It’s In Queens! (December 10 through December 13)

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Korean music and dance. African music and dance. Mexican music and dance. Chinese flower-themed music. Then, jazz, Baroque masters, a youth orchestra, protest songs, and Christmas and Chanukah ditties. There’s magic in the Queens air this week. Here’s the rundown.

 

December 11, Kkun’s Master Players, 8 pm. The Dongrak Performing Arts Group presents Korean master players (or Kkuns) who are the essence of traditional music and dance. From the rhythmic hwimori and buna (spinning dish) to drum dance and ritual music, the performance hits a full range of emotions. Free. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard.

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December 11, Queens World Film Festival, 7 pm. A screening of the award-winning short Recursion staring Broadway star Rob McClure and produced by Queens resident Stanton Nash. The film won Best Short and Best Actor at the 2014 QWFF. All Saints Episcopal Church, 43-12 46th Street, Sunnyside.

December 11, Getting Stuck and Sticking With It, 6:30 pm. This workshop addresses the challenges that artists face during the creative process. Musicians Eleanor Dubinsky and Frank Ponzio explore how artists across disciplines work through their issues. $10. Queens Council on the Arts, 37-11 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

December 11, The Breaking Point, 7 pm. Screened as part of a series on film noir in rural areas,The Breaking Point is a painfully honest portrayal of a working-class family man cracking under economic and personal pressures. $12 adults/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children 3-12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

AFRICAN DANCE

December 12, Ronald K. Brown Dance Company, 2 pm and 8 pm (plus Dec. 13 at 3 pm). Brown’s company integrates traditional African dance with contemporary choreography and the spoken word. $42/$25 for rear side seating. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Avenue South, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

December 12, Lou Donaldson Quartet, 8 pm. Sweet Poppa’s blues-drenched alto has been a bopping force in jazz for more than six decades. His early work with trumpeter Clifford Brown is one of the first forays into hard bop, and his first recordings with organist Jimmy Smith led to the groove-filled jazz of the 1960s and 1970s. $42/$20 for students. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard.

WINTER CRAFT MARKET

December 12, Winter Craft Market, 10 am to 7 pm. The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation partners with the Queens International Night Market to create an indoor holiday market showcasing locally made crafts and artisan food products. Jamaica Market, 159­-15 Jamaica Avenue.

December 12, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Bach’s Magnificat, 8 pm. Celebrating its 75th anniversary season, the Queens College Choral Society presents an evening of choral works by Baroque masters. The program includes “Autumn” and “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah. $20. Colden Auditorium at Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing.

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December 12, Corona Youth Music Orchestra’s Concert of Light, 4 pm. Celebrate the season with roughly 200 children presenting holiday music and compositions, such as the theme fromStar Wars, Leopold Mozart’s Toy Symphony, and Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ Andante Festivo, a piece composed to be broadcast via short wave radio from Finland to the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Queens Museum, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

December 12, The Story of the Stones: A Record of Obsession in Four Vignettes, 1 pm. Joseph Scheier-Dolberg leads a walk through an installation of rock-related masterpieces of Chinese art and presents a short version of his exhibition catalogue essay “The Story of the Stones: A Record of Obsession in Four Vignettes,” a survey of Chinese petromania (rock madness) over the last 1,000 years. Free. Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Road, Long Island City.

December 12, Hands on History: Winter Wonderland, noon to 3 pm. Learn about 19th century seasonal festivities and how the King family spent the cold winter months. Make snowflakes and a pomander, a scented ornament with citrus, spice, and ribbon. Free. King Manor Museum, Kings Park, 150th Street and Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica.

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December 12, The Great Rupert, 1 pm. A screening of a 1950 classic about a charming, animated squirrel that accidentally helps two poor families overcome some obstacles. Free. Greater Astoria Historical Society, Quinn Building, 35-20 Broadway, Fourth Floor, Long Island City.

December 12, Winnipeg & Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton, 2 pm; The Forbidden Room, 4:30 pm. Canadian director Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg is a dreamlike autobiographical “documentary” about Winnipeg that reimagines the silent film-era “city symphony” genre.Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton skewers the mass-market war drama Hyena Road. Then, Maddin introduces his dreamlike movie The Forbidden Room, which features various plots in a tribute to past movies, and then discusses it. $12/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children 3-12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

December 13, Calpulli Mexican Dance Company, 2 pm. Astoria-based performers show off the best of Mexican dance and music. $15. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard.

December 13, Warming Up Winter Holiday Market, 1 pm to 5 pm. Live musical performances, art-making workshops, a photo booth, a book sale, and local arts and crafts. A shuttle bus leaves from the Mets-Willets Point 7 train station. Free. Queens Museum, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

December 13, Annual Christmas Concert, 4 pm. The Sacred Music Society of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church joins with the Oratorio Society of Queens to perform under the direction of maestro David Close. The concert features portions of Handel’s “Messiah,” Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” “Gesù Bambino,” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” $30/$10 for children 12 and under. Martyrs Church, Ascan Avenue and Queens Boulevard, Forest Hills.

SPLENDAR OF BLOSSOMS

December 13, The Splendor of Blossoms, 6 pm. The New York Chinese Chorus, a group of talented Asian vocalists, celebrates the season with flower-themed folk songs presented in the form of chorus, duet, solo or small ensemble. $30/$10 for balcony. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard.

December 13, The Saint who Became Santa, 3 pm. Food historian and author Peter G. Rose discusses the history and life of Dutch Saint Nicholas as well as his transformation into Santa Claus during the 19th century. Combining literature, history, art, and religion, Rose bridges tradition and modernity. The talk includes a demonstration of Dutch wooden cake boards and a discussion of holiday baked goods. Free. King Manor Museum, Kings Park, 150th Street and Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica.

December 13, The Savage Eye, 7 pm. Screened as part of a series on film noir set in rural areas,The Savage Eye is a documentary-fiction hybrid about a newly divorced woman who retreats from life by moving to Los Angeles alone. Through her eyes and interior monologue, the audience experiences a phantasmagoric vision of the city: freeways, bars, strippers, wrestlers, faith-healers, transvestites. In this desperate place, the woman finds renewal and healing through connections with strangers. $12 adults/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children 3-12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

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December 13, Long Island City Tour, 1:30 pm. This three-hour, small-group walking tour goes through LIC’s thriving creative and culinary scene. Meet interesting local artists, makers, and entrepreneurs, and enjoy stops for light bites and local microbrews with a grand finale at a rooftop lounge with incredible cityscape views and a glass of prosecco. $65, advance booking required via www.bqetours.com.

December 13, Court, 5 pm. Screened as part of a monthly series on Indian new wave cinema,Court offers a scathing critique of the social injustices that result from India’s caste and legal system. When a 65-year-old folk singer and activist is arrested on a trumped-up charge of inciting a sewage worker to commit suicide, his trial quickly turns into an absurd tragicomic display of institutional indifference and incompetence. $12/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children 3-12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Kaufman Arts District.

 

Courtesy of: Brownstoner Queens

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