Asase Yaa Schol of the Arts (AYSA), is a cultural arts foundation, located in Bedford-Stuyvesant. They are dedicated to the promotion of cultural performing arts by providing the community with opportunities to learn history and culture in the arts. They aim to significantly increase the overall value of cultural arts within their community, while creating a foundation for future leaders.
Asase Yaa was founded in 2010 with the mission to provide quality dance instruction in a safe and nurturing environment, while building character and self-esteem that will allow students to become productive citizens of their communities. The student’s train and study in the techniques of Ballet, Tap, African, Modern, Jazz and Hip Hop. The youth dance program runs from October- June and is designed for girls and boys ages 3 to 18 years old. During the 37-week program, students receive intensive technical training in various dance forms. The first three months of the program (October-December) is focused on the technical aspects of the discipline. While the remaining months are focused around creating routines and choreography that will be incorporated into the year-end recital, which is held in June.
Black Spectrum Theatre was founded in 1970 by visionary filmmaker Carl Clay. Their mission is to stimulate social and cultural consciousness through the production and presentation of message-oriented theatre and films. They also aim to help children develop into responsible citizens through affordable theatre arts.
Since 1980, Black Spectrum Theatre has been an unrivaled showcase for rising young actors. They are the only professional theatre company reaching out to people of African descent in Queens, New York.Their prestigious company has trained over 3,000 students in our Children/Youth division and Summer Theatre camp programs for aspiring theater arts performers. Check out their website, as classes start in November for their Theater Youth Training Program.
The Center for Arts & Culture at Bed Stuy Restoration is a dynamic campus of world class visual and performing arts. The preservation of artistic and cultural legacy, the promotion of social justice and democratic ideals, as well as presenting global stories that matter, are some of the major missions of the Center.
Their Youth Arts Academy provides multidisciplinary arts instruction in dance, music and drama for children between the ages of 3 and 18 years old. Instruction takes place after school and on Saturdays from October 2015 through June 2016, as well as through a summer intensive in July and August 2016.
Offerings include beginner through intermediate ballet, Creative Movement, African drumming, African dance, hip-hop, praise, jazz, tap and basic acting; as well as advanced classes in ballet and Horton.
“Restoration stands at the forefront of Brooklyn’s renaissance, bringing the community dynamic arts and culture programming and transforming the physical landscape of the neighborhood, while at the same time working to ensure that all residents benefit from this renaissance and that our community’s most vulnerable don’t get left behind.”
The Gloria Eve Performing Arts Foundation, Inc. is the only “minority” operated non profit organization that provides children from single parent households and lower income families in the Hempstead village community with education to the cultural performing arts. The school was founded by its Executive and Artistic Director, Mesha Millington.
in 2003. Among its many different programs and services offered, the dance program is it’s strongest. Gloria Eve’s dance program is suitable for all types of children, teenagers and aspiring artists. Whether their interest is developing technique, performance skills, professional enrollment, recreational or fitness, there is a perfect program designed for that will fit each specific student.
Staten Island tends to be the forgotten borough of the City. With a demographic of young people needing to be served, Grounded Dancers Inc boasts an impressive roster of dancers with previous experience from Avlin Ailey and the Harlem School of the Arts. Grounded Dancer’s Inc. now has a new state of the art facility, owned and operated by the organizations founder, Nicole Cermenello.
For Puerto Ricans, whose immigrant and settlement experience has been one of displacement, rather than assimilation, the creation of community rooted institutions like the Cultural & Educational Center, El Maestro, has enabled some level of control over their immediate environment and, in the process, make it possible for community members to rediscover and reconnect with their identity, their history and cultural heritage.
“El Maestro is a community endeavor to transform a social void into a valuable community space. Because El Maestro functions as a social and cultural center for the entire community, it is a safe environment where the whole family can safely socialize and participate in ongoing programs and activities, while reinforcing the most valuable ties, which unite them. It is a haven for citizens of all ages, and an effective alternative to the streets.”
Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy is an organization dedicated to supporting the creative, educational and vocational development of communities of African descent in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Ifetayo was born in the spring of 1989 as a six-week series of free modern dance classes for 50 students. It has since grown to encompass six integrated programs that serve over 2,000 students annually through on-site academic and literacy training classes, performing, martial and visual arts, personal skills and development, community development, cultural heritage, and socially responsible art making, as well as an additional 5,000 youth and families through programming and public performances.
Ifetayo also has a free rites of passage programming for both young men and women ages 8-19. In todays society where our young people are blamed for more than their fair share of what ales their community, it would be wise for any parent to look into Rites of Passage programming for their children. Check their website for more information on their Sisters in Sisterhood (SIS) and I Am My Brother (IAMB) Rites of Passage programming.
When you talk about history, legacy and tradition of what dance is from within the African American experience, look no further than the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1969, Alvin Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in Brooklyn, New York with an initial enrollment of 125 students. Guided by the belief that dance instruction should be made available to everyone, Mr. Ailey joined forces with Pearl Lang in 1970 to establish the American Dance Center in Manhattan.
In 1982, The Ailey School and its programs received accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Dance and continue to flourish under the co-direction of Tracy Inman and Melanie Person. A prestigious faculty of dance professionals trains over 3,500 students annually in our full-time Professional Division and Junior Division Programs for aspiring dance students, and Ailey Extension classes for the general public.
The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture was founded in 1994. It is an extension of Hostos Community College (CUNY), and is one of the city’s premier venues for Latino arts and culture. The center includes a 907-seat concert hall, a 367-seat theater and a 2,000-square-foot art gallery. A typical season includes 20 to 25 performances in the concert hall, three or four exhibitions in the center’s Longwood Art Gallery and two theatrical events or film screenings in the theater.
Puppets, merengue, poetry readings and a rhythm and blues Christmas concert suggest the breadth of special events held from October through June at the center. Performances reflect the concerns and cultural traditions of this diverse borough, with its large Latino and African-American populations, among others. There are also inexpensive concerts presented specifically for families on weekend afternoons.
For over thirty years, Sesame Flyers International has provided services to the East Flatbush and Canarsie area of Brooklyn. An eleven-time winner of the Large Band category in the West Indian American Labor Day Parade, Sesame Flyers International, Inc. is extremely active and visible in the Caribbean community. Throughout previous years, the West Indian American Labor Day Parade has drawn over 3.5 million spectators. Also a source of pride is Sesame Flyers’ part in World Brooklyn, the 
Brooklyn Children’s Museum exhibit featuring the many cultures of the borough, where visitors can visit the Sesame Flyers Mas camp and are invited to learn about the culture by trying on costumes.
Sesame operates two beacon school programs, where after school activities such as Afro Caribbean dance, youth-led community service activities and even job readiness programs are offered to those who sign up for the programming.
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