EVENTS
HARLEM COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
NONA HENDRYX, the Rock Goddess, rocks the house of Egyptian Goddess Isis, the Temple of Dendur, at the Met. By Maria Grazia CAVENAGHI
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resented on February 29th in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Harlem Stage as part of their yearlong, citywide, WaterWorks commissioned celebration of Sun Ra and his legacy, The Cosmic Synthesis of Sun Ra and Afrofuturism series, was a breath-taking space travel experience created by Nona herself. Electrifying Cyboracle Nona Hendryx and the Disciples of Sun Ra performed a dreamlike, multisensorial tribute to Afrofuturism pioneer, Sun Ra in a most magnificent and magical set, the pharaonic Egyptian Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan
Museum. Dedicated to the Mother Goddess of Egypt, the Temple, which symbolizes the natural world as Egyptians knew it, echoed with sounds from outer space where figures created by the wildest imagination were sumptuosly gliding and dancing across time. I felt weightless, mesmerized and entirely immerse in the ambience, the music, the lights, the sounds, the spoken
The music and text of San Ra, Criag Harris and Nona Hendryx, were performed by Nona Hendryx and Keyontia Hawkins under the masterful musical direction of Craig Harris - a member of the original San Ra’s Arkestra – cyber-played by: Etienne Stadwijk, Will Calhoun, Steve Bergonetti, and Jay Rodriguez. Futuristic costume and set design by Virgil Ortiz, choreography by Francesca Harper, and invoca-
tions by Carl Hancock Rux. This program was made possible in part by The Lavori Sterling Foundation, Inc. Support for the Harlem Stage WaterWorks commissioning program provided by The Hearst Foundation,
Bloomberg Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Ford Foundation, and Mosaic Fund. Photo credits: Paola Lobo & Maria Grazia Cavenaghi
FEBRUARY 13—MAY 3 Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre/Laura Pels Theatre 111 West 46th Street 212.719.1300 roundabouttheatre.org Major support for 72 Miles to Go… is provided by the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater and the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. This production is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Harlem Community Newspapers | March 12. 2020
TICKETS FROM $39 WITH CODE 72MHN
words, the movements and the space, while cyber travelers performed on and off stage. A once in a lifetime experience! ‘The concert will collapse time: past, present and future” said Nona, and added “Afro -futurism is Afro-present and Afro-past […] it is a possible future created in the mind, projected and seen through the lens of the African diaspora, it is part science-fiction and fact”.
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