BNS/BCS Apple Fest 2010!

BNS Apple Fest 2010 :

A big, beautiful, fundraiser & community building, educational celebration!
Proceeds to benefit the Brooklyn New School & the Brooklyn School for
Collaborative Studies.

DATE: Saturday, Oct. 2, 11 am - 5 pm (Rain or shine)

WHERE: School yard behind our building at 610 Henry Street and 2nd Place

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Game booths, raffle, huge inflatable obstacle course, spin art, dunking booth,
frame-making, recycle arts, beading, composting, cider pressing, delicious
home-made food, smoothie booth; pumpkin decorating;, Live music (bands to be
announced), plant and compost sale; and more!

A Taste of Red Hook - 10/6/10

The fourth annual A Taste of Red Hook is on 10/6/10 ! Come join the Red Hook Initiative and enjoy some of the best food and drink in Brooklyn, while supporting a great cause. Featuring these great establishments:

5 Burro Cafe

Bait and Tackle Bar

Baked

Birdie & Sage Foods

Blue Marble Ice Cream

Brooklyn Brewery

Brooklyn Ice House
Country Boys
Dry Dock

Fort Defiance

Frankies 457

The Good Fork

Home/Made Wine Bar

IKEA
Kevin's

Margaret Palca Bakes
Mark's Pizza

Mazzat

Nine Cakes
Nunu Chocolates
Red Hook Lobster Pound

Red Hook Winery

Rice

Sixpoint Craft Ales
Solber
Stumptown Coffee Roasters

Steve's Key Lime Pie

Tom Cat Bakery

Verity Wine Partners

The event is being produced by Roquette Catering and is sponsored by Phoenix Beverages.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

6pm - 9pm

Kidd Yellin Gallery, Red Hook, Brooklyn

133 Imlay Street

Tickets: $100 online; $125 at the door.

To purchase tickets, send check to Red Hook Initiative, 767 Hicks Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 or click here.

All proceeds go to support the work of the Red Hook Initiative.

For more information, contact 718-858-6782

Red Hook Initiative celebrates its new home on 4/15/10!

The staff of the Red Hook Initiative (RHI) have worked extremely hard over the past year to find a new location and raise money to design it according to their vision. The time has come for the building to open and for all that hard work to finally pay off. Head down on 4/15 to check out the new space and become more familiar with the great work that RHI does!

From the RHI event email:

Come celebrate with the staff and board of the Red Hook Initiative

as we proudly share our new home!

Take a tour and learn about RHI's green building design.

Meet our staff and participants.

Learn more about our work.

Honor those who helped to make this possible.

Please RSVP to 718-858-6782 or info@rhicenter.org.

Fundraiser for Falconworks Artists Group - Tomorrow 3/15!

MAKE YOUR OWN BENEFIT! 2010

Acclaimed Red Hook theater organization Falconworks Artists Group's Annual Benefit is a fundraiser disguised as a soiree – a chance to laugh, dance, network, and raise enough green to bolster all of our upcoming initiatives.

Falconworks Artists Group allows Brooklyn youth to make their own, well, anything. To finish this sentence anyway they want.To dream big. Dreams beyond situation and circumstance.

Some of their programs include "Off the Hook," in which youth get to write and act in their own plays and"Riot Act" in which youth work with NYC police officers to play theater games, learn skills, and hit the stage.

THE BELL HOUSE
149 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY
7:00 pm
Monday, March 15, 2010

Suggested Donation, $100.
($100 at the door)

Check out the Falconworks website for more details or to buy tickets online

Falconworks was also recently featured in the video below from Brooklyn Independent Television's Neighborhood Beat series:

Brooklyn Teens Tackle Tolerance Through Film

Student-Driven Movie Takes on Issues Facing Local Youth

Press Release from Dance Theater Etc.:

“I already draw attention to myself when I walk down the street – I’m black.” A couple students laughed; others followed up with questions, animated. Five teens sat around a table, debating whether or not it was baggy jeans and hoodies that garnered the unwanted attention the speaker sometimes sensed from policemen and purse-clutchers, and sharing their own experiences growing up in Brooklyn.

