Don't Miss NJ Performing Arts Center Kwanzaa Celebration

Events Will Feature Children’s Activities, Workshops and a Vendor Marketplace 

 December 21-22 NEWARK, NJ - The New Jersey Performing Arts Center is celebrating Kwanzaa with two hip-hop crossed with ballet and tap performances of The Spirit of Kwanzaa by IllStyle and Peace Productions on December 22, and a Kwanzaa Children’s Festival on December 22. 

A Kwanzaa Marketplace, where patrons can pick up last minute gifts, is open in NJPAC’s Prudential Hall lobby December 21 and 22 as well. 

Kwanzaa Festival and Marketplace: An integral part of NJPAC’s holiday celebrations each year, Kwanzaa, a secular cultural and community celebration, is observed through dance and music performances, a tribute to community elders, a marketplace for holiday shopping and free activities for children and families. Philadelphia’s high-octane Illstyle and Peace Productions celebrate The Spirit of Kwanzaa in NJPAC’s Victoria Theater on Saturday, December 22 and 2pm and 5pm. Their performance is a blend hip hop dance styles with tap, ballet, DJing and beat boxing. 

**Check out an Illstyle and Peace Productions youtube video **

Founded in 2002 by Brandon “Peace” Albright, this multicultural troupe has toured to critical acclaim, both nationally and internationally. 

“They’re fabulous!” says The New York Times. “Watching these dancers is like watching the greatest ballet virtuosos, each fighting gravity and the appearance of effort, and demanding and getting the impossible from the human body.” 

Tickets are $22 for adults and $13 for children. On December 21 from 6pm to 10pm. and December 22 from noon to 10pm, a Kwanzaa Marketplace will transform the Prudential Hall lobby into an exciting shopping village filled with local vendors selling handmade jewelry, art, books, bath and body products, designer clothing, kente cloths, home furnishings and much more. 

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 22 from noon to 5pm. 

Activities include historical and cultural pride workshops, African dance classes for all ages, a capoeira class and story rooms. A complete schedule can be found here.

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 and by Verizon, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Merck Company Foundation, Discover Jersey Arts, and New Jersey State Council on the Arts. 

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, or at www.njpac.org. 

ABOUT NJPAC  

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) is the artistic, cultural, educational, and civic center of New Jersey -- where great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. 

The largest cultural venue for performing arts in the state of New Jersey, NJPAC annually presents more than 350 concerts, plays, recitals, spoken word, and cultural events. 

The performance home of the critically acclaimed New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, NJPAC regularly welcomes the world’s foremost performers in every genre, from Itzhak Perlman, Tony Bennett, and Yo-Yo Ma, to Paul Simon, Youssou N’Dour, and ZZ Top; from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company to the National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique. 

Located in the heart of an emerging downtown Newark, NJPAC has been widely cited as a catalyst in the revitalization of New Jersey’s largest city, attracting more than seven million visitors since it opened in 1997. 

NJPAC’s arts education initiatives have reached more than a million Newark and New Jersey children with innovative programs including the Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens, The Star-Ledger Scholarship for the Performing Arts, The Young Artist Institute, and the Verizon Passport to Culture SchoolTime Series. 

NJPAC also offers in-school residencies in dance, theater, music, and the literary arts. The cornerstone of Newark’s cultural community, NJPAC’s free outdoor summer music series, Sounds of the City, is an annual highly anticipated event, attracting between 3,000 and 5,000 people to the three-acre Theater Square on Thursday nights during the summer months. 

To learn more, visit www.njpac.org.

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