If you’re looking for a way to celebrate Black History Month in a way that encompasses both explorations into the past, embraces the current happenings in African American culture and is k-12 friendly at the same time? Consider this month’s offerings at the Kumble Theatre for the Performing Arts located on Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus, the Schomberg Center and the Studio Museum in Harlem, the latter two both located in Harlem. The list below features both performances, events and exhibitions and ranges in cost from free to the very affordable.

The Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts
Reprinted from the Kumble Theatre website.

Tuesday, February 2nd at 10:15am & 12:15pm
Community Works presents: Impact Repertory Theater-The Long Walk to Freedom
Join this Oscar nominated group from Harlem, as they examine the history and journey of civil rights in America through song, dance and spoken word. Celebrate the extraordinary talents and unique visions of some of New York’s most talented young people.

Tickets: $7 Contact Community Works – performances@communityworksnyc.org or (212) 459-1854

Thursday, February 4th at 10:30am & 12:30pm
The Paper Bag Players presents: The Paper Bag Players Great Mummy Adventure
The Paper Bag Players’ Great Mummy Adventure will have you laughing, singing, dancing and sitting at the edge of your seat. In the title number you will take an expedition to the land of pharaohs in search of that mysterious Mummy by the name of Shirley. Recommended for grades K through 4.

Tickets: contact The Paper Bag Players – pbagp@verizon.net or 212-353-2332

Saturday, February 6th & Sunday February 7th at 3pm
Dancewave presents: Kids Café Festival
Kids Cafe Goes to College offers high school dancers an opportunity to get a first-hand look at professionally-based college dance programs with performances by students at leading dance departments and distinguished high school dance groups. The festival includes performances by the Dancewave Company, Dancewave Company II & Young Movers Ensemble. Participating dance departments include: Long Island University – Brooklyn Campus, The Juilliard School, Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, SUNY Purchase, Ohio State University, Marymount Manhattan, Adelphi University and Hunter College.

Tickets: $20, $15 for students with ID, $12 (children 12 & under), group rates available

Friday, February 19 at 7:30pm and Saturday, February 20th at 3pm & 7:30pm
Ray Quick presents: He’s Not Mine, She’s Not Mine
Written and produced by multi talented Ray Quick, this heartfelt stage play exposes the challenges and struggles of blended families; it delivers a powerful performance that highlights both adult points of view – his and hers!

Tickets: $25, $20 – students, seniors and groups of five or more.

Wednesday, February 24th at 6:30pm
L.I.U. English Department presents: Starting from Paumanok
Starting from Paumanok is an annual lecture or reading on American literature and culture. This year’s featured speaker is Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. Besides winning a Pulitzer, her play Ruined also received an OBIE, the Lucille Lortel Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play (Manhattan Theatre Club, Goodman Theatre).

Tickets: Free Admission.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research unit of The New York Public Library
Reprinted from the Schomburg Center website.

February 5, 2010 – April 18, 2010
Jerry Pinkney’s African-American Journey to Freedom: The Seagram Collection of African-American Art
This exhibition is a stunning collection of 35 watercolor paintings by the award-winning children’s book illustrator and artist. Originally commissioned by the Seagram Distillers in the mid-1970s for use in the Seagram African-American history calendars which were distributed to the public, this exquisite collection was part of a larger donation made by Vivendi to the Schomburg Center.

February 5, 2010 – April 18, 2010
President Barack Obama: The First Year
Photographs by Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer

Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 3:00pm
Jerry Pinkney Book Signing
Jerry Pinkney will sign his book The Lion and the Mouse, which received the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Award on January 18, 2010; as well as Sweethearts of Rhythm; The Old African; and Black Cowboys, Wild Horses.  Books can be purchased in the Schomburg Shop. Meet famed illustrator and artist Jerry Pinkney whose work is featured in the Schomburg exhibition (see above).

Monday, February 8th at 7pm
James Carter in Concert
Detroit native and saxophonist James Carter’s awesome virtuosity on a number of instruments and his postmodernist embrace of the past, present, and future of jazz have been causing listeners’ jaws to drop. He stands as one of the music’s greatest living virtuosos.

Tickets: Members, $16; Non-members, $20. – For ticket charge, call The Schomburg Shop at (212) 491-2206 or Telecharge.com

Friday, February 12th & Saturday, February, 13th at 7pm & Sunday, February 14th at 3pm
Bananas: The Josephine Baker Story
Bananas, written by and starring Sloan Robinson is a one-woman theatre cabaret based on the life of Josephine Baker. Baker overcame the limitations imposed by the color of her skin, to become one of the world’s most versatile entertainers, performing on stage, screen and recordings.

Tickets: $20. For ticket charge, call The Schomburg Shop at (212) 491-2206 or Telecharge.com.

Monday, February 22nd at 7pm
We: An Intimate Set of Duets Featuring Wycliffe Gordon & Eric Reed
Bear witness to the unique pairing of trombone and piano and the supreme musicianship of jazz innovators Wycliffe Gordon and Eric Reed performing an intimate set of duets from their collaborative project ‘we’ featuring an assembly of original compositions, jazz standards and spirituals.

Tickets: $15. – For ticket charge, call The Schomburg Shop at (212) 491-2206 or Telecharge.com.
The Studio Museum In Harlem

Target Free Sundays
Each Sunday in February, the Studio Musuem of Harlem will focus on a specific African American inventor’s contribution to America and the world. Each program will feature a hands-on project related to that inventor’s work. For more information visit The Studio Museum of Harlem.

Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus
Kumble Theatre For The Performing Arts
1 University Plaza Brooklyn, NY 11201
Box Office: (718) 488-1624
kumble@brooklyn.liu.edu

Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard
New York, NY 10037-1801
(212) 491-2200

The Studio Museum In Harlem
144 West 125th Street
New York, NY 10027
(212) 864-4500

Photo credit: Pierodemarchis photostream Flickr (Creative Commons)