This youth writer’s group- with students originally hailing from East New York, Red Hook, Bed-Stuy, & even Haiti- laid the foundation for a new film from independent filmmaker Trac Minh Vu (Letters to Thien) being created now in a series of Saturday morning workshops by over thirty Brooklyn teenagers.

Fresh off an Oscar season that saw the powerful melodrama Precious shedding light onto a young woman’s life in Harlem’s Section 8 housing and Sandra Bullock’s starring turn as the near-savior to an “at-risk youth,” these students felt they could say something- perhaps not as sensational, they acknowledged, but potentially more authentic- about what it means to grow up in the kind of places not featured on MTV’s (unreal) reality teen shows.

With students traveling from all corners of Brooklyn- some braving almost two hours of Saturday morning buses and subways to make it down to Red Hook- it’s clear there’s more to these young people than the “inner-city grit” and street culture so often latched onto by mainstream media, eager to categorize.

If there is one constant, in fact, in how these teens ask to be viewed, it is their rejection of labels. Their portrayal of characters is nothing if not nuanced- the film they envision anything but didactic.

Enabled in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the “Scene to Screen Project” is part of Dance Theatre Etcetera’s “Tolerance through the Arts Initiative.” Alongside the production of the film, which will employ a professional crew, the producers will create a study guide intended to incite conversation in schools about teen-to-teen interactions and the role each individual can play in creating a more just, tolerant world.

Students will continue to develop the film in the recently-begun acting workshops, with production scheduled for mid-May. To get a feel for where this project is headed, check out the movie that came out of the 2008 program it's based on.

Produced by Dance Theater Etcetera.

Red Hook based People's Urban Films featured on BK Independent TV

Long time Red Hook resident Danelle Johnson was recently profiled on Brooklyn Independent Television's Neighborhood Beat series for her community based youth video production program "People's Urban Films."

Check out the video above to see the piece and learn about this amazing program

Red Hook Green Map created by Hook Productions

The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative sent out a link this week to a Green Map that was created by 24 teens from Hook Productions after a project this summer where the teens took a bike tour along the proposed greenway route and took down details to be included on the map. Check out the map here and a video from the project below:



This project was done in collaboration between BGI, the Partnerships for Parks, Red Hook Catalyst, and Recycle-a-Bicycle

Dance Theatre Etcetera Holiday Party on The Red Hook Waterfront

Dance Theatre Etcetera, a community arts organization with a nearly twenty-year history of programming, performances, and arts education in Red Hook, Brooklyn, invites the community to their end-of-year celebration Thursday, December 17, from 6pm-8:30pm at the DTE studio in the 2nd floor of the Fairway supermarket building (480 Van Brunt Street)


The event will feature student performances, light refreshments, and the world premier of the latest film to come out of DTE's media education programs, Welcome to Change, a documentary looking at transfer high schools, produced entirely by students at the East Brooklyn Community High School, a transfer school in Canarsie.

There’s no cost for admission, but donations are gladly accepted. To donate to DTE online visit www.dtetc.org. For more info and directions visit www.dtetc.org/space.html.

Off the Hook!: Plays by Red Hook kids

On 11/20 and 11/21, the Falconworks Artist Group will be sponsoring a theater event featuring local Red Hook youth:

"Six young playwrights, with the support of professional writers, actors, directors, and creative artists, take center stage in their own plays for an evening of funny, moving, raw, original theater."

The event will be taking place at PS 15.

Click here for more details and registration information

Falconworks Artists Group is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support and empower communities and individuals through theater that addresses personal and local issues......

Reminder: The Welcome Table at the Red Hook Community Farm

The Welcome Table
Thursday, August 20
6:00
at Red Hook Community Farm
Free and open to all

This event is the culmination of Youth Leaders' work at Added Value. Teens have
designed the layout, menu, and activities for the night that include an interactive culinary lesson led by teens as an appetizer and a prepared meal in collaboration with chefs and food professionals.

