Democracy Now! Immigrant Activists Maru Mora-Villalpando & Ravi Ragbir Keep Speaking Out Despite Deportation Threat

The Cut: L’hommage: A Night of Celebration, Unity, and Love

Last Monday, celebrities and designers attended the Met Gala, where host Anna Wintour invited them to try their hand at camp, the dramatic, over-the-top sensibility rooted in the queer community and perfected over the decades by members of New York City’s Ballroom scene. But on Saturday, another Vogue veteran, André Leon Talley, hosted his own gala: L’hommage, a benefit that honored the pioneers and stars of ballroom, the urban subculture that creates a safe space for expression, opportunity, and family for LGBTQ people of color. There, the expert practitioners of camp traded in the form in favor of elegance. The mantra for the evening, repeated by the emcee, was a Diana Vreeland quote: “Elegance is refusal.”

When ballroom began in the early ’80s, elegance in America was predominately defined by a straight, Caucasian society that rejected queer and trans people of color. So, when co-organizer Anthony Stropoli and the Bronx nonprofit organization FIERCE (Fabulous, Independent, Educated, Radicals for Community Empowerment) teamed with Talley for its first high-profile benefit, they invited acclaimed evening wear designer Ralph Rucci to create a collection that embodied the spirit of elegance that had members of that dismissed community at its center. Rucci created spectacular black and white couture pieces inspired by Ballroom pioneers Raquell Lord Balenciaga, Gisele Xtravaganza, Javier Madrid, Nigel Mugler, Coco Mitchell, Dominique Jackson, and Jose Xtravaganza. At a ball held in the historic Judson Memorial Church these icons walked the runway for guests including designer Marc Jacobs and talk show host Wendy Williams, and the evening’s co-host, comedian Sandra Bernhard.

The joy and energy of the event, which raised $95,000 for FIERCE initiatives like its meal and internship programs, is difficult to translate (it was taken to another level when fashion legend Naomi Campell made a surprise runway performance) but to try, I spoke with attendees to get their take on elegance and the night celebrating beauty, fashion, drama, and activism. Read more here! 

The Consul General of Haiti in New York invites you to celebrate the 216th anniversary of the Haitian flag at UNI, an elegant evening of art, fashion, dance, and culture, curated by Sanford Placide. This years artists include fashion designer D'Marsh Couture, ballerina Amanda Smith, drummer Jean-Guy Fafan Rene, singer and Haitian culture preservationist Sirene Dantor Rene, and Sanford Placide.

Doors open at 7:00 PM for light refreshments
Performance begins promptly at 7:30 PM

Sans - Souci meaning “without worries,” was the name of the first royal palace in the Caribbean situated in Haiti. Built in 1810-1813, less than a decade after the Haitian independence victory, the Sans-Souci Palace, once referred to as the Versailles of the Caribbean, was the first palace of its kind in the new world that housed a black king and queen.

The Palace was built to show other civilizations that no matter the color of our skin, we were capable of building and enjoying the same luxury. The presentation will be a vision of what it would have been like to attend an evening at the court of such a marvelous palace. 

Purchase your tickets here! 

Based on Circlesongs by Bobby McFerrin, we will mobilize, as a circle of seekers and sharers, to create SPACE for exploring spontaneous musical/rhythmic inventions and sounds.

All are welcomed to this judgement-free space, and you do not have to be a singer or musician to participate.

Come, journey with a group of amazing creatives and aesthetes from different walks of life, and join us for circlesinging, improvisation, and play.

Doors and refreshments 7PM | Circlesinging 7:30PM

Suggested donation $20 to benefit Judson Arts Wednesdays! Reserve today! 

Ravi to be Awarded the NY State Council of Churches' Excellence in Social Justice Award 

Wednesday, May 29th | St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church
5:30PM

All are invited to attend the NY State Council of Churches Fourth Annual Awards and Fundraising Dinner to be held Wednesday, May 29 in Albany, NY. from 5:30 – 8:30 PM at St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church, 440 Whitehall Road, Albany, NY 12208. 5:30 to 6:30 PM is a reception with cash bar followed by dinner and awards presentations from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

Tickets for the reception and dinner are $60 each, please be sure to make your meal selection at this link.

Click here to purchase tickets and sponsorships

There is a place for listing additional names and meal choices on the form. Deadline for purchasing tickets is May 20, 2019.

Save the Date| Whither the Village: A Panel Discussion

Thursday, June 20th | Meeting Room 
4PM 
 

On Thursday, June 20, we will gather to discuss the future of this iconic New York neighborhood. Actor Alec Baldwin will host a panel discussion between Judson’s Rev. Donna Schaper, Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and Allyson Green, Dean of the Tisch School for the Arts to dream a little.

The defining feature of Greenwich Village is history. Other areas in New York signify shopping, luxury residences, newly reclaimed riverfront parks. But the Village is about artists, thinkers, and New Yorkers of a certain leaning, politically or otherwise, who came here to create and protect one of the great urban residential spaces in the world. There is a lot left to lose (and preserve) in Greenwich Village. Protecting and extending these cultural assets remains ultimately up to us.

Please join us as we enjoy a constructive conversation on how to preserve our beloved neighborhood’s unique, iconic identity as it transitions with the times.

The conversation starts at 4:00pm in Judson’s Meeting Hall, and will be followed by a reception. Reserve your space now. Tickets are 20 dollars. And yes, Judson will make an ask for its broken elevator. We all need a LIFT.