This summer, Dexter Training Ground is made more vibrant by West Side Thursdays, WBNA's free performance series in partnership with the City of Providence, now in its 16th year!
Set against the backdrop of the Armory Farmer's Market, West Side Thursdays adds live music, Shakespeare in the park, kids activities, Beer Garden by Troop, rentable bocce balls and chess sets, and more! Always fun, always family-friendly, these monthly events are a great way to let off a little summer steam.
Schedule OF ACTIVITIES
June 20
(Rescheduled to June 27)
Salsa Night with Roberto Arias y su Alebreke + Salsa instructor/dancer Mori Granot Sanchez
3:30-7pm | Armory Farmers Market
5:30pm | Featured Performance by Roberto Arias y su Alebreke + free Salsa dancing instruction with Mori Granot Sanchez
5-7pm | Beer Garden by Troop, Powered by Revival Brewing
June 27
Salsa Night with Roberto Arias y su Alebreke / Dance with Mori Granot Sanchez
+ Trinity Rep’s Much Ado About Nothing / Tanta Bulla…¿Y Pa’ Qué?
3:30-7pm | Armory Farmers Market
5:30pm | Featured Performance by Roberto Arias y su Alebreke + free Salsa dancing instruction with Mori Granot Sanchez
5-7pm | Beer Garden by Troop, Powered by Revival Brewing
8-9:30pm | Trinity Repertory's English-Spanish bilingual performance of Tanta Bulla…¿Y Pa’ Qué? / Much Ado About Nothing
July 11
Sidy Maïga and Afrimanding + Providence Children’s Museum Activities for Kids
3:30-7pm | Armory Farmers Market
5:30pm | Featured Performance by Sidy Maïga and Afrimanding + Providence Children’s Museum Kids’ Activities
5-7pm | Beer Garden by Troop, Powered by Revival Brewing
Aug 1
The Horse Eyed Men + Providence Children’s Museum Activities for Kids
3:30-7pm | Armory Farmers Market
5:30pm | Featured Performance by The Horse Eyed Men + Providence Children’s Museum Kids’ Activities
5-7pm | Beer Garden by Troop, Powered by Revival Brewing
– RAIN DATES –
June 20 performance (Salsa Night with Roberto Arias) | Rain Date: June 27
July 11 performance (Sidy Maïga and Afrimanding) | Rain Date: July 25
August 1 performance (The Horse Eyed Men) | Rain Date: Sept 19
Artist BIOs
Roberto Arias y su Alebreke is a seven-piece ensemble led by Dominican Latin percussionist and vocalist Luis “Robertico” Arias, who has been performing professionally since his teens. He has toured internationally with such bands as Los Hijos del Rey, El Equipo de Dioni Pernandez, Boni Cepeda, The New York Band and La Gran Manzana, and recorded with such artists as David Byrne. Robertico is also a tireless educator, working with a wide range of students from elementary school-aged students to university students and adults. He and his band Alebreke have become Rhode Island institutions with their energy-filled performances of salsa, bachata, cha cha and merengue.
Mori Granot Sanchez is a salsa dancer, choreographer, and teacher. A performer and coach with Masacote Entertainment in Cambridge, MA, Granot-Sanchez also teaches dance at Brown University, and is the founder of RI Latin Dance, a company with a mission to reach out to the community by teaching dance to all age groups and encourage teamwork within: “We aim to bring awareness to the history of Latin dance & music through movement as we see it as an art in motion. Our mission is to put a fun twist to fitness, to stimulate self awareness and growth, to bridge cultural differences, and to build a safe and healthy environment for the community to come together.”
Trinity Repertory Company's Shakespeare en el Verano (Shakespeare in the Summer) premieres a bilingual English-Spanish adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in partnership with Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA). Adapted by Kufa Castro and directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo, the production will tour throughout Providence and RI from June 8-Aug 3, 2019. All performances are free, open to the public and appropriate for all ages.
Sidy Maïga and Afrimanding bring the sounds of traditional Malian percussion together with cross-cultural fusion for an electrifying experience. Based in Rhode Island, Sidy Maïga is an award winning drummer originally from Mali, West Africa, who specializes in djembe and dunun. Maïga performs solo all over the world and with his band, Afrimanding, which combines the best of West African percussion traditions with the modern rhythms of hip-hop and the Caribbean.
The Horse-Eyed Men are two brothers – Noah and Dylan Harley – who play original, disgruntled Americana and country. Raised by musical humans in a former candy store outside of Providence R.I., their music mixes spaghetti-western themes with cabaret, ragtime, and post-partum punk. Their newest album, "The Uncanny Valley" was recorded in Berlin, Germany, and was released in August of 2018. "The Uncanny Valley" is sonically exploratory, diving deeper into the realms of space rock, drip hop and worm-hole jazz.
MANY THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS!
West Side Thursdays is made possible by a grant from the City of Providence and with support from our sponsors, and is part of Mayor Jorge Elorza's 2019 Celebrate Providence! Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative.
Poster design by Jimmy Lazer