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Brooklyn Museum Cancels "Target First Saturday" Dance Parties
By
Aaron Marks
Published Oct 5, 2012
Modified Oct 5, 2012
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By
Aaron Marks
Published Oct 5, 2012
Modified Oct 5, 2012
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While tomorrow marks the new season of the Brooklyn Museum's "Target Free Saturdays," it will also mark the end of an era: The museum is cancelling the dance parties which have brought together boogieing Brooklynites for more than a decade.
In a blog post, the museum's manager for adult programming writes: "While the attendance is growing, our building is staying the same size, and we’ve run into some challenges with capacity crowds and traffic flow throughout the building. What does that mean for the event? Well, essentially it means that we are going to put the dance party on hiatus for the time being."
The First Saturday programs have drawn up to 20,000 people to the museum. So while the cancellation of the parties will likely reduce foot traffic and noise in Prospect Heights, community members have spoken out against their ending. "I hope they reconsider," City Councilman Jumaane Williams told DNA Info. "I think it's a great Brooklyn event." Stephanie Morgan, a longtime attendee of the parties, said "The only thing everyone can enjoy is the dance party. Without it, I don’t need to go to the museum every month."
In lieu of a late-night dance party, what can visitors expect from the museum's "different kinds of programming"? Well fashion week may be over, but planned for Saturday is a "1970's Fashion Show," where visitors will " are encouraged to wear their 1970s best and strut down the catwalk."
Also on the program is "a musical tribute to Betty Mabry Davis, ex-wife and muse of Miles Davis." Because nothing replaces a late-night DJ dance party like an 8:30 p.m. tribute one of our greatest jazz spouses. The night will wrap up at 9:00 p.m., when, "In honor of the mother influences in Mickalene Thomas’s art, visitors are invited to share stories about the great mother figures in their lives." Someone remember to bring the Kleenex.
Without these once monthly dance parties, some may find the neighborhood just too dull. If that's the case, there's always the 20,000-seater pop concerts down the street at Barclays.
Tagged
brooklyn museum
first saturdays
footloose
Aaron Marks
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