“Gorgeous Fork”
Artists Alliance Inc + Garden of the Humanitarians
New York, NY | 2021

photos by Walter Wlodarczyk

About the Show

In the spring of 2021, Whoop Dee Doo artists worked with local youth connected to the Garden of the Humanitarians in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the Classical Indian dance group Aalokam for a free, live show for the community, open to all ages, culminating on May 15. Working closely with Bharathi Penneswaran, Director of Aalokam, and Albert Santana, Founder of the Garden of the Humanitarians, Aalokam designed a new Classical Indian-style dance to portray the story of the transformation of the Garden over the past several decades, all in a giant oversized set of a filthy kitchen sink.
Bharathi’s gorgeous dance reflected the “before” and “after” of Edwin’s story as a youth in the the troublesome and bedraggled garden, and his transformation of the space, in which he initiated as an adult, into a community hub for performance, gatherings, flowers, fruit, abundance and love. Our local youth created a “washing” sequence within in oversized sink and “washed” the dishes, representing Albert’s transformation and hard work within the garden over many years.
Whoop Dee Doo is thankful for the Artists Alliance’s generous support and six-month studio in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, as well as their full support and guidance in organizing this free, live event for the public.

The Garden of the Humanitarians (formerly Generation X Garden) is both a beloved community garden space dedicated to the youth of the LES and a mini-urban orchard cultivating fruit trees such as nectarine, pear, peach and apple. Created in 1971, the garden has supported and hosted a variety of special programming featuring Greenmarket farmers, Youthmarket displays, TAiNO arts and crafts, and healthy eating and tasting sessions.

Aalokam is a South Asian Dance and School in the New York area. The school strives to provide the South Asian diaspora in the New York tri-state area continued access to their cultural roots and to introduce South Asian performing arts to the western world. Aalokam is directed by Bharathi Penneswaran and Jyotsna Kalyansundar. The idea behind Aalokam is to showcase the elegance and beauty of this classical Indian dance form through innovative set pieces. Combining rhythm, hand gestures and facial expressions, these dance pieces convey exotic tales from Indian mythology and folklore.

Artists Alliance Inc is dedicated to launching, strengthening, and advancing the vision of emerging and underrepresented artists and curators through fully-funded residencies, paid exhibition opportunities, and commissioned projects. Rooted in the Lower East Side (a long-standing epicenter of creative experimentation and cultural diversity) and in NYC at-large, AAI cultivates art practices that challenge the way we experience ourselves, our communities, and our world.

Whoop Dee Doo Artists

Sofia Dixon
Emily Flores
Jaimie Warren
Rebecca Damilola Fayemi
Mai Shimura
Sarah Dahlinger
Michael O’Malley
Danny Crump
Erin Dougherty
Carbon Thierron
Kati Kirsch
Syd Kozar
Willa Goettling

Student Artists

Royal Mayan Santana
Reign Maximus Santana
Mason Perez

Performers

Edwin Albert Santana
Royal Santana, Rain Santana & Mason Israel
Aalokam

Curation

Artists Alliance, Inc., NYC

Special Thanks

Edwin Albert Santana, Founder & Visionary of the Garden of the Humanitarians
Kanielle Hernandez
Afreen Fatima
Bening Mustika
Essex Market
Office of New York City Council Member Carlina Rivera

Links

Aalokam
Artists Alliance, Inc., NYC
Garden of the Humanitarians