Highlights from the 2021 Festival, photos by Julie Lemberger

Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance, The Columbus-Amsterdam BID, Love Your Street Tree Day, Sara Lind and Open Plans join forces to present the 2nd Annual Amsterdam Eco-Arts Festival on the Open Boulevards at Amsterdam Avenue between 109-110th Streets. This festival continues our aim of activating Open Streets with joyful gatherings of people on land that is usually occupied by cars. This free public program features a community planting, Native American storytelling, multidisciplinary performances, and a movement workshop for all ages. 

SCHEDULE

11am-12noon
Community Bulb Planting
Led by Peter Arndtsen & Michael Gonzalez of The Columbus-Amsterdam BID
and Melissa Elstein of Love Your Street Tree Day

11:30-noon
Native Prayer (Blessings of the Seeds) & Native American Flute
Chief Reggie (Matinecock)

12-12:45pm
Native American Storytelling
Performed by Irma Laguerre & Vida Landron
Children’s Cultural Center of Native America 

12:45-2pm
Time Lapse Dance - Plant/Silvery Blue
Kinship with nature dance & music experience
Choreographer Jody Sperling, artist Amy-Claire Huestis and composer Omar Zubair
Dancers: Anika Hunter, Nicole Lemelin, Maki Kitahara, Sarah Tracy, and Rathi Varma

2-2:30pm
Family Dance Class -  Bridge for Dance
Shayna Golub leads fun workshop for people all ages & levels
No prior experience necessary

2:30-3pm
jill sigman/thinkdance - Ancestral Archeology
Solo with ceramic body parts, a reflection on land and lineage

2-4pm
All Street Journal - Art
Socially-conscious art projects for children and families.
With Ciaran Short, Eden Chinn, Spencer Katz

3-4pm
Alonso Acosta Music - Steel Drum Improvisation

The festival begins with a community bulb planting to beautify a stretch of the Minerva Bernadino Greenstreet led by Peter Arndtsen and Michael Gonzalez of The Columbus-Amsterdam BID and Melissa Elstein of Love Your Street Tree Day. At 11:30am, Chief Reggie (Matinecock) offers a Blessing of the Seeds and plays Native American Flute. Following , Irma Laguerre and Vida Landron of Children’s Cultural Center of Native America offer a Native American storytelling session on the tale of Rainbow Crow for people of all ages.

The workshop leads into Plant/Silvery Blue multidisciplinary performance that celebrates kinship with nature. The work is a collaboration between visual artist Amy-Claire Huestis, choreographer Jody Sperling, and composer Omar Zubair and featuring the Time Lapse Dance ensemble. The performance involves a participatory processional experience for the audience that pays homage to migratory birds.

Join the performance’s chorus and carry a hand-painted poetry banner through the procession. This work continues the artists’ project MOTH-LIKE/Silvery-Blue, that was performed in September at Hwlhits'um (Brunswick Point/ Canoe Pass) in BC, Canada.

Following, stay tuned dance class for people of all ages offered by Bridge for Dance’s Shayna Golub. At 2:30pm jjill sigman/thinkdance offers Ancestral Archeology, a solo with ceramic body parts that is a reflection on land and lineage. From 2-4pm, All Street Journal will provide opportunities for socially-conscious muralling for children and families. From 3-4pm, Peruvian percussionist Alonso Acosta will offer steel drum improvisations.

The eco-arts festival seeks to uplift indigenous knowledge/life ways that help restore harmony between people and the natural world.

The Amsterdam Eco-Arts Festival is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by LMCC.