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The Culture Lover’s June Live-Streaming Guide

Photo credit: Courtesy the Jewish Museum; Getty Images; Courtesy Jack Shainman; Getty Images
Photo credit: Courtesy the Jewish Museum; Getty Images; Courtesy Jack Shainman; Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

While certain regions of the country and world have begun cautiously reopening, live entertainment events including concerts, art exhibitions, ballets, and Broadway shows will remain off-limits indefinitely. To meet the times, creative communities are taking their talents online and organizing dynamic programming accessible via streaming platforms to ensure everyone can get their culture fix at home. From Pride Month celebrations and a global film festival to ASMR bedtime stories read by your favorite artists, here’s what to tune into in June.

1. New York City Ballet's 21st Century Choreographers
(June 1)

Rather than sit out the spring season entirely, New York City Ballet is hosting a digital season on the company’ s website, YouTube channel, and Facebook page, presenting streams of two pre-recorded ballets per week, each available for 72 hours. Capping off 6 weeks replete with gorgeous Balanchine classics alongside the work of contemporary masters, the final program, 21st Century Choreographers, shines the spotlight on newgen talent. It is introduced by resident choreographer Justin Peck, and includes his “Easy,” set to music by Leonard Bernstein, along with excerpts from six other ballets: Pam Tanowitz’ “Bartók Ballet,” Alexei Ratmansky’s “Voices,” Gianna Reisen’s “Composer’s Holiday,” Kyle Abraham’s “The Runaway,” Peck’s “The Times Are Racing,” and Mauro Bigonzetti’s “Oltremare.” Catch them until 8 P.M. E.S.T. tonight, and consider donating to the New York City Ballet’s Relief Fund, which offers immediate support to the company’s family of dancers, musicians, and staff while they are unable to perform at Lincoln Center.

Photo credit: Erin Baiano
Photo credit: Erin Baiano

Watch New York City Ballet’s 21st Century Choreographers

2. We Are One: A Global Film Festival
(June 1 – 7)

More than 20 film festivals from around the world—Cannes, TIFF, and Tribeca included—have come together to curate We Are One, a festival hosted on YouTube running through June 7 that will benefit global COVID-19 relief efforts. “True to its mission, We Are One: A Global Film Festival will seek to bring artists, creators and curators together around an international event that celebrates the exquisite art of storytelling,” explains the event’s website. “In doing so, it will aim to provide not only solace and entertainment for audiences during a time when it’s needed most, but also opportunities for these individuals to give back through donations to the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Leket Israel, GO Foundation and Give2Asia, among others.” Featuring web series, virtual reality experiences, short films, and feature films, as well as panels with creatives like Tessa Thompson, Guillermo del Toro, Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon Ho, and Marina Abramović, the festival is completely free of charge; audiences are encouraged to donate what they can via donate buttons on each film page. Programming runs every day beginning at 7 A.M. E.S.T., and you can find the full schedule online.

Photo credit: Jeff Kravitz - Getty Images
Photo credit: Jeff Kravitz - Getty Images

Attend the We Ae One: A Global Film Festival

3. Pride Plays 2020 Festival
(June 5, 12, 19, and 26)

In partnership with Playbill and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, the Pride Plays 2020 Festival will feature a free livestream of a new or legacy work from the LGBTQIA+ theatrical canon every Friday in June at 7 P.M. E.S.T. Benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, one of the leading industry-based HIV/AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations, each event will be hosted on Playbill’s YouTube channel. “While we are disappointed that we can’t all be in the same room this year, we are looking forward to collaborating with over 150 artists from around the world,” said festival director Nick Mayo, Festival Producers Doug Nevin and Michael Urie, and Playbill editor-in-chief Mark Peikert in a statement. “We can’t wait to see the ideas and sparks of humanity that we know will emerge in the coming weeks from so many incredible LGBTQIA+ voices.” The festival’s lineup includes Brave Smiles…. Another Lesbian Tragedy; one in two; Masculinity Max; and The Men from the Boys and will culminate in a Pride Spectacular Concert on the evening of Sunday, June 28.

Photo credit: Courtesy Playbill
Photo credit: Courtesy Playbill

Attend the Pride Plays 2020 Festival

4. Brooklyn Museum’s Virtual First Saturdays: Pride!
(June 6)

The Brooklyn Museum is taking its popular First Saturdays programming virtual by hosting evenings of free art, performance, and music-based programming online every month. On June 6 between 6–10 P.M. E.S.T, you’ll able to tune into a stacked lineup of events celebrating Pride Month via Zoom, including music from rock band Palehound; a reading and conversation with authors Meredith Talusan and Zaina Arafat; a performance by Maria Bauman Dance Company; and a mixology class with bartender Ronny Jaramillo featuring special Pride cocktails and mocktails. To cap off the night, Brooklyn art and nightlife collective Papi Juice will be hosting DJ sets from Oscar Nñ and Adam R as well as a performance by 2019 Drag Queen of the Year West Dakota. Check the event page for the Zoom link.

