Five Acts You Shouldn’t Miss At LMCC’s River To River Festival

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s River to River Festival returns June 10–June 27, joining the explosion of post-vaccine outdoor events and art exhibits that are set to take over the city this summer. Here are five acts you won’t want to miss. 

Opening Concert featuring esperanza spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington and Leo Genovese (June 10)

Spalding is a jazz musician who made waves when she beat out Drake and Justin Bieber to win the Best New Artist Grammy in 2011. Since then she’s won three other Grammys and has been labeled the “21st century jazz genius” by NPR. 

Processions with Miguel Gutierrez, Okwui Okpokwasili and The Illustrious Blacks (June 13, 20, 25)

Artist Okwui Okpokwasili is following up her recent piece on the High Line called “On the way, undone” with another processional performance, which means you get to participate in the art. Okpokwasili’s performance will happen at Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City on June 20, followed by processions led by choreographer Gutierrez and musical duo the Illustrious Blacks will also conduct processions on June 13 and June 25.

Kamau Ware, Land of the Blacks (June 10-27)

Black history scholar and co-found of Black Gotham Experience Kamau Ware is writing an original piece on “Land of the Blacks,” 28 Black-owned farmsteads that once covered a swath of Lower Manhattan. It will debut on the River to River website. 

Womxn in Windows (June 15-27)

Womxn in Windows is a multi-part video installation installed in Windows across the Seaport District. They’ll focus on the confluence of culture and society in an exploration of the multi-faceted female identity, created by artists from diverse cultural backgrounds. 

Mariana Valencia, Futurity (June 25-27)

Choreographer and performer Mariana Valencia brings a 2021 version of Futurity, a dance performance that will transmit the queer stories of elders in Greenwich Village from the 1960s to the present.

photo: Womxn in Windows via LMCC