#WeeklyColumn | Oct. 5 to Oct. 11 | It’s In Queens!
BY QEDC It's In Queens
It’s the Battle of the Dance Festivals this week with four-day and 10-show affairs in the mix. Horse-racing, the Electrical Life, and a three-day Greek film festival are among other great options, as well as a big-name Indie rock concert with a heart and some really wacky art.
Oct. 5, Queensboro Dance Festival, Oct. 8. Shows by 27 Queens-based cultural and contemporary dance companies from 12 different neighborhoods (Astoria to Howard Beach). A different line-up each night. $15/$18 at the door. Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd St., LIC.
Oct. 5, Ghana Cooking Class: Chicken Light Soup, 6:30 pm. Chef Charles of the Tropical Ghana Cooking Project and author of Tropical Ghana Delights teaches how to make a light, aromatic tomato-based soup. $24. Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Blvd., Douglaston.
Oct. 5, Book Signing: Vanishing New York, 7 pm. Lecture by Jeremiah Moss, creator of the popular and incendiary Vanishing New York blog. Then he signs his new book, Vanishing New York, which chronicles gentrification in the 21st century. Greater Astoria Historical Society, 35-20 Broadway, LIC.
Oct. 6, The National, 6:30 pm. This celebrated Indie band promises to give $1 from every ticket sale to The Melting Pot Foundation USA, a nonprofit that serves Brooklyn’s Brownsville via job training, community organizing resources, and access to healthy, affordable food. $39.50-$83.50. One Tennis Place, Forest Hills Gardens.
Oct. 6, New York City Greek Film Festival, Oct. 8. Fictional movies and documentaries screen as part of this 11th annual festival. Times: Amerika Square, Oct. 6, 7 pm; The Patriarch’s Room, Oct. 7, 2 pm; In the Mountain Pastures, Oct. 7, 4:30 pm; Roza of Smyrna, Oct. 7, 7 pm; Phaedra, Oct. 8, 2 pm; Perfect Strangers, Oct. 8, 4:30 pm; Son of Sofia, Oct. 8, 7 pm. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District.
Oct. 6, The Garifuna Collective featuring Umalali, 7 pm. With roots in Central American, the Garifuna Collective and Umalali pay tribute to the rich heritage carried forward by Garifuna women. Expect drums, maracas, turtle shells, acoustic and electric guitars, and bass. The group tells its stories through music, dance, and traditional dress. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
Oct. 7, Fall Bird Walk for Beginners, 9:30 am. Walk trails with a Queens County Bird Club member. Try to spot various species. Listen for their songs. Learn to use binoculars and a field guide. Free. Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Blvd., Douglaston.
Oct. 7, Hands-On-History, 1 pm. Make botanical illustration books and document things in the park, just like naturalists did in Rufus King’s time. Free. King Manor Museum, King Park in vicinity of 153rd Street and Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica.
Oct. 7, Walk to End Alzheimer’s, 9 am registration. The almost 2.5-mile walk raises funds for the Alzheimer’s Association. Little Bay Park, 100 Totten Ave., Bayside.
Oct. 8, Opening of The Sport of Kings in Queens, 2:30 pm. Queens has been a center of horse racing since 1667, when King Charles II of England established the first race course in his North American Possessions. This exhibit details this history and its cultural, social, and economic dimensions. Show runs until June 30, 2018 and part of it is at Flushing Town Hall. This event: Queens Historical Society, 143-35 37th Ave., Flushing.
Oct. 8, Electrify Your Life Fall Festival, 10 am to 1 pm. Electric cars and solar-powered charging stations are the focus of this event, which includes nature walks and info sessions on the transition to an electric life. Free. Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Blvd., Douglaston.
Oct. 8, Center of Attention, 3:30 pm. Visitors engage with the museum’s collection through an extended conversation on Isamu Noguchi’s The Void (1970). Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Rd., LIC.
Oct. 8, Patty Chang Converses with Jill Casid and Launches The Wandering Lake, 3 pm. Artist Patty Chang talks to Jill Casid, a professor of visual studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison, about her new show and eponymous book. Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Oct. 11, Rebecca Davis: the final hands count beginning sound, Oct. 21. This can be read as a dance and/or a collection of kinetic and ephemeral sculptures. (Shows are Oct. 11, 13, 18, and 20 at 8 pm; Oct. 12, 14, 19, and 21 at 7 pm and 9 pm.) The Chocolate Factory, 5-49 49th Ave., LIC.
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Images: Noel Valera/Queensboro Dance Festival