Events in the Neighborhood, August 20–26

     You don’t need training to learn and enjoy the traditional dances unique to West Africa. African dances are largely participatory, with spectators being part of the performance.

     Free. Monday evening at 6:30 on Pat’s Lawn in Inwood Hill Park; enter on 218th Street. Through August 27.

     Start your day out right with a Sunrise Tai Chi class.

     Let by certified Tai Chi Instructor Robert Martinez on a spot overlooking the Hudson River and the Palisades.

     These classes are suitable for all levels. Wear comfortable clothing and take a bottle of water.

     Wednesday morning at 6:30 on the Lindon Terrace in Fort Tryon Park. Through August 29.

     Stretch and strengthen your entire body while calming and centering your mind with a full range of yoga poses—along with breath work and meditation.

     Students of all levels are welcome at these free classes, offered on the lawn with mats and props provided. Classes are taught by Molly Ginty, a veteran instructor with two decades of experience.

     Free. Thursday evenings at 6 at the Morris-Jumel Mansion on Jumel Terrace. Through August 30.

     Join Morris-Jumel gardener Karen Waltuch and  naturalist Ivan Kuraev for a morning of exploration in Roger Morris Park.

     While only 1.8 acres in size, it’s full of fascinating native and introduced species of plants and animals.

     August is also the beginning of autumn migration, so you may get to spot many birds on their trips southward. Take your binoculars!

     Advanced registration strongly suggested. To reserve your spot email publicprograms@morrisjumel.org.

     $10. Saturday morning from 9 to 10:30 in the Lower WaHi park on Jumel Terrace.

     Every Saturday (weather permitting), Northern Manhattan Parks Inwood Astronomy Project offers free star and planet gazing in Inwood Hill Park. These free, family-friendly events aim to spread the joys of the evening sky, and help you to learn more about the nature of our Solar System and current happenings in Astronomy.
     This week’s sky updates come from StarDate.
     Saturday nights from 8 to 10 on the ball fields near Seaman Avenue and Isham Street in Inwood. A map is here.

     If you like outdoor geometry, get out in the streets for sunrise and sunset when the shadows line up with the streets.

      The “Manhattanhenge” effect works Uptown on days different from the rest of the island’s.

      To see the sun line up with the streets in Hudson Heights (on 181st Street in the photo), where the street grid is aligned differently from most of the borough, get out on April 18; it’s also on August 26 in Hudson Heights Henge (Fort George Henge is on the same dates as Manhattan, and Inwood Henge is on January 23 — the grid there is so katy-wompus that the sun aligns when it is due “south”). In the spring, the date for Hudson Heights is April 18.

     The effect works below 174th and above 174th if you go east of Broadway (for sunrise: sunset views may be blocked by buildings to the west). So if you want to see Manhattanhenge, as it’s dubbed, hope for clear skies on May 30 and June 12.

     Sunday at dawn and dusk in Hudson Heights.

     You can look for the dates in all the city’s neighborhoods on this map from Carto.

     You live on an island, so take the chance to see it from the Hudson.

     The Hudson River Community Sailing club offers free sails to land-lubbers yearning for open water.

     The club maintains several sailboats Uptown, including a 28-foot picket cruiser and four Hobie Waves.

     Register here.

     Free. Sunday between 10 and 3:30 at the Dyckman Marina in Inwood.

     The High Bridge—New York City’s oldest standing bridge—is a landmark that connects walkers and cyclists from Manhattan and the Bronx.
     The High Bridge is a path from the neighborhoods of Washington Heights to Highbridge in the Bronx, and is accessible from both boroughs.
     Free. Daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Enter from Highbridge Park, in Lower WaHi on Amsterdam Avenue in the 170s.

     Every month aspiring Uptown writers try out new works in front of freinds and neighbors.

      This month’s theme: Mother and Fathers.

      Above the Bridge Writers’ Café is a playground for writers, a place to encourage and cultivate neighborhood writers and provide them with an audience for their work. Writers may submit five minutes of material of any genre or style (poetry, plays, fiction, non-fiction, blogs, etc.) that reflect the month’s theme. 

     Pieces are chosen by the Above the Bridge selection team. For details, contact abovethebridge@gmail.com.

     Free. A Monday night, usually at 8, at Le Cheile in Hudson Heights on Fort Washington Avenue at Cebrini Boulevard at a time announced to the participants.