The night will begin with a Community Meal led by our young culinary wizards. You will experience first hand what your meal looks like from soil to salad and break bread with all hands who have helped prepare our food. In addition, we will share a meal of seasonal vegetables, locally raised meat, and other delicious treats prepared by a local chef and food professional. You will take home a full belly, how to make three winning dishes and good conversation with people in our community.

The night is supported by Partnership for Parks and the Added Value Welcome Table dinner series. The mission of the Welcome Table is to bring people from different backgrounds and communities together by gathering around tables of good food to learn and converse about topics and issues important to the work of Added Value. On August 20th, teens will be presenting how they have grown as individuals in the food movement and creating dialogue with guests about sustainability, growing and cooking your own food, and the mission of Added Value.

Summert Youth Art program at Human Compass Garden

Over the next 7 Saturdays, Human Compass Community Garden is offering art classes for youth, made possible through generous funding from the Citizen's Committee for New York City. Sounds like a great way to spend Saturday mornings!

Youth Kick-off event for the Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival Canceled due to rain!

The organizers are trying to relocate to tomorrow as many events as possible. You can call them for details at (718) 643-6790 or check out their blog for updates.

Don't miss the festival tomorrow at Valentino Park, 11am-7pm, the weather should be perfect!

Dance Theater Etcetera's 16th Annual Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival - June 5th and 6th

Dance Theatre Etcetera’s 16^th Annual Red Hook

Waterfront Arts Festival Arrives June 5^th & 6^th, 2009

Destination Red Hook: We Got What You Need

Brooklyn, NY – (April 24, 2009) Red Hook is the next destination neighborhood in NYC, but not for cheap Swedish meatballs or the newest big box giant. “Destination Red Hook: We Got What You Need,” the theme for this year’s version of the area’s annual summer kick-off, recognizes and celebrates the ‘hood’s many hidden gems. Come to the FREE Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival at Louis J. Valentino, Jr. Park & Pier Friday, June 5^th (6pm-9pm) and Saturday, June 6^th (11am-7pm) to see what (and who) makes this unique waterfront neighborhood tick.

The Festival opens Friday at 6pm with a Youth Kick-Off Event & community sunset picnic with performances by RIOT ACT! Police-Teen Theater Project and South Brooklyn Community High School’s TheaterWorks program. Eat food from local community farm Added Value, prepared by students in SBCHS’s Cook for Life program, as you enjoy a sunset serenade from The Famous Accordion Orchestra. At 8pm the 5^th Annual Red Hook Youth Film Fest begins, screening award-winning films from Brooklyn’s brightest young stars.

Saturday’s Mainstage events begin at 11:00 am. This year the Festival goes local with a loco lineup of sizzling hot artists who have made their names around the globe before coming back home to the BK: tapping, rapping lyricist Joseph Webb (Bring in ‘Da Noise…) and his band Joseph; local favorites, The Red Hook Ramblers; Dr. Drum & Bomba-Yo; and dynamo DJ Chela (lauded as “the hottest female DJ in the country”).

Powerhouse professional companies PurElements: An Evolution in Dance and JoiLynn Productions rep the best the borough has to offer in dynamic movement and dance, while youth groups from around the city strut their stuff to keep up. The day ends with a sunset salsa party to the big band groove of the incomparable Willie Alvarez y Tromborí.

This year’s Red Hook Fest will stress the importance of community unity in the tough economic times we face. Dance Theatre Etcetera, the organization behind the Festival, will jam-pack the park with local resources from community partners: information about job training, health services, smarter banking, and much, much more.

The festival, as always, is FREE to the public, and will also feature kayaking in New York Harbor with The Red Hook Boaters, the best local food, and a host of other family-friendly activities.

