By Juan Soto
The show must go on.
The Jamaica Center for the Arts & Learning unveiled its new season, one that includes plays for young audiences, concerts from every genre and a variety of gallery showings. The programs coincide with the launching of JCAL’s new redesigned website.
On tap for the upcoming season is the School Day Assembly Performance, a series of plays selected to “captivate students’ imaginations.”
JCAL’s 400-seat auditorium will also hold the Sunday Afternoon Concert program, a year-long concert series that presents a broad range of music, from cabaret and Broadway to gospel, Caribbean, jazz and Doo Wop.
The series kicks off Oct. 19 with Aurora Flores & Zon del Barrio, a presentation of salsa, merengue. bachata and other Latin sounds honoring Hispanic Heritage Month.
But before that, on Oct. 10, Broadway comes to Jamaica.
The center’s over-sized stage and state-of-the-art sound and lighting system will be celebrating its 42nd anniversary with its “Broadway in Jamaica Soiree,” a fund-raiser for JCAL’s educational program presented by the board of directors and the Jamaica Performing Arts Center. It will feature performances of culture, arts and music form Broadway.
The Jamaica landmark building, a former Dutch church, will also be the home for the “Making Moves Dance Festival” series. This is the fifth year the 45,000-square-foot facility will hold a two-part showcase featuring New York City’s emerging dance companies.
Next year, the arts center will house its large-scale project “Jamaica Flux: Workspace & Windows.” Before that occurs, JCAL is celebrating an intermediate exhibition under the name of “HQ for Planning Jamaica Flux.”
The exhibit is mounted at the William P. MIller Jr. Gallery and it will remain open until Nov. 29. It is a space for artists to exchanged their ideas, present art and explore the relationship between art and community.
“HQ for Planning Jamaica Flux” was curated by Heng-Gil Han, a former JCAL resident curator and now the director of the Korean Art Forum.
And from Dec. 12 until Jan. 15, JCAL will present “Cultural Capsules,” an international exhibition that features artwork telling human stories in unbar society settings.
And local artists will still be able to enjoy benefits through the Visual Arts Program. JCAL provides career resources and support while “bringing contemporary visual arts to an under-served constituency.”
More information on the season’s program and classes at JCAL can be found at www.jcal.org.
Reach reporter Juan Soto by e-mail at jsoto@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260-4564.