     A New York farmers’ market is open Thursdays on 175th Street between Wadsworth Avenue and  Broadway.

    The Inwood greenmarket is a year-round neighborhood favorite.
    People of all ages, backgrounds, and tastes gather each Saturday to meet and greet their friends and neighbors and do their weekly shopping. Even on the coldest, darkest winter Saturdays, loyal Inwood shoppers come out because they know they can’t get products like this anywhere else.
     A core group of 15 farmers attends every week of the year, and during the peak of the season, five more join to round out the offerings with the summer’s bounty.
     Saturdays from 8 to 3 on Isham Street between Seaman Avenue and Cooper Street.

     From late spring through the late autumn, a greenmarket in Lower WaHi offers Mexican herbs, peppers, and greens, honey, cheese, juice pressed from ripe orchard fruit, produce grown in the rich soil of Orange County’s “Black Dirt” region, pastries and fresh bread. You can also take your food scraps for composting and used textiles for recycling.

     You can also take your food scraps for composting and used textiles for recycling.

     Saturdays in the spring and summer on Fort Washington Avenue at 168th Street. On hiatus until spring.

     Clean out your closets and recycle at the same time.
     Bring clean and dry textiles like clothing, paired shoes, towels, sheets, scarves, hats, bags and belts for reuse or recycling. Sponsored by Grow NYC.
     Free. Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Inwood Greenmarket (in Inwood Hill Park) on Isham Street between Seaman Avenue and Cooper Street.

     You don’t have to go to Fifth Avenue to see suits of armor anymore.

     This spring and summer a site-specific art project turns the lawn near the Cloisters into a modern display of medieval costume.

     The Icelandic artist Steinunn Thorarinsdottir positions each of three figures in a suit of armor that was cast from a custom 3D scan of a carefully chosen suit of armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.

     Famous and up-and-coming artists perform at Eliot’s weekly sessions and her free concerts are legendary among jazz aficionados.

     Free. Sunday afternoons at 4 at 555 Edgecombe Avenue, Apt. 3F, in Lower WaHi.

     When the weather hot and humid, the city  opens cooling shelters so those who don’t have air conditioning can spend the day comfortably.

     The map of locations is available here.

     The Indian dancer Gaurav Ajmera invites you to a devotional and musical interlude as he performs Arangetram , the debut of his classical Indian dance.

     This devotional form concentrates the body, soul and spirit into a spiritual rebirth through balance, posture, mudras (forms), and bhavas (feelings). The dance form has its origin in Indian mythology and through history is believed to be the dance form to show devotion to lords. A meal precedes the performance.

     $25 (meal included). Saturday afternoon, September 1, at 2:30 at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 175th Street.

     The Washington Heights Music Fest in collaboration with W.H.A.M. hosts a monthly open mic for artists, poets, singers, writers and performers. Refreshments will be provided.

     All ages are welcome, so the acts should be appropriate for everyone. Hosted by Jason Rosario.

     $5. Friday night, September 7, from 6 to 9 at the Word Up Community Book Shop in Lower WaHi on Amsterdam Avenue at 165th Street. On the first Friday of the month.

     Commemorating the arrival of the brutal sport to the American shores, a nineteenth-century boxing match comes to Manhattan’s oldest house.

     Witness an authentic reenactment of a boxers sparring in an outdoor ring, performed by stage combat professionals.

     Free. Saturday afternoon, September 8, from 4 to 6 on the grounds of Morris-Jumel Mansion in Lower WaHi on Jumel Terrace.

     You’ve heard about it but you can’t quite imagine how this architectural confection came to be in WaHi.

     So here’s your chance to explore this stunning 3,400-seat theater, its mezzanine, grand foyer, balcony, exterior and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to go up on stage.
     Reservation is required here.

     The history of United Palace, Manhattan’s fourth-largest theater and now a landmarked building, began in 1930, when it was then one of five Loew’s “Wonder Theatres” across the boroughs and New Jersey. Designed by noted architect Thomas Lamb (Cort Theatre, the former Ziegfeld Theatre) with interiors overseen by decorative specialist Harold Rambusch (Waldorf Astoria, Radio City Music Hall), it was one of the region’s premier vaudeville and movie houses.

     Free. Sunday morning, September 9, at 10 at the theater in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 175th Street. On the second Sunday of the month.

