BronxNet Television Broadcast & Worldwide LIVESTREAM
National Dance Day is THIS SATURDAY and though we haven’t organized a virtual version of Boogie Down Dance Day, we’ve teamed up with BronxNet television to bring you another television broadcast and livestream of “The Storm”.
Bronx, New York residents will be able to view the program on BronxNet channel 68 (Optimum) & 2134 (FiOS) at 8:30 A.M., 12:30 P.M. and 9 P.M. (Eastern Time). If you’re not in The Bronx you can simultaneously livestream the ballet online at the previous times.
To view the program on your computer or electronic device:
Head to BronxNet.tv
Click on “WATCH” at the top of the screen
Click on “BX OMNI”
The program will automatically start at its designated time. Enjoy!
Click Here to make a Donation
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to The Black Iris Project to help us create new Black-centric works and further sustain our artistic practice. The suggested donation for this screening is $16.19 in recognition of the year 1619 when the first enslaved Africans arrived to the United States. Thank you in advance for your support.
The Storm is an original ballet which centers on the disruption caused by tumultuous hurricanes that have taken place in the United States over the last sixteen years and the Middle Passage. Drawing inspiration from hurricane Katrina (New Orleans), Sandy (New York), Maria (Puerto Rico) and Harvey (Houston), this new ballet focuses on the stories of communities who are displaced during occurrences such as these and how they come together in the wake of tragedy. The Storm premiered on August 16, 2019 at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston, Texas as part of a headlining Black Iris Project program, which featured a collection of our most popular social justice rooted works.
Named one of Pointe Magazine’s Standout Performances of 2019 (Audience Favorite)
With the support from the Ford Foundation, choreographer Jeremy McQueen spent a month in New Orleans and Houston, during the spring of 2019, conducting research, choreographic development and community engagement, including workshop and residencies in NOLA with; Dillard University, Boys and Girls Club of New Orleans, Dancing Grounds, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), New Orleans School of Ballet, Kelly School of Dance and KM Dance Project.
““When the storms of life are raging, how do you weather the storm? That’s what gave me the overall artistic theme. How do we prevail when things start to weigh us down,””
The Storm has been generously co-commissioned by the Ford Foundation, with additional developmental support provided by the Bronx Council on the Arts, Vineyard Arts Project, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, METdance, and a 2019-20 CUNY Dance Initiative residency at Lehman College. To invite the voices of those who have been directly affected by Hurricane Harvey on a greater level, McQueen invited six Houston local professionals to perform in the ballet.
Click image to read our feature in the “Houston Press”
Click image to read our feature in the “Houston Chronicle”
Twenty-five minutes in length, The Storm, performed to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s haunting orchestral composition “Isle of the Dead”, features direction, choreography and costume design by Black Iris Project founder Jeremy McQueen, lighting design by award-winning designer Alan C. Edwards, with additional costume and scenic design by Mondo Morales. Composed in 1908 and rarely choreographed to, “Isle of the Dead” is an orchestral work inspired by a painting of the same name by visual artist Arnold Böcklin, which is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. McQueen’s The Storm stars freelance ballet dancers Jenna Marie (formerly of Ballet Hispanico) and Kelly Marsh IV (formerly of Complexions Contemporary Ballet).
Sinclair Davis & Jeremy McQueen’s Black Iris Project in The Storm, photo by Amitava Sarkar
The Storm’s BronxNet television broadcast and digital broadcast is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Bronx Council on the Arts. And by Dance NYC’s Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund & The Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Ford Foundation.
BronxNet is the not-for-profit 501c3 television network of the people of the Bronx, providing public services including award winning local TV programming, media training, access to technology, studios, and channels, with workforce development opportunities for middle school, high school and college students. The BronxNet studios are located on the beautiful campus of Lehman College and in the East Bronx at Mercy College in the Hutch Metro Center. BronxNet's newest studio is in the South Bronx as part of La Central, at the Hub. BronxNet programming helps connect the Bronx to the World, while our training programs and partnerships with organizations, local leaders, and agencies are a part of community development through media.