Every Sunday in September, Myrtle is closed to car traffic – leaving the streets between Clermont & Hall Avenues open to foot traffic.  And a ton of events sponsored by Myrtle Avenue’s local merchants & residents.

This year, Green in BKLYN will be hosting all kinds of wonderful stuff including:

• A return of the “big bike thing” – a 2 person bike with 9′ wheels!
• Local ‘hood honey extraction with the Three Sisters & their handmade honey jar labels
• Book signings by numerous local authors (thank you authors!)
• A new art installation & demo with internationally renowned dog artist, Tillamook Cheddar
• Composting Q&A with Embokashi Compost folks
• A Recycle Your Books drive for our local kids
• And, our own e-Waste Drive here at Green in BKLYN!

It should be an amazing September – here at Green in BKLYN as well as on Myrtle Avenue.  Stay tuned for more information.  We’ll have it here soon.  After all, September’s almost here…

CAMBA is a non-profit agency that provides services that connect people with opportunities to enhance their quality of life.  CAMBA offers integrated services & programs in Economic Development, Education & Youth Development, Legal & Housing Services & Development, Family Support Services & HIV/AIDS Services.  CAMBA serves more than 35,000 individuals & families each year with the majority of clients living, working &/or attending school in Brooklyn.

Since 1991, CAMBA has been one of the world’s premier purveyors of Shona Sculptures.  Shona sculptures are created by the internationally renowned sculptors of Zimbabwe, a country whose name literally means “house of stone.”  The work of Shona sculptors is inspired by deeply held spiritual beliefs, folklore & daily life.  Zimbabwe’s unstable political climate now makes it difficult for its artists to find a market for their unique sculptures.

CAMBA’s commitment to maintaining a Shona gallery provides the artists with the opportunity to continue their artistic endeavors, as well as for the art to be offered at reasonable prices & the sales to benefit CAMBA’s programs & services – allowing them to continue to help people improve their lives.

CAMBA’s Annual Benefit Sale of Shona Stone Sculptures from Zimbabwe takes place June 24-27.  If you’re interested in viewing the collection & making a purchase, contact CAMBA.

Neville Dance Theatre – Myrtle Avenue’s resident dance company – promotes & creates contemporary & ethnic dance works that look at social issues, cultural traditions & the human condition.  They’re a strong contributor to our community through their productions as well as free performances.  Plus, they’re really good at what they do!

This week they’re celebrating their Fifth Year Anniversary with a rockin’ party & fundraiser.  If you can join them, you’ll have a blast & help support a staple of the arts & the community…

NDT 5th ANNIVERSARY PARTY CELEBRATION & BENEFIT

• DATE: Monday, June 21^st – ONE NIGHT ONLY
• TIME: 6-9pm
• LOCATION: Still Bar (192 3rd Avenue @ 17th Street NYC)
• ADMISSION: Suggested Donation: $20 – anything accepted!

Neville Dance Theatre as been blessed with five wonderful years of creating & presenting dance!!!  So they’re celebrating with a one-night only grand bash.

Meet & mingle with the NDT dancers & director Brenda R. Neville for an after work party celebration of drinks, food & camaraderie to celebrate their 5th Year Anniversary.

The evening includes a DJ & live musical performances, NDT repertory video instillation, amazing raffle gift baskets & the premiere of Leah Brizard’s photography project Up Close & Personal: the NDT Dance.

The evening also serves as the company’s main spring fundraiser – so come, bring a friend & have some fun!!

Their monkeys are made by volunteers & the profits from the sale of the monkeys go to fresh art‘s arts programs for people with disabilities.

For more information on fresh art & their programs, go to their web site.  If you’d like to support them & their commitment “to provide expanded artistic, personal development & entrepreneurial opportunities to New York City artists with special needs,” go to their fresh art’s Annual Fund Raiser…

• Date: Tuesday, June 15th
• Time: 6:30 to 9:00 pm
• Where: Bowery Wine Company @ 13 East First St. (Bowery/2nd Ave.)
• How Much: $30 in advance/$35 at door

Get there early! There’ll be a FREE open bar with wine, beer & sangria from 6:30 to 7:30 pm as well as light snacks.  After 7:30 there will be a cash bar.

Be prepared to bid on something fabulous at the silent auction with all event proceeds going directly to benefit fresh art.

