On Friday, September 10, Passion Fruit Dance Company performed the world premiere of TRAPPED, a brand new work with developmental support from BRIC. The piece was created at MASS MoCA and the Guggenheim’s Works & Process residency program. Lead choreographer, Tatiana Desardouin, along with dancers, Mai Lê Ho, Lauriane Ogay, Nubian Nene and Gyeun Jeong, also known as SooMissyBoog, are dedicated to transferring the dance and culture of house and hip-hop from the club to the stage.
Passion Fruit Dance Company at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival
To warm up the crowd, the father-son DJ duo known as St. James Joy put attendees in a dancing mood as doors opened at the Lena Horne Bandshell. Then DJ Pfunk and the house producer Saadiq Bolden shook the newly renamed Lena Horne Bandshell, with some stronger sounds to make the family-filled audience get up out of their seats and enough bass to make even seated bodies vibrate.
DJ Pfunk and producer Saadiq Bolden
The skilled ensemble used the imaginative beats of Saadiq Bolden to create a performance which included video interludes edited by Loreto Jamlig. From escaping cocoons to fighting frustrations with a shadowboxing dance sequence, the concepts and cheorgpaghy left the audience free to release their inner dancers as the DJ collective Soul Summit Music played a post-show dance party leaving Brooklynites sweaty and smiling.
On Saturday, September 11, the lines wrapped around the park for the Lagos-born afrobeats superstar Wizkid. Fans awaiting entry told BRIC that they traveled from as far as Florida to attend the sold out show, many admitting that they purchased tickets minutes after the lineup was announced.
DJ Tunez hyped up an already-warm crowd with afrobeat and reggae hits as a sea of Nigerian flags waved in anticipation. The 5-foot 4-inch superstar commanded the stage with high energy and crowd engagement while they sang “Show Me The Money” word for word, and lifted their cell phone lights in the air during the performance of “Smile.”
Wizkid, soaked in all the love from the crowd, which praised him emphatically, then closed out the marathon show with the song of the summer, “Essence,” originally featuring Nigerian singer Tems, and recently remixed with Justin Beiber
