Dr. Kokayi, of Global Medicine Review, interviews Sister Kwayera Archer-Cunningham on "Community Health and Development within an African Cultural Paradigm"
DANCE; On a Brooklyn Mission To Be a Good Neighbor
excerpts
The Neighborhood Arts Network links 651 and its artists with arts organizations in eight Brooklyn neighborhoods. The five core constituents are El Puente de Williamsburg, a public high school and community center; the Gowanus Arts Exchange, an organization in Park Slope that offers classes in the arts and presents dance, music and theater performances; the Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility, a community arts center in Flatbush; Medgar Evers Community College in Crown Heights, and the Fort Greene Senior Center. In addition, 651 develops and presents events with other arts organizations around the city.
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Each of the core organizations had a track record in its community. ''Mikki Shepard's vision was not to reinvent the wheel but help community organizations to become stronger and more what they were,'' Kwayera D. Cunningham, the executive director of Ifetayo, said. ''It was not 'This is what we want you to do' but 'What do you need?' We needed technical assistance in various areas. They provided us with a development consultant. They never wavered.''
The Ifetayo Youth Ensemble has a repertory that includes pieces created for the teen-age dance troupe by three 651 artists, Mr. Byrd, Kevin Jeff and Abdel Salaam. Family members and adults studying at the center have come to know more about the arts through that work. Parents approach Sister Kwayera, as she is known to all, and say: ''Oh, 651 is doing this. Do you have tickets?''
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Another 651 benefit, harder to quantify, has been the sense of family and mutual support that has developed among long-term network members like Ms. Lucerno, Ms. Warshaw and Sister Kwayera. All 651 constituents are considered to be interlocking communities, whether neighborhoods, audiences, artists or contributors. The Ifetayo ensemble is working on a new piece with Mr. Salaam, to be performed in April at the Medgar Evers theater, and the choreographer has also just acquired a badly needed booking agent through 651.
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