Here's all of our updates and opportunities for the month of July

JCAL & JPAC
  • September 7, 2021


Making Moves Dance Festival September 17th & 18th 7pm Jamaica Performing Arts Center Outdoor Stage

For 12 years, Making Moves Dance Festival, presented by JCAL, has served as a platform to promote new, emerging and underrepresented dance companies. After pivoting to an online model in 2020 due to COVID-19, JCAL is now returning this storied festival to the community. Making Moves Dance Festival 2021 ~ To Life is a free two-day event set to take place on the outdoor stage of the Jamaica Performing Arts Center (153-10 Jamaica Avenue) on Fri., Sept. 17 and Sat., Sept. 18, starting at 7pm on both days. RSVP HERE

This year, JCAL offers what is, by far, its most diverse lineup ever, with styles that include Ballet, Afro-Latin, East Asian, Middle Eastern, Afro-Caribbean, East Indian and more.

A total of nine NYC-based dance companies will be presented in three sections: Emerging Artists, Early Career Artists and Commissioned Artists. The two Commissioned Artists are Ranardo-Domeico Grays with VISIONS Contemporary Ballet and Patrick Coker.


Open Call: Paid Performance Opportunity

Southeast Queens Jam Fest

Deadline July 30th

On September 12, 2021 Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning will present the 2nd annual Southeast Queens Jam Fest. JCAL is searching for community-based musicians for a paid performance opportunity in this year's event! Interested musicians must send in a headshot, bio and at least one link of a past show or performance.

JCAL is also open to applicants who are recipients of City Artist Corp Grants and are looking for a venue to publicly engage with the community. Performers will be paid a total of $1000. The deadline is Friday, July 30th. On September 12, 2021 Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning will present the 2nd annual Southeast Queens Jam Fest. JCAL is searching for community-based musicians for a paid performance opportunity in this year's event! Interested musicians must send in a headshot, bio and at least one link of a past show or performance. Sign up for this Opportunity!


Jamaica Mic Drop

July 30th 5:00pm

@Parsons Public Place

On July 30th at 5pm, Jamaica Avenue will once again be home to free live music and entertainment. This month's Jamaica Mic Drop will include live dance, poetry percussions and more! With sponsorships from the Jamaica Center BID, MetroPlus and Con Edison, the event will take place in the Parsons Public Space—the full block between Archer and Jamaica Avenue on Parsons Boulevard.

Jamaica Mic Drop is a new community-first program created to bring free live, outdoor performances to Southeast Queens. Join us this month with an RSVP!


This Saturday!

Jamaica Flux

Workspaces & Windows 2021

Book a free appointment today

Jamaica Flux 2021 will explore the interconnection of Jamaica’s history, economic development, cultural heritage, and diversity to conceptualize topical, socially engaging projects. The exhibition will bring together artists, curators, scholars, local residents, community leaders, developers, and politicians to build on the cultural legacy of Southeast Queens and to catalyze the transformative power of the visual arts, generating creative responses to the anxieties and tensions of our present moment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, JCAL will keep with the spirit of “flux” to create work that is shaped by both the limitations and the demands of the times.

Book your appointment today to our check out our current Visual Arts Exhibition for Jamaica Flux: Workspaces and Windows!

District 24 by Indranil Choudhury

15-minute 2-channel video installation @ JPAC lower-level lobby, on view through August 21


District 24 is on view now at Jamaica Performing Arts Center! Email Nkuo@jcal.org to book a free viewing appointment! The title of the installation, District 24 refers to the New York City Council district that Jamaica falls under. The film documents Moumita Ahmed’s campaign for City Council in the 2021 elections. Over the course of an eventful 48 hours behind the scenes, the film attempts to capture the opportunities and challenges of getting a true grassroots campaign off the ground.

Indranil Choudhury is a media artist from India. He is a graduate student at Hunter College's Integrated Media Arts program and teaches in the school's Department of Film & Media Studies.

This project is part of Jamaica Flux: Workspaces & Windows 2021.

Book an appointment here!


"Tower" Projection Nights - Jamaica Flux

July 26th 7:30pm

Kings Manor Museum

Join us for video projection activations of Sari Nordman's "Tower," featuring multilingual interviews about climate change.

Tower is an interdisciplinary installation work utilizing sculpture, video projection, archiving and community participation. The project reflects on climate change and the biblical story of The Tower of Babel—a story of greed and value of cultural differences.

The artwork is located in Rufus King Park on the west side of the King Manor Museum. Projection Nights will happen on July 26th, 7:30-9:00pm (weather permitting). The events are free and open to the public. RSVP HERE


‘REPLICA’ [ Migrational Influx] by Firoz Mahmud

A Performance/Demonstration July 31st 4pm

Jamaica Air train Station

Artist Firoz Mahmud will have a performative demonstration ‘REPLICA’ [Migrational Influx] at JFK AirTrain station in Jamaica. The performers will hold placards of photographs of immigrant families in the Airtrain station, symbolizing immigrants. The JFK airport is the largest gateway of immigrants and passengers to New York.

Thus, the performance with photographs of immigrant and refugee families will be a representation of their entrance to the United States. The photographs in the placards feature the immigrant and refugee families Mahmud collaborated with who don green eyeglasses as dreamlike symbols of prosperity for the influx of Bangladeshis and Rohingya families in recent years.

Venue point: JFK Airport’s Jamaica AirTrain Station, 93-43 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11435 (inside the building, 1st Floor by Dunkin Donuts & escalator)

RSVP: The artist is looking for more participants! Email Firoz Mahmud - firoz.mahmud.info@gmail.com to sign up or for more information.