Reserve your space now on fresh art‘s website.

Myrtle Avenue’s resident dance company, Neville Dance Theatre, is rocking May & June with a series of FREE & low cost events – parades, performances & parties.

Neville Dance Theatre promotes & creates contemporary & ethnic dance works that look at social issues, cultural traditions & the human condition.  They’re a strong contributor to our community through their productions as well as free performances.  Plus, they’re really good at what they do!

Below are a number of ways – free, cheap & easy – to get a taste of & support this community mainstay… Enjoy!

DANCE PARADE & DANCEFEST

• DATE: THIS Saturday, May 22^nd
• TIME: 1-3pm – Parade (Starts at 20^th & Bway NYC)
• TIME: 4 pm – NDT Performance (Mainstage A in Tompkins Square Park NYC)
• ADMISSION: None.  Events are FREE!

Come on out for this year’s DANCE PARADE & FESTIVAL!  Enjoy the warm weather & tons of FREE dances as more than 6,000 NYC dancers, companies & schools march down Broadway for the 4th Annual Dance Parade.

The multi-cultural parade starts at 20th Street & Broadway in Manhattan, travels South through Union Square, turns East onto 8th Street & continues into Tompkins Square Park in the East Village where there will be tons of FREE performances, events & dance classes!

Visit their website for parade route & info on all the free events taking place.

INDEPENDANCE PERFORMANCE

• DATE: Wednesday, June 2^nd & Thursday, June 3^rd
• TIME: 8pm
• LOCATION: City Center Studio 5 (130 West 56 Street, 5^th floor – btw 6 & 7 Ave. NYC)
• ADMISSION: $10 in advance.  $15 at door.

NDT premieres Shift (a work-in-progress) as part of Eidolon Ballet’s IndepenDance Choreographers’ Showcase.

Coupling contemporary dance & flamenco flare, the piece for six women draws inspiration from earths’ ongoing internal clashes & eruptions of its ever shifting plates.  Audience members have the rare opportunity to get up close & personal with NDT plus the work of several emerging & established choreographers & dance companies.

Visit their website for more info.

NDT 5th ANNIVERSARY PARTY CELEBRATION & BENEFIT

• DATE: Monday, June 21^st – ONE NIGHT ONLY
• TIME: 6-9pm
• LOCATION: Still Bar (192 3rd Avenue @ 17th Street NYC)
• ADMISSION: Suggested Donation: $20 – anything accepted!

Neville Dance Theatre has been blessed with five wonderful years of creating & presenting dance!!!  So they’re celebrating with a one-night only grand bash.

Meet & mingle with the NDT dancers & director Brenda R. Neville for an after work party celebration of drinks, food & camaraderie to celebrate their 5th Year Anniversary.

The evening includes a DJ & live musical performances, NDT repertory video instillation, amazing raffle gift baskets & the premiere of Leah Brizard’s photography project Up Close & Personal: the NDT Dance.

The evening also serves as the company’s main spring fundraiser – so come, bring a friend & have some fun!!

On Saturday, May 15th & Sunday, May 16th from 12-6pm (rain or shine), the Stroll (sponsored by SONYA) is free & open to the public.

A self-guided tour of SONYA artists’ studios & galleries, it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet local artists & experience the work they create.

SONYA (South Of the Navy Yard Artists) is a non-profit organization of visual artists living, creating &/or exhibiting in the Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Wallabout & Bed-Stuy neighborhoods of Brooklyn. They’re as diverse & dynamic as the community they serve – Flushing Avenue on the North, Bedford Avenue on the East, Atlantic Avenue on the South & Flatbush on the West.

The SONYA Studio Stroll is the best opportunity to become part of their creative process, see their latest work & learn how their art is created.

Plus, we’ll be hosting SONYA artist, C Bangs, at Green in BKLYN!  C’s work investigates frontier science combined with symbolist figuration in all media.  Curious?  Well, then stroll on into the shop to meet this wonderful woman & artist, view her work & learn more about her process, art work & experience.

To download a copy of the Stroll map, go to SONYA’s website or click here.

