Teens Take on SummerStage at Von King Park

On Sunday, June 19, from 3:00pm – 6:00pm, City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage kicks off Teen Family Day, a brand-new program at Von King Park that caters specifically to New York City teens.

The pilot program is the brainchild of Monique Martin, director of family programs for SummerStage Kids and City Parks Foundation. Martin pulled together a small council of high school and college students from throughout the five boroughs who gave direct input into the hottest, up-and-coming local acts.

The teen council advised the adults at CPF on what they and their friends are into culturally and musically, and in turn, the CPF staff counseled the teens on the ins and outs of how to curate a show.

For more than two decades every summer, CPF has built a successful and steady following amongst their adult and children audiences. But Martin admitted that they have always struggled with building a teen audience.

“I’ve been striving to reach teens for the last three summers,” said Martin. “So I brought in a teen advisory program, who we’ve been working with us since April. They already had a network, and I believe this will be the winning formula.”

From soup to nuts, the teen advisory members learned the promotion and production process of putting on a show, including screening artists submissions and booking recommendations based on their findings, planning onsite activities to accompany the on-stage performances, assisting in the generation of program copy and the creation of a marketing strategy. 

“I had fun, and I’m excited about the show,” said Aliyah Blackmoore, 16, a member of the teen advisory council. Blackmoore is from Harlem and attends The Lawrenceville School, a boarding school in New Jersey. “I learned the process of how things were organized for a show. We had to listen to a lot of different groups, watch a lot of videos and rate them.”

“I’m hoping to empower teens, to amplify their voice, sharpen their curatorial eye and ignite their passion for the arts onstage and behind the scenes,” said Martin. “Another goal is to develop and nurture the next generation of arts patrons, funders, artists and audiences.”

Blackmoore says she likes to organize events, so the job suited her well and she is now considering curating events as a possible profession:

“Not all mainstream music is the best music out there,” said Blackmoore. “I think it’s important for teens to have something to do over the summer, and I think this is a good way for us to get involved with promoting some of our favorite local artists and also have a chance to work with their fan base.”

The groups chosen by this year’s teen advisory council include:

Black Girls Rock! will DJ the day’s events, and entertain the audience with a dynamic vocal performance.

Phony Ppl blends jazz, R&B, pop and alternative rock to make undeniable feel good music--melodies you can't forget and lyrics you belt when no one’s around.

are a dance group that is reviving a distinctive Afro-Caribbean freestyle dance called brukup, which utilizes a series of pantomime-like moves that evokes break dancing, raving and butoh in equal parts, yielding an unforgettable dance experience.

Urban Word NYC presents literary arts education and youth development programs and is at the forefront of the youth spoken word, poetry and hip-hop movements.

The Brooklyn Steppers is committed to offering once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunities to Brooklyn youth, ages 8-18, instilling in them the discipline, teamwork, and precision that can only be gained from being part of a large group united in a singular cause.

Meadowland will grab hold of crowd and take them along for a thrill ride filled with screaming, dancing, jumping and laughing.  Their power pop driven songs are catchy with great hooks, that you will find yourself singing all day long.

Teen Family Day is a part of SummerStage Kids presented by Disney. In addition to the performances, families at Von King Park will be able to participate in special activities that are part of Disney Corporate Citizenship’s signature programs: Disney’s Friends For Change and Disney’s Magic of Healthy Living. 

“This has been a vision of mine for some time now, but it’s just a pilot, and we still need more sponsorship support to grow it,” said Martin. “There’s a big opportunity here. The value to me as a presenter has been to listen deeply to what’s relevant to teens, and help them realize their voice.”

Herbert Von King Park is located at Greene, Marcy, Lafayette & Tompkins Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. To get involved in the SummerStage Teen Advisory Council, contact Monique Martin at Monique.Martin@parks.nyc.gov.