An American Story Told Through Basketball
*New York Times
“Busting the Boundaries of Opera”…
… BOUNCE melds genres and defies stereotypes, synthesizing the full palette of American music from Rap and Hip-Hop to Jazz, EDM, and Gospel, with the percussive beat of basketballs and operatic high notes. BOUNCE tackles the School-to-prison pipeline, Equity in education, and what it takes to come back from the tragedy and Trauma of gun violence.
Performed on a basketball court, BOUNCE is a reimagining of what is possible, an opera for today’s world.
Community Engagement
BOUNCE offers community engagement workshops in a collaborative effort to help introduce and expose young people to opera and the performing arts through basketball. The workshops allow youth to learn basketball dribbling fundamentals, gain basic theater and music knowledge, combine the two elements of art and sport to express their creativity and, most importantly, to gain the chance to better understand the complexities of growing up in today’s world.
HARLEM & BROOKLYN, NYC
AUGUST 2019
In August 2019, BOUNCE The Basketball Opera presented three Special Events Performances at venues around New York City for the first time.
The first special event was located at the NYPD 32nd Precinct Office, and presented a rousing show to the local residents of Harlem. The second was held at legendary Holcombe Rucker Park in Harlem, “the most famous basketball court on the planet.” BOUNCE performed a thrilling show for the enthusiastic audience.
Finally, BOUNCE performed at the New York Liberty Pre-Game on August 12, which was extremely well-received by the dedicated fans of the WNBA team. We would like to thank Each One Teach One, the Brooklyn Nets, Barclays Center, New York Liberty, and BOY MEETS GIRL® for their immense support in making this happen!
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
October 2017
In anticipation of the November premiere, BOUNCE partnered with Lexington, KY area organizations and schools to offer community engagement workshops led by BOUNCE cast members—the Basketball Ensemble team.
At Crawford Middle School, for example, BOUNCE was asked to address gun violence and conflict resolution, as the week prior there were two separate instances where students brought guns to school. The team was able to discuss the friction between the two main characters, “Future” and “Flight,” and ultimately share the consequences of Future’s poor and rushed judgement. This was followed up by further discussing the impact gun violence can have on the lives of the shooter, the victims, and their families, themes inherent to BOUNCE.
Finally, the workshop ended on a positive note by teaching conflict resolution by allowing the students and cast to get to know one another through a hip-hop cypher. This allows kids to share their talents and express themselves through spoken word, dance, dribbling and/or singing, helping them see that they have an entire gym of students, faculty and staff, and strangers working with them, and rooting for them!
EAST FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN, NY
June 2016
Ardea Arts presented Showcase Performances of BOUNCE at Paerdegat Park in East Flatbush, Brooklyn in June 2016.
Pairing diverse casting with a fresh approach to arts engagement, local high school students, ranging from Business of Sports School (BOSS) in Manhattan to EBC High School for Public Service in Bushwick, Brooklyn, worked alongside seasoned professionals and integrated into the production using the powerful medium of basketball. They became the basketball players, the cheerleaders, and Flight’s classmates and teammates. Local and national community leaders, including figures such as Officer Robert Thybulle of the NYPD, and Jumaane Williams of the New York City Council and recent NY State Lieutenant Governor candidate, also played a number of the adult roles.
KAISER PARK, BROOKLYN, NY
September 2014
Ardea Arts, in partnership with the City Parks Foundation presented Bounce: The Basketball Performance Event for children age 10 – 18 and their families, at Kaiser Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn on Sunday, September 14, 2014. Kids enjoyed a ball handling workshop, a performance of words and music by noted performers, and got the chance to be filmed showing off their basketball skills and expressing their creativity.
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