A perfect time to Spring clean & finally get rid of all that electronic waste that’s been cluttering up the entry to your apartment, the feng shui in your home, the mobility in your pad.  Reduce, reuse, recycle & get that junk out of the way…

• What: A Free Electronics Recycling Day
• Date: Saturday, May 8th 2010
• Time: 12-3PM
• Location: PS 107 @ 1301 8th Avenue, Brooklyn 11215
• To Be Recycled: Electronic Equipment (see below)

Electronic equipment that will be accepted includes broken or unwanted computers, monitors, keyboards, PDAs, mouses, cellphones, printers, dvd and cd players, routers, remote controls, stereos, cables).  However, it does NOT include household appliances like TVs, microwave ovens, air conditioners, refrigerators, etc., which will not be accepted.

Sponsored by the Mac Support Store in Brooklyn.  Thanks, folks!

PS – They’re also having a great raffle: Enter the $1 raffle & win a new Apple Mighty Mouse or Mac OS 10.6 “Snow Leopard,” courtesy of The Mac Support Store, Brooklyn’s First Authorized Repair Shop!

This year, as a part of their Earth Day campaign, they’re working to donate 20,000 solar-powered flashlights to those living without electricity in camps in Haiti.  In order to do so, they need 100,000 people to take their Earth Day quiz.

For every person who takes the quiz, $2 will be donated toward buying solar flashlights for people without access to electricity living in camps in Haiti. Their goal is for 100,000 people to take the quiz so that they can donate 20,000 flashlights to internally displaced people in Haiti.  All you have to do to Take Initiative to help Haiti & the environment is take the 10-question quiz.

Through his Foundation’s initiatives, President Clinton addresses global challenges, including climate change, childhood obesity & sustainable development.  Now, he wants you to Take Initiative on Earth Day.

The Clinton Foundation has launched a website, www.clintonfoundaiton.org/earthday, that has four actions you can take to learn more about climate issues & help make a difference.  First, they’ve launched the  climate quiz that lets you test your knowledge about the environment & support victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

Also, you can also get informed about the Foundation’s climate initiatives & sign up to participate in local events in Chicago, Little Rock or New York.

The capstone to their Earth Day campaign is a special Digg Dialogg on April 22 in which President Clinton will answer climate questions submitted through Digg. Get the details about the online event and the other activities on http://www.clintonfoundation.org/earthday.

Made by volunteers of Fresh Art NYC, proceeds from their sales support  fine arts & crafts workshops & art exhibitions for people with special needs.

There’s now another way to help Fresh Art NYC help others…

The Pepsi Refresh Project is offering grants for great ideas & Fresh Art NYC is in the running.  If they win, they’ll be able to teach three sock monkey workshops to artists with special needs in New York City.

They need your votes!  And here’s what you can do to help:

1. Check out their project at http://www.refresheverything.com/freshartsockmonkeys.
2. Create an account so you can vote.   (It only takes 2 minutes to join.)
3. VOTE! You can vote once a day during the month of April.
4. Tell your friends to vote using Facebook & Twitter.
5. Remember to vote daily until April 30 & please spread the word.

PS – You can also pick up a Fresh Art NYC sock monkey at Green in BKLYN…  Remember, the proceeds go to arts programs for people with special needs.  Help Fresh Art help others!

Our wonderful Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene/Bed-Stuy neighborhood is home to all sorts of creative, talented, kind folks & their amazing businesses.  Below is information about one of our local dance theatres offering FREE tickets to their dance performances this week…

Neville Dance Theatre’s fun and frolicking duet, Heads or Tails, has been selected for presentation as part of Yong Soon Kim’s Cool New York 2010 DANCE Festival held at the John Ryan Theatre in DUMBO Brooklyn.

WHO: Neville Dance Theatre performing Heads or Tails

WHAT: Cool New York 2010 DANCE Festival

• Presenting the work of emerging young choreographers & world renowned ensembles performing spectacular, innovative works of stunning contemporary dance.
• All festival tickets are FREE OF CHARGE, although donations are encouraged.
  
• Tickets are available at the door only & seating is limited. For tickets, arrive 45-30 minutes early.
  

WHEN:This Weekend…

• Friday, February 5th  9-10:30pm “Program H”
• Sunday, February 7th 6-7:30pm “Program H”

WHERE: White Wave’s John Ryan Theater

• 25 Jay Street, Brooklyn NY 11201
• Take the F train to York Street.  Or the A or C trains to High Street.
• For further information & driving directions, visit www.whitewavedance.com.