Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage, the female-led New York City-based festival, is kicking off Women’s History Month with special celebratory programming commemorating women in music and dance. The month-long digital celebration on SummerStage Anywhere, highlighting female performers.
“Representation always matters, and we are proud to be a global leader in achieving gender parity in the SummerStage and SummerStage Anywhere programming,” shares Elliott. “Curating the festival to reflect our ethos and commitment to amplify women in the arts is of paramount importance year-round, but even more so during Women’s History Month. We are eager to further elevate female artists while providing a platform for their work.”
SummerStage Anywhere’s Women’s History Month Performances
The Rewind: a celebration of Women’s History Month with an introduction by Vanessa Reed(encore on SummerStageAnywhere.org) at 7:00 PM ET. In recognition of Women’s History Month, we take a look back at past SummerStage performances from our first-ever all-virtual season. Joining us to introduce the program is Vanessa Reed, President and CEO of New Music USA who initiated the international Keychange campaign in response to the gender gap in music. Featured artists include four-time Grammy-award winning Beninese-American superstar Angélique Kidjo, indie group Soccer Mommy, Brazilian pop artist Duda Beat, Tunisian singer-songwriter Emel, queen of disco Gloria Gaynor, award-winning Afro-Cuban jazz singer Daymé Arocena, experimental R&B violinist Sudan Archives, Mexican alternative-pop singer Carla Morrison, and Camille A Brown & Dancers company member, Chloe O. Davis.
March 8th
RISING TIDES, The International Women’s Day Celebration in association with the Consulate General of Canada in New York and New York Music Month Extended Play, an initiative of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Entertainment and four/four presents, is a music and dance presentation celebrating a new generation of women leaders. RISING TIDES will premiere the SummerStage commissioned work, “four/four presents: All That I Am” with new music by electro pop artist La Force, celebrating the strength, beauty and power of women working together to lead us now and into the future. Featured dancers include Amara Barner(RUBBERBAND), Miranda Chan (Le fils D’Adrien), Axelle Ebony (Asymmetry Creations), Shanyca Eli-Leconte (Asymmetry Creations), Shanna Irwin (Les Ballets Jazz De Montreal), and Gabrielle Simard(CORPUS Collective). The show also includes an encore presentation of “Becoming Mother Duende: An Ode to New York” by interdisciplinary performing artist/choreographer and New Yorker Arielle Rosales.
March 18th
VP Records 40th Anniversary Show Reel, introduction by Miss Pat in conversation with Catalina Maria Johnson (encore on SummerStageAnywhere.org) at 7:00 PM ET. Ms. Pat (Patricia Chin), founder of Queens, New York’s reggae label VP Records, will be in conversation with arts journalist Catalina Maria Johnson (NPR) in celebration of Miss Pat’s anticipated book release, Miss Pat – My Reggae Music Journey. Following the conversation, SummerStage will broadcast excerpts from the VP Records’ 40th anniversary concert presented in Central Park in 2019, including illustrious alumni: Elephant Man, whose 2003 hit “Pon di River, Pon di Bank” and collaborations with Wyclef Jean and Busta Rhymes helped further blur the lines between dancehall and hip hop; Junior Reid, the former Black Uhuru vocalist whose 1989 classic “One Blood” has spawned countless remakes and interpolations; Estelle, the genre-bending, Grammy-winning English singer best known for her Kanye West collaboration “American Boy” and who now has her own album, Lover’s Rock, on the VP label; and Grammy-nominated Raging Fyah, a five-piece band from Kingston, Jamaica that makes music bound to the roots rock reggae tradition.
March 25th
Soul Clap at SummerStage highlighting the Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas (encore on SummerStageAnywhere.org) at 7:00 PM ET. In 2019, The New York Night Train Soul Clap and Dance-Off took over SummerStage at the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk. Take a look back as the soul legends themselves make a rare New York appearance to sing their hits live with an all-star 13-piece band. The iconic Irma Thomas, who had recently celebrated her 80th birthday, performed along with Archie Bell, Joe Bataan, Betty Harris, Renaldo Domino, Binky Griptite and the Brooklyn Rhythm Band.
All performances will be streamed on SummerStageAnywhere.org.
