NJ Kwanzaa Festival Set For December

 NEWARK, NJ  -- The New Jersey Performing Arts Center's annual Kwanzaa Festival and Marketplace, one of the only endowed Kwanzaa celebrations in the United States, runs Friday, December 17 through Sunday, December 19, 2010.An integral part of NJPAC's holiday celebrations each year, Kwanzaa, a week long secular cultural and community celebration, is observed through varied dance and music performances, a tribute to community elders, a marketplace for holiday shopping, free activities for children and families, and ceremonies honoring members of the community.This year's Kwanzaa celebration will coincide with and inspirational performance by BeBe and CeCe Winans with Jubilation Choir at Prudential Hall at 8 p.m. on December 17 and include two powerful performances from Step Afrika!, in the VictoriaTheater at 2 & 5 p.m. on December 18.

Kwanzaa is a seven-day, non-religious, cultural celebration observed annually from December 26 to January 1. It is based on seven principles called the Nguzo Saba, which may serve as a guide for daily living: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia, (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

NJPAC's annual Kwanzaa Festival is made possible through the generosity of Leon and Toby Cooperman.The festival is part of the Verizon Passport to Culture: FamilyTime Series, made possible in part by Verizon, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Bloomberg, and Target.All tickets are available by telephone at 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722), at the NJPAC Box Office at One Center Street in downtown Newark.

ATribute to the Elders:Honoring A Heritage, an integral element of the Festival celebration, takes place in NJPAC's ChaseRoom at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 17th. Tickets are $32 (includes hors d'ouvres).The Tribute will honor community elders and devoted Newark educators Dorothy Anderson and Charles Nolley, with Baba Chuck Davis as Master of Ceremonies.

At 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 17th, BeBe and CeCe Winans with special guest Jubilation will bring praise, worship and inspirational gospel to Prudential Hall. Tickets range from $25 to $95. The evening's performance is sponsored in part by Capital One, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Discover Jersey Arts.

On Saturday, Dec. 18th at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., NJPACwill welcome Step Afrika!, the first professional company in the world dedicated to the rich tradition of stepping, an art form born at African American fraternities and based in African traditions. Tickets to these FamilyTime Series events are $22 for adults and $12 for children.The performances are made possible by Verizon, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Bloomberg and Target, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Discover Jersey Arts.

On Saturday, Dec. 18th at 8 p.m. at Prudential Hall, come out for the Rhythm Revue Dance Party with DJ Felix Hernandez, an annual groovefest right up on the Prudential Hall stage. A cash bar will be available. Tickets are $28.This NJPAC Alternate Routes presentation is sponsored in part by American Express, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Discover Jersey Arts.

At 3 p.m. in Prudential Hall on Sunday, Dec. 19th, watch classical music and classic rock combine during Handel's "Messiah Rocks," a contemporary take on George Frederic Handel's most performed oratorio. Tickets range from $23 to $92.

One of the highlights of the NJPAC holiday season, The Kwanzaa Marketplace, will transform the Prudential Hall lobby into an exciting shopping village filled with local and New Jersey-based vendors selling handmade jewelry, art, books, bath and body products, designer clothing, kente cloths, home furnishings and much more.The Marketplace will run from Friday, Dec. 17th from 4-10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18th from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday December 19th from noon to 7 p.m.

The fun-filled Kwanzaa Children's Festival, taking place in NJPAC's Center for Arts Education, is host to numerous FREE family activities happening on Saturday, December 18th from noon to 5 p.m.Activities include the Arts and Crafts Village,featuring over 14 hands-on activities from visual artists, the Delta Sigma Theta North Jersey and Montclair Chapters, as well as Supporting our Sisters and Embracing Arms that manifest the principals of Kwanzaa. There will also be a glass art demonstration by GlassRoots, a Zumba dance class and healthy snacks provided by Programs for Parents, and a Children's Book Fair by Just Us Books. In the Children's Storyrooms, hear stories from Julie Pasqual and celebrate diversity through the power of the word with Queen Nur. Participants can also learn about the history of Kwanzaa and the 7 principles with C Katunge Mimy,
The afternoon will feature a number of World Music Demonstrations. From 2 to 4 p.m., participants can practice and learn the rhythms and songs of Africa by way of Haiti during an Afro-Haitian Drumming session with Master Haitian drummer Bonga Jean Baptiste. From 3:30 to 5 p.m, children of all ages can learn the Afro-Brazilian martial art form during a Capoeira Workshop. And from 2 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 5 p.m. in the Prudential Lobby, everyone can enjoy the infectious rhythms, songs and dance of African, African American, Caribbean and Native American traditions during performances by Heritage O.P.

A perennial favorite at the Children's Festival, two FREE African dance classes will take place in NJPAC's ChaseRoom and the Center for Arts Education during the festival. Karen Love, Artistic Director of Umoja Dance Company, will teach children of all ages African rhythms and movement from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., and Adia Whitaker, artistic director of the ASe Dance Theatre Collective,will teach Afro-Caribbean Dance from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The NJPAC Festival and Marketplace is presented in association with the Apostle' House, Babyland Family Services, Inc., Civic League of Greater New Brunswick, Community Food Bank of New Jersey, FOCUS Hispanic Center for Community, GlassRoots, International Youth Organization, La Casa de Don Pedro, Inc., Newark Boys Chorus School, Newark Emergency Services for Families, Inc., Newark School of the Arts, Newark Now, New Jersey Orators, Programs for Parents, Robeson Center Art Gallery (Rutgers-Newark), Roselle Branch NAACP, Jazz Institute at Rutgers University, Supporting our Sisters, The Bridge, Tri-City Peoples Corp., Valley Settlement House, Volunteer Center of Bergen County, Women in Support of the Million Man March North Jersey Alumnae and the Montclair Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Beta Alpha Omega Chapter, and The Montclair Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

New JerseyPerformingArtsCenter (NJPAC), located in the heart of an emerging downtown Newark, New Jersey, is the sixth largest performing arts center in the United States.Home of the Grammy® Award-winning New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, NJPAC has been widely cited as a catalyst in the revitalization of New Jersey's largest city, attracting over 6 million visitors (including more than one million children) in its first twelve years of operation.

Programming has been made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

NJPAC is a wheelchair accessible facility and provides assistive services such as TTY ticket purchase, designated seating, Sennheiser infrared listening devices and seat cushions.