# # #

The 16^th Annual Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival

FREE

June 5, 2009 (6pm-9pm) & June 6, 2009 (11am-7pm) Rain date June 7

Louis J. Valentino, Jr. Park & Pier (Coffey St. & Ferris St., Brooklyn, NY 11231)

For more information visit www.redhookfest.org or email jon@dtetc.org (718-643-6790)

For a photo gallery with hi-res images of last year’s festival and this year’s professional artists,

visit www.dtetc.org/gallery.html

Red Hook Community Farm events on 4/18

It seems like there's a lot going on this weekend, but these events linked to the Red Hook Community Farm/Added Value are certainly worthwhile

From a blast to their mailing list:

VOLUNTEER
SATURDAY APRIL 18: EARTH DAY CELEBRATIONS
Added Value is partnering with our Friends at the Green Apple Festival to host
Earthday Events. Join us down on the Farm for a day of sowing seeds, weeding
the fields, and building beds. Spend part of this beautiful spring day helping
us kick of the year.
When 9:30 – 3:30
Where: Red Hook Community Farm

Also Saturday April 18th
KIMBERLY VARGAS, ADDED VALUE ALUMNA & CURRENT INTERN
SCREENS HER FILM @ THE FOOD FOR THOUGHT FILM FESTIVAL
If a day out in the sun is not in your plans but you are really excited about
spending a day with other Food Justice activists head to FOOD FOR THOUGHT FILM
FESTIVAL

Our own Kimberly Vargas will be showing her film A Red Hook Lunch and speaking
on a panel beginning at 1:30 in the afternoon. This event is FREE to the public
Directions and the detailed schedule and directions can be found at
http://www.foodfilmfest.com/schedule.html

Press release: Red Hook Community Arts Organization Awarded Earmark by Congresswoman Nydia Velásquez

Dance Theatre Etcetera receives funding to expand “tolerance through the arts” programming

Brooklyn, NY – (March 16, 2009) When President Barack Obama signed the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill into law, he gave local politicians across the country an opportunity to infuse resources into projects with direct impact on their constituents. Among the projects singled out by Congresswoman Nydia Velásquez (D- N.Y.’s 12th district) was Dance Theatre Etcetera’s Tolerance Through the Arts Initiative, a series of programs at local schools, after-school programs, and community centers in the underserved neighborhood of Red Hook and adjacent Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Dance Theatre Etcetera (DTE), a community based cultural organization located on the Red Hook waterfront, has been working in the area since 1992 and currently serves approximately 1,000 at-risk youth, annually. DTE’s award winning arts education programs at the Brooklyn International High School, which serves recently immigrated youth from across the globe, and at the South Brooklyn Community High School, a small transfer high school in Red Hook that serves teens with issues of chronic truancy, use theatre, dance, and digital media to engage students in arts-based dialogue about critical issues of social justice. Students in DTE programs have produced documentary videos on constitutional rights (Know Your Rights), created performing arts festivals that celebrate the Native cultures of local immigrants, and have participated in international exchanges with student activist/artists from Brazil and Colombia. Principal Pam Taranto from the Brooklyn International High School gives credit to the school’s annual, DTE-produced International Festival for contributing “to the remarkably low incidence of violence” in a school that matriculates students from over forty countries around the globe. “Students learn to understand and value their cultural differences through this event,” she says.

Federal funding will allow DTE, hit hard by cuts in funding to the arts, to continue its successful programs and to work with consultants to publish a Tolerance through the Arts curriculum guide. The organization will look to transport its successful model to the schools where it is most needed, eventually spreading its high-quality curricula to programs across the country, ensuring that arts education act as both an incubator of transferable skills and a forum for students to engage with the real-life issues that most affect them.

DTE’s programs have established safe spaces for students to have the kind of transformational experience that Nebajoth Jean, a BIHS student originally from Haiti, details here in a letter to Executive Director Martha Bowers: “[l]iving in a world where you can't even picture your future is really hard, you've made me think differently, being with you guys have (sic) changed me, I was unable to think for myself, proudly now I am.”

For students like Nebajoth and for the thousands of people in Red Hook who are touched by Dance Theatre Etcetera’s programs every year, Congresswoman Velásquez’s federal earmark stands as an important promise- to invest in, to sustain, and to build our communities as we seek local solutions to the challenges we face.


To see a DTE program in action, visit the Brooklyn International Festival at 7 pm on April 3rd at JHS 113 in Fort Greene, when over 100 students share dances, songs and poems inspired by their Native cultures!