In Harlem the World Dances to House Music

On the second Sunday of each month, internationally-acclaimed DJ André Collins (http://www.higher-frequency.com/e_interview/andre_collins/index.htm) fills the theater with non-stop movement and the vibe is all about festivity. Collin's famed music collection and skill were refined during the 1980's, a peak for an unprecedented generation of black New York club-goers during the world-wide "house" music phenomenon.

Collins orchestrates a specialized theme for the party every month. Gail Mitchell, a model who attended March's "Equinox Party" exclaimed, "I haven't danced so much since Better Days!" (Better Days was a midtown dance club renowned in the eighties for its trend-setting black clientele and frequented by celebrity greats like Madonna and Grace Jones.) April's event fell on Easter Sunday and was entitled, "Communion Sunday" and featured gospel and house music classics. With recognition of the planet and freedom to be, as the focus of May's event on the 13th, it promises to be one of the hottest to date.

Majestically, the muse that was present in Harlem in the 1920's is stirring again, and the chronicles of house music's international popularity demonstrate exactly that. The inhabitants of today's Harlem are a mixture of people of multifarious origins and Choices 2nd Sunday is already a part of this all-inclusive energy. Historically, Harlem has been and continues to be a mecca for African-American creativity and a hub of worldwide social change. May's event has already started a buzz in the community. One Harlemite, a Japanese born television producer responded to an e-mail announcing the event with, "House music in Harlem? OMG, I've gotta be there!"

Incidentally, Collins's annual tour of Japan will take place June 13-24, 2007, and is tentatively scheduled to include stints in Tokyo at Club Yellow in Shibuya, at Grand Café in Osaka, and at Precious Hall in Sapporo. And Choices 2nd Sunday's event June 10th will be a bon voyage party for him.

The African American revolutionary energy of the 1960s and 70's and collectively realized gay sensibilities are at the root of contemporary "house" music happenings. Members of genre's counterculture who frequented the clubs of that era are joyous about overcoming life's challenges and surpassing their personal goals; they have conquered heart-breaking loss. André Collins's colleagues and club veterans who survived those hedonistic decades appreciate the way André bounced back from drug abuse and the AIDS crisis to become the legend they know and admire.

Indeed, according to a recent article in POZ magazine (http://www.poz.com/articles/1941_11120.shtml), house music lovers across the globe still crave the unique sound and supportive atmosphere. Choices 2nd Sunday allows all house music fans to celebrate their healthy, life-affirming achievements through dance, uptown.

The producer of Choices 2nd Sunday is Charles Townsend, a 48-year-old, Harlem-based entrepreneur, whose experience extends from the local community to Latin America (http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0320,schlesinger,43994,15.html). Townsend earned an MBA at the Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona, where as an exchange student he studied marketing in Costa Rica. In New York, Charles has earned an M.A. in anthropology and a Master's in Philosophy at the New School for Social Research. A "club kid" at heart, his travels, and ethnographic study of the "new" Harlem Renaissance helped him to develop this special event, which he calls "a spiritual journey in music and dance."

Tickets can be purchased online at TheatreMania.com (http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/130095) or at the door for $10.00 or $5.00 before 8:00 pm.
Choices 2nd Sunday - Every second Sunday of the month, a production of Thyme Squared Events™

Next Date: May 13th, 2007
Time: 7:00 pm - 12 Midnight
Price: $10 -- $5 before 8:00 pm

Location:
National Black Theatre
2031 Fifth Avenue @ 125th Street
Harlem, New York 10035
Tickets: 212-352-3102
Info: www.myspace.com/choices2ndsunday
www.choices2ndsunday.com (coming June 2007)

Press inquiries, please contact:
Charles Townsend
500 West 148th Street #2E
New York, NY 10031
Tel/Fax: +1 (212) 491-2605

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