New York Community Trust.
Additional support is provided by New York State Council on the Arts, the Brooklyn Delegations of the New York State Senate and New York State Assembly, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and New York City Council and its Brooklyn Delegation.Related Categories
Dance, Traditional / Culturally SpecificSee Also...
