92nd Street Y, New York is a World-Class Cultural and Community Center That Serves All Communities From the Upper East Side

The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a world-class cultural and community center in the Upper East Side. It serves all communities from a foundation of Jewish values. The Harkness Dance Center is one of NYC’s premiere homes for dance. 92NY is influential in every creative category, a stage that births new voices, and a space where celebrities present their latest works.

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Latin Culture at the 92nd Street Y

NOVEMBER

New York Puerto Rican Contemporary Dance

Boca Tuya, led by Omar Román de Jesús, performs three contemporary dances for the Harkness Dance Center’s 90th Anniversary: “Caress them in a way that hurts a little” about love, “Like those playground kids at midnight” about individuality, and “Los Perros del Barrio Colosal;” in Buttenwieser Hall at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; on Thursday-Friday, November 14-15, 2024, at 7pm. From $40. 92ny.org 🇵🇷 ~ 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇨🇳 🇨🇷 🇮🇱 🇯🇵 🇲🇽

Puerto Ricans are generally gifted with a natural poetry. Román De Jesús turns his poetry into contemporary dance. “Like those playground kids at midnight” is midnight in the barrio where everyone is free.

South African Jazz

Abdullah Ibrahim Trio (Duke Ellington protegé and NEA Jazz Master) plays Ibrahim’s unique blend of South African jazz, classical, and gospel; on the Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y, New York in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; on Friday, November 15, 2024, at 7:30pm. From $40. 92ny.org 🇿🇦

There is a lot of great music coming out of South Africa now, and the gospel is heavenly.

Baroque and Spanish Guitar

Renowned Croatian classical guitarist Ana Vidovic plays works by Bach, Scarlatti, Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez,” Barrios Mangoré’s “La Catedral,” and more; on the Geffen Stage in Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y, New York; on Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 2pm. From $25. 92ny.org 🇭🇷 ~ 🇩🇪 🇮🇹 🇵🇾 🇪🇸

The guitar has deep roots through Mother Africa and West Asia, but the modern guitar developed in Spain.

DECEMBER

African American Women’s Contemporary Dance

Urban Bush Women (UBW), a Brooklyn contemporary dance company that tells Black women’s stories, celebrates its 40th Anniversary with “Solo Meditations” in residency; in the Buttenwieser Hall at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; on Friday-Saturday, December 6-7, 2024 at 7pm. From $40. 92ny.org 🇺🇸

This is important. We are in a pivotal moment of social change and cultural expansion. America is beginning to realize that most of our popular culture originates in the African Diaspora (the 92NY grasped this more than 70 years ago). Women are the guardians of culture, and in traditional African Diasporic cultures, dance is how we pray. Black and Latin culture is loved around the world because its all about bringing people together. In American life, we have lost each other. Urban Bush Women offers a way back ~ together.

African American Nina Simone Tribute

In “Rebel with a Cause,” Tony nominee Amber Iman tributes Nina Simone; the great American singer-songwriter and activist; who Iman played in “Soul Doctor” on Broadway. It’s on the Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y, New York; on Saturday-Monday, December 7-9, 2024. From $40. 92ny.org 🇺🇸

Nina Simone was one of the great American voices. She had to put up all that racial nonsense, but her talent and grace rose above it all. Amber Iman is an award-winning musical actress who came up in “Rent” on her way to a very impressive resumé.

Contemporary Tap Nutcracker

“Nut/Cracked” is David Parker’s (The Bang Group) percussive take on “The Nutcracker.” It’s a fun fusion of tap, ballet, contemporary, and disco. What more could you want for the holidays? It’s on the Geffen Stage in Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y, New York in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; on Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 2pm and 7pm; Thursday, December 18, 2024 at 6:30pm; and Friday, December 20, 2024 at 12pm. From $20. 92ny.org 🇺🇸

92nd Street Y Tickets

92nd Street Y, New York (92NY)
1395 Lexington
(at 92nd St)
Upper East Side, Manhattan

About the 92nd Street Y, New York

Celebrating its 150th year in 2023, 92nd Street Y, New York has grown into one of New York’s sacred cultural spaces ~ because of the long stream of genius that passes through its halls. It gives a stage to the great artists of the times, and nurtures new voices in their first whispers of brilliance.

Jewish culture has an intellectual character that is very influential in American life. New York’s first Jewish community made New York an open city in 1654, while it was still Dutch New Amsterdam. Like the Statue of Liberty, 92NY carries the flame.

Harkness Dance Center and Modern Dance

92NY played a role in the development of modern dance and contemporary dance. Legendary pioneers like Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Alvin Ailey developed their craft here.

Ailey’s “Blues Suite,” now an American classic, was part of his company’s first performance in 1958. It’s the precursor to his masterpiece “Revelations.” We dance away the blues all night, and then get spiritual the next day. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre went on to popularize modern dance globally as America’s “Cultural Ambassador to the World.” It all started here.

Social Media

X @92ndStreetY
Facebook @92ndStreetY
Instagram @92ndstreety

Latin Artists

92NY Festivals

92NY produces several notable festivals.

• Future Dance Festival is a dance choreographer’s competition that launches new talent into New York’s dance world.
• Giving Tuesday is a global holiday-giving phenomenon that was started by the 92nd Street Y.
• Jazz in July is a hot summer jazz festival.

Recent Latin Programming

SEPTEMBER

Colombian Literature

100 Years of Solitude: The Latin American Masterpiece, is an online literary course led by Professor Gabriela Polit (University of Texas, Austin), about “Cien años de soledad” (1967), Gabriel García Márquez’s magical realism story of seven generations of a Colombian family that actually tells the history of Latin America, and won him the Nobel Prize for Literature. The course runs online from September 4 – October 2, 2024. $220. 🇨🇴

Márquez’s core thesis is that history repeats itself. The story is a little hard to follow because the story’s Buendía family has similar names and behaviors across the generations. It also touches on many aspects of Latin life that may not be obvious to Americans. That’s why a guided course is an excellent way to understand this magical tale. By the way, Magical Realism isn’t a literary construct. It’s how the Latin working class understands the mysteries of life. If you read this book, you will never forget it.

Cuban American Literature

Eva Mendes (Training Day, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Place Beyond the Pines) talks about her acting career, motherhood, and her debut picture book “Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries;” in the Weill Art Gallery at the 92nd Street Y; on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 7:30pm. From $25. 🇨🇺

Mendes is a Miami Cuban actress who walked away from superstardom to be a mom. She deserves a lot of respect for that.

Jewish Dance

Israel’s Batsheva Ensemble performs Ohad Naharin’s “Kamuyot” (2023), an immersive community-building contemporary dance, for the first time in Buttenwieser Hall at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; from Friday-Sunday, September 27-29, 2024. From $40. 🇮🇱