Saturday, June 25, 6:00-10:00 pm. Purchase or reserve your tickets here.

@NOoSPHERE Arts’ Stage Roof below Kingsland Wildflowers

520 Kingsland Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Indigenous Inti Raymi celebration with with dance & music by Ñukanchik Llakta Wawakuna, Ñawpa Mashikuna, and Comunidad Andida from the Andes and local practitioners of Danza Mexica; live music by Afro-Cuban Melvis Santa & her band, La Rumba de Santa; and wise words on Nature’s Cycles by internationally renowned ecoliteracy scholar Fritjof Capra. On Kingsland Wildflowers’ Lower Meadow, Mensajes Espirituales by La Aurora, a Santera Mayor. On the Upper Meadow, you can experience a site-specific installation by Brazilian artist Sabrina Barrios: an eco-feminist take on ancient celestial mythology.

The Inti Raymi (Quechua for "Inti festival") is a traditional religious ceremony of the Inca Empire in honor of the god Inti (Quechua for "sun"), the most venerated deity in Inca religion. Marking summer solstice (winter solstice in the territories south of the equator), it is typically celebrated on June 24.

Ñukanchik Llakta Wawakuna is a NYC-based group of Andean immigrants that uses the art of dance to teach and celebrate traditional culture and strengthen their identity. Wawakuna (meaning “children”) focuses not only on the kids, but also educates their parents about their rights as immigrants and encourages them to remain proud of being campesinos (peasants) or indigenous.

Melvis Santa: La Rumba de Santa | A 4-piece ensemble dedicated to celebrate and preserve this genre: La Rumba. The spontaneous and mysterious atmosphere of Rumba builds towards ecstatic fervor and serves as a common ground to the Afro diaspora experience: the ritual drumming, dance, and call- and-response passed down by generations. Melvis has been well known in Cuba since she was fourteen years old and formed the all-female vocal quartet Sexto Sentido. In 2010, Melvis spread her wings and appeared as one of the lead vocalists of Interactivo, a seminal fusion band in Cuba, recording and touring worldwide. Her creative practice is inspired by her own culture. Born and raised in Havana within a multicultural family, Santa has shaped her artistic mission towards integrating her life experiences into her art as a form of resilience and cultural preservation, her Yoruba, Bantu and Arara lineages rooted in Africa are still maintained across Cuba. Melvis and her group bring this powerful, ecstatic tradition to new spaces.

Melvis’s mom, La Aurora, is a healer and facilitator: a Santera Mayor, a renowned priestess of Oshun. Honoring her ancestors’ lineage, La Aurora travels across the globe offering her gift of guidance and vast knowledge to nurture pathways for others to realize their destinies. (Please sign up in advance with your full name to la.aurora.readings@gmail.com)

Thanks to our sponsors, we are pleased to offer donation-based admission to this summer’s string of outdoor performances. Funds raised through patron contributions will provide crucial support towards continued arts programming across our SUPER FUN SITE on the bank of Newtown Creek.

WE ARE NATURE 2022 is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). Our programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

For more information, visit us at noosphere-arts.nyc/we-are-nature | @noospherearts

Check out our 2021 Season Video Recap for inspiration!