crea-The day we've been waiting for!

Jamaica Is Arts Alliance, is a network based arts service organization that highlights the arts and culture ecosystem, that encourages and strengthens diversity, broad participation, and collaboration at all levels by way of artistic and business opportunities.

To foster and develop the arts in Queens County and to support individual artists and arts organizations in presenting their cultural diversity for the benefit of the community.

The Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1966. QCA is part of the Kaufman Arts District. This space is an exciting intersection of arts, commerce, media, advocacy and strategic networking for Queens arts and cultural institutions.

Small in Stature - Big In personality, DJ Tam Jams keeps the party rocking no matter, who the audience! From Top 40 and your Favorite tunes...throwing it way back to the stepping era, DJ Tam Jams never disappoints.

From Queens, NY, Trace DePass is currently student at Brooklyn College. He received a National Gold Medal from Scholastic for his writing portfolio, “Black Boyhood,” wherein one piece was published in Scholastic’s Best Teen Writing of 2015. Last year, he was selected to be the 2016 Teen Poet Laureate for the Borough of Queens. Trace uses his poetry to address issues that young people of color face and welcomes the idea of development through the use of art and poetry.

Tyrik Ballard is a young visionary with a powerful voice and an even more powerful presence and message behind his music. Tyrik began his musical journey at the young age of 15, writing and singing songs to express his emotions and essentially telling the stories of his life, through the art of song. He was urged to further his career and talent from his family, which pushed him to pursue his artistry in a more serious manner. Tyrik epitomizes leadership and focus. His story is one of talent, passion and perseverance. Tyrik’s overall goal is to inspire his peers to stay in school, stay out of the streets, focus on their goals and never give up.

A proud native New Yorker and second generation American, Neil is a guitarist, sitarist, and oud player who blends jazz, funk, flamenco, rock, Indian, and Latin music into his music. Neil has performed at a variety of venues around the city and co-authored the score for The Passion of Noor Inayat Khan, a play about a Sufi woman who served as a spy in the French resistance. His ACP project employs his intersectional approach to music: His project speaks to the role places like Queens play in an increasingly diverse America: creating connections across communities that demonstrate that “we all feel similar emotions and rhythms, even if they're in different languages."

AangikCuerpo (body)*
Company: Mala and Dancers
Choreographed and Performed By: Althea Bazemore, Mala Desai, Karla Florez,
Music: African drums, Sanskrit poetry from Natya Shastra (300 B.C.) sung by Sangeetacharya Bankim Sethi, Cumbia Colombian Folkmusic La Juliana by Joaquín Pérez and Maya Angelou’s poem “Human Family” recited by Althea.
Costume: Mala Desai, Karla Florez, Althea Bazemore
Description: my body my temple, my body my prayer, my body my home
Inspiration drawn from “Human Family” by Maya Angelou, we have come together to create “AangikCuerpo” (body) assembled from traditional dance moves and from each ones capabilities. Music is as distinct and complex as the lead performer, yet easily embraced by the ensemble. Our costume is layered in a Colombian skirt with Indian motifs as each performer wears a token reflecting her tradition. Our dance relates to the theme in that we have taken responsibility to deliver a positive and enlightening message through our movement with hopes that it inspires others to do the same.

David Sincere, born and raised in South Jamaica Queens, NY, got his first lead role at age 8, when he played young Jay Z in the music video, “Wishing on a Star”. At age 13, David Sincere began his dance training at his neighborhood dance studio the Edge School of the Arts, “ESOTA”. While in In high school (Benjamin N. Cardozo), he developed a love for choreography and created a hip-hop dance company called Queenz Finest. A competitive dance crew, Queenz Finest won competitions in all five boroughs of New York. The company has made televised appearances on BET’s “106 N’ Park”, NBC’s “Showtime at the Apollo”, and  internationally on TV2′s “Good Morning Denmark”. After finding local success, Queenz Finest was also offered the opportunity to travel and showcase their talents in cities such as Washington DC, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and London.

Sincere left NY to take on new heights in now in Los Angeles, traveling and choreographing for Wayne Brady. David Sincere not only danced and assisted with choreography on tour, he also played a principle role in Brady’s #1 rated show “Making It Up”. As Wayne Brady’s lead dancer, Sincere has appeared on many television shows with him, including The Wendy Williams Show, Let’s Make a Deal, The View, Dancing With The Stars, and the NAACP Image Awards. Recently,  Sincere has been working with musician and “America’s Best Dance Crew” judge, Lil Mama. He has choreographed many of her music videos including  “Scrawberry”, directed by Phil Lee and most recently, "Shoe Game." With over 15 years of teaching and performance experience,  Sincere has received chances to work with recording artists Beyonce’ Knowles, Chris Brown, Lil Mama, Adam Lambert and Ashanti, to name a few, as well as being able to work under many renowned choreographers Frank Gatson, Fatima Robinson, Laurie Ann Gibson, Flii Stylz, Tony Michaels, and Ed Moore, among others.

Judith's work combines humor, pathos and a love of the absurd. For over twenty years, she has been creating interdisciplinary works in audio and theatre, portraying voices often ignored by the mass media. Her ACP project, It Can Happen Here, is a reference to the Sinclair Lewis novel It Can’t Happen Here, which chronicled the fictitious election of a power-hungry politician who stirred up fear by promising a return to patriotism. Judith comes from lineage of Jewish refugees, and growing up, she often heard the phrase “it can’t happen here”, in reference to Hitler and the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust. Over the past 20 years, she has been documenting and portraying stories of immigrants, refugees, and people threatened by changing demographics. Her ACP project builds upon this practice by interviewing people who once thought "It can't happen here,” including Hurricane Sandy survivors who lost everything in the storm, DACA recipients struggling with current and changing policy, refugees from military dictatorships, second and third generation children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, university students and older women who have been victims of sexual assault and rape. These interviews will inform a series of monologues which will culminate in a concert/performance of stories, song and music with a live band in the genre of a “dark cabaret” honoring the depth of the stories and finding humor in the chaos. As the bombardment of attacks on democratic values in the U.S. fly in our newsfeeds on a daily basis along with stories about predatory abusive behavior, and the impact of climate change on hurricanes and fires, this work challenges us to stay engaged and interconnected with our neighbors. Just as chaos and hate has taken hold, a practice of compassion, empathy and collaboration can also happen here.