Walter’s World: Holiday Picks Dancing, Dining and Film

The holidays are a time for family and friends. This week offers many events and entertainment options we have fine dining uptown, dance in Midtown, film that rewrites the Ole South with a twist, and Harlem’s own Apollo Theater presents the first African-American holiday. Here are a few of the events taking place around the city and in our community.  

For the culinary challenged dining out for the holidays sounds like a great idea for you and your loved ones. Chez Lucienne has created a special menu for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The menu is affordably priced at $45 for adults and $30 for children.

This quant little French Bistro, located at 308 Lenox Avenue just half a block off 125^th Street, brings international flare and cuisine uptown. The Christmas menu includes: Appetizers- Bisque de homard (Lobster bisque with croutons),             Traditionelle terrine de foie gras (Foie gras terrine with granny smith apple chutney), Saumon fume fait maison (Homemade smoked salmon with caviar),            Fricassee de fruits de mer “vol au vent” (Seafood fricassee in puff pastry).  Entrees-  Filet mignon en pate feuilletee, asperges et sauce perigourdine (Filet mignon wellington served with green asparagus and foie gras sauce), Filet of Seabass, sauce vin rouge (Filet of Seabass wrapped with potato slices and red wine reduction),  Supreme de poulet aux truffes sauce champagne (Supreme of chicken with black truffles and mashed potatoes),  Saumon grille sauce champagne (Grilled atlantic salmon with champagne sauce), and Busche De Noël for dessert.

The regular menu will be also available both nights. For reservations call (212) 289-5555 or visit online at http://chezlucienne.com.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater begins the last week of their annual five-week holiday season on Wednesday December 26 at the New York City Center. The highly successful season has offered a diverse roster of works with the world première of Another Night by Kyle Abraham performed to Dizzy Gillespie’s jazz classic A Night In Tunisia, and three company premieres, Petite Mort by Jiří Kylián, Artistic Director Robert Battle’s Strange Humors and From Before by Tony Award-winning choreographer (The Lion King) Garth Fagan. The company will also present audience favorites including Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16, Ronald K. Brown’s Grace, Paul Taylor’s Arden Court, Rennie Harris’s Home, and Ailey classics Cry, Love Songs, For ‘Bird’ With Love and his signature masterwork Revelations.

AILEY CLASSICS from Alvin Ailey on Vimeo.

The December 30^th closing night performance is an ideal way to begin your New Years Eve merriment a day early. For a complete listing of works and more information about the Alvin Ailey New York City Center season please visit www.alvinailey.org. Tickets can be purchased at the New York City Center Box Office, through CityTix® at (212) 581-1212 or online at www.alvinailey.org or www.nycitycenter.org.  For group sales, call 212-405-9082 or e-mail groupsales@alvinailey.org.

Django Unchained directed and written by Quentin Tarantino opens nationwide on Christmas Day. Former dentist, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), buys the freedom of a slave, Django (Jamie Foxx), and trains him with the intent to make him his deputy bounty hunter. Instead, he is led to the site of Django’s wife (Kerry Washington) who is under the hands of Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), a ruthless plantation owner.With the help of his mentor, Django sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

This film is rated R and has violence, and uses the “N” word, but is guaranteed to take us on an adventure not seen since the glory days of the seventy black exploitation films and the Spaghetti Westerns of the 70′s . In other words the major black characters don’t die in the first twenty minutes of the film.

The Apollo Theater celebrates Kwanzaa with its popular annual show, Kwanzaa Celebration: Regeneration Night on Friday, December 28^th at 7:30pm. The evening, hosted by radio personality Imhotep Gary Byrd, keeps the variety show format that has become synonymous with the Apollo. New York/Harlem based dance company Abdel Salaam’s Forces of Nature Dance Theatre will be joined by guest performers Songhai Djeli, Flute Visions, Queen GodIs and members of the Harlem Children’s Zone/Forces of Nature’s Youth Academy.

Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first specifically African-American holiday. The celebration honors African heritage in African-American culture and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving. This is the sixth consecutive year the Apollo Theater has presented the one-day celebration of dance and music honoring the principles of Kwanzaa—family, community, and culture. The performance has become a fun and affordable Apollo tradition for the entire family.

Tickets are $16 general admission and $13 for groups of 5 or more.  Tickets are available at The Apollo Theater Box Office: (212) 531-5305, 253 West 125^th Street and Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000, or on-line at http://www.ticketmaster.com.

Happy Holidays and as always thank you for letting me share my world with you.

In Photo: 1) Apollo Theater Montage.  2) Chez Lucienne logo 3) Chez Lucienne 4) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.  5) Django poster image 6) Apollo Theater Marquee. 7) Forces Of Nature Dance Theatre. 8) Voyages Vista Vino. 9) Nadia B. 10) Andrew Eccles. 11) courtesy of the Apollo Theater. 12) Erin Baino.

• Walter’s World: Holiday Picks Dancing, Dining and Film (harlemworldmag.com)
• Walter’s World: Weekend Picks Food, Wine, Art, Theatre and Dance (harlemworldmag.com)
• Walter’s World: Weekend Picks- Dance and Celebrating Greatness (harlemworldmag.com)
• Walter’s World: Weekend Picks- More Dance for the Holidays (harlemworldmag.com)
• Last Meal on Titanic (history.com)