Photo credit: Courtesy Brooklyn Museum
Photo credit: Courtesy Brooklyn Museum

Celebrate Pride with the Brooklyn Museum’s Virtual First Saturday

5. Dear Class of 2020
(June 6)

In an effort to celebrate recent high school and college graduates who weren’t able to participate in formal graduation ceremonies, YouTube is hosting Dear Class of 2020, a livestream special featuring appearances from a star-studded list of inspirational leaders and performers. Along with Barack and Michelle Obama, who will be delivering commencement addresses, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Lady Gaga, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Demi Lovato, Zendaya, Malala Yousafzai, Jennifer Lopez, Lizzo, and many others are slated to participate. Kicking off at 3 P.M. EST, the multi-hour program will feature talks on traditional graduation-day themes and live musical performances, as well as a crowd-sourced commencement speech featuring students from all around the world.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Watch Dear Class of 2020

6. Tony Awards Celebration
(June 7)

While the theater community has been hit especially hard by the effects of COVID-19, it’s banding together to ensure that the spirit of live performance lives on. In place of the 74th Tony Awards, which were originally slated for June 7 and have been postponed indefinitely, the newly launched streaming platform Broadway On Demand will be hosting an original special benefitting American Theater Wing and The Broadway League. The one-hour event will be available to stream on June 7 at 6 P.M E.S.T. on TonyAwards.com and BroadwayOnDemand.com. Hosted by Tony Award nominee Lonny Prince, the celebration is written by Tony nominee Karey Kirkpatrick, Steve Rosen, David Rossmer, Kate Wetherhead and Lauren Yee, with musical direction by Grammy Award winner Jason Howland and choreography by Sarah O’Gleby.

Photo credit: Courtesy Tony Awards
Photo credit: Courtesy Tony Awards


Watch the Tony Awards Celebration

7. Virtual Museum Mile Festival
(June 9)

Eight New York City museums normally join forces on the evening of the second Tuesday in June for a massive block party that runs up Fifth Avenue from 82nd to 110th Street. And this year these cultural institutions—The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Neue Galerie New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; The Jewish Museum; Museum of the City of New York; El Museo del Barrio; and The Africa Center—are going even bigger. From 9 A.M. to 9 P.M., each museum will host virtual exhibition tours, artist talks, music and dance performances, and other cultural happenings, streamed across their respective websites and social media platforms. The schedule will be listed on each participating museum’s website and you can also follow the hashtag #VirtualMuseumMile across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to keep up with the action.

Photo credit: Courtesy the Jewish Museum
Photo credit: Courtesy the Jewish Museum

Follow the Virtual Museum Mile Festival

8. Art Basel Online Viewing Rooms
(June 19 – 28)

In place of the modern and contemporary art fair held each summer in Basel, Switzerland, this year’s free and fully digital edition will feature 280 leading galleries from 35 countries in online viewing rooms. The platform seeks to connect galleries with new and existing collectors and art lovers worldwide during the COVID-19 crisis. New York gallery Jack Shainman has taken the message to heart: its presentation “Reach Out and Touch Me,” organized by curator Susan Thompson, presents 15 works by artists including Nick Cave, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Nina Chanel Abney that highlight moments of physical intimacy shared between loved ones—moments which feel all the more poignant in our era of social distancing.

Photo credit: Courtesy Jack Shainman
Photo credit: Courtesy Jack Shainman

Visit the Art Basel online viewing rooms

9. Maurizio Cattelan’s “Bedtime Stories”
(All month)

Tired of counting sheep? You’re not alone. And thanks to the New Museum and artist Maurizio Cattelan, there’s a better sleepy time solution for this strange period of vivid dreams and isolation. “Bedtime Stories” is a nightly podcast series, continuing through June, that features Cattelan’s friends and other creatives he admires reading a selection from their favorite book in smooth dulcet tones. Some have chosen a passage from a cherished novel or poem, while others, like Iggy Pop who reads an ode to his favorite dog, created an original work especially for the occasion. Highlights this month include Jeff Koons reading John Dewey’s aesthetic philosophy treatise “Art as Experience” and Takashi Murakami reading the screenplay to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, his favorite anime film.

Photo credit: Courtesy New Museum
Photo credit: Courtesy New Museum

Listen to “Bedtime Stories”

10. do it (around the world)
(All month)

Serpentine Galleries artistic director Hans-Ulrich Obrist’s do it project, which taps famous artists like Judy Chicago and Tracey Emin to share simple instructions for how to make an artwork that anyone can do, now has its own Google Arts and Culture hub. There you’ll find hundreds of archive DIY instructions plus a brand new series, do it (around the world), with new daily contributions coming from a range of creative figures including designers Demna Gvasalia and Grace Wales Bonner, filmmaker Leilah Weinraub, poet Precious Okoyomon, and musicians FKA twigs and Solange.

Photo credit: Courtesy Serpentine Galleries
Photo credit: Courtesy Serpentine Galleries

Learn how to make art with do it (around the world)

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