RACHEL NEVILLE
Members of Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Activities to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark this weekend will include three hours of family-oriented workshops on Saturday.
“Embodying the Dream: A Celebration of the Life and Message of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at NJPAC’s Center for Arts Education, at 24 Rector St., and will offer the following classes and activities:
• Dance Theatre of Harlem Community Workshop
• Liturgical Dance Workshop
• Civil Rights Sing-in (folk and protest music from the movement)
• Nina Simone: Jazz Music of the 1960s
• History of Stepping Workshop
• Civil Rights Storytelling
• Community Mural Project
• Video Time Capsule: Reflecting on MLK’s Legacy
• Protest Through Poetry
NJPAC’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration also includes a 7:30 p.m. Friday night program at its Prudential Hall featuring a performance by the Dance Theatre of Harlem and a keynote address by the Rev. Jerry M. Carter Jr. of Calvary Baptist Church in Morristown. The Dance Theatre of Harlem will also give a performance for Newark public school students, Friday at noon.
And Saturday night at 7 p.m., there will be a reading of Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj’s drama “Little Rock” (about the Little Rock Nine, who worked to integrate Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957) at NJPAC’s Chase Room, followed by a panel discussion with the playwright.
There will also be a sleepover Friday night for more than 200 Girl Scouts who are attending the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s evening performance.
NJPAC’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is an annual event, and is presented in cooperation with the Newark Chapter of the New Jersey NAACP.
For information about all these activities, visit NJPAC.org.