     In Godspell, a modern-day gospel,  young New Yorkers who leave their jobs to form a community of loveable disciples to follow Jesus Christ and enact the parables through song and dance before culminating in Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion.

      An outdoor screening, so take a blanket and a snack.

      Free. Friday night, September 14, at 7 in Roger Morris Park on Jumel Terrace.

     Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at Manhattan’s oldest house.

     There will be lots of fun-filled games and activities for families and special dishes prepared for all to enjoy.

     Free with admission. Saturday, September 15, from 11 to 1 at the Morris-Jumel Mansion in Lower WaHi on Jumel Terrace.

     Why should kids get to have all the fun?

     Join Morris-Jumel gardener Karen Waltuch for an inspired afternoon of garden-related colonial and modern crafts for adults.

     You can take a short tour of the gardens to discuss traditional plant uses, and then head to the colonial kitchen to fabricate homemade items to take home and enjoy.

     If time allows, you may have the opportunity to make tea sachets, soaps, or infused oils. Advanced registration strongly suggested, at
publicprograms@morrisjumel.org.

     $30; members and students, $25. Saturday afternoon, September 22, at 2 at the Morris-Jumel Mansion on Jumel Terrace.

     The reading series Bloom presents a variety of authors and genres.

     Bloom’s literary readings and discussions will get you to shake off your assumptions and think hard about everything. The evening includes wine and light fare. Pleasant as a tea party, but with booze and cutting-edge writing. More information at www.bloomreadings.org.

    $7 suggested donation. Sunday evening, September 23, at 5 in The Lounge of Hudson View Gardens, in Hudson Heights on Pinehurst Avenue at 183rd Street. Monthly on the third Sunday, September through May.

     The Tigers come from Princeton to meet the Lions as Columbia opens its Ivy League home football season in a rare pre-Saturday game.

     Friday night, September 28, at 6 at the Baker Athletic Complex in Inwood.

     Christian Jesus González Nodal, the Mexican singer-songwriter of mariachi music who is best known for his debut single, “Adiós Amor,” will make a New York stop in Upper Manhattan.

     $100–$350. Saturday night, September 29, at 7 at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 175th Street.

     Marist visits Columbia for this week’s college matchup.

     Saturday afternoon, October 6, at 1 on Kraft Field at the Baker Athletic Complex in Inwood.

     Known throughout Latin America for her romantic ballads, Miriam Hernández, is a Chilean singer-songwriter and television presenter. She’s coming to Upper Manhattan for a performance.

     $80–$250. Sunday night, October 7, at 7 at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 165th Street.

     Carolina Giraldo Navarro, better known by her stage name Karol G, the Colombian reggaeton singer and songwriter, is making a stop in our neck of the woods.

     $75–$240. Thursday night, October 11, at 8 at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 165th Street.

     Hear the most beloved music and songs from Metal Gear performed live, with the most memorable moments from the video game projected on a giant screen.

     More than 70 musicians will perform on stage, plus giant screen HD game video projection, with singer Donna Burke.

     The show features more than 70 musicians on stage, and debuted in Japan before moving to Los Angeles. After the Washington Heights performance, it moves to Paris. For ages 13 and up.

     $44 to $119. Friday night, October 13, at 8 at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 175th Street.

     The Big Green journey from bucolic New Hampshire to take on the Lions in this week’s Uptown intra-league football matchup.

     Saturday afternoon, October 20, at 1:30 later in Inwood at the Baker Athletic Complex.

     Join the Friends Committee of the Fort Tryon Park Trust at its monthly beautification day, this time planting bulbs for spring blooms.

     Columbia hosts Yale as Ivy League football continues Uptown.

     Saturday afternoon, October 27, at 1 on Kraft Field at the Baker Athletic Complex in Inwood.

     Quite literally a blast from the past, the renowned vocal group TENET Vocal Artists considers ars subtilior (the more subtle art)—the experimental music created by a handful of renegade medieval musicians whose work was so shocking and ahead of its time that it would disappear for over half a millennium.

     This site-specific performance features TENET Vocal Artists with guest musicians from all over the world.

     $55; children, $1 (really!). Saturday afternoon, November 3, at 1 and 3 in the Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park.

   Latin pop artists Sebastian Yatra & Manuel Turizo perform regaeton and trap music for their Uptown fans.

     $180 to $389. Sunday evening, November 4, at 6 at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 175th Street.

     The Lions close out the gridiron season hosting its Ivy League rivals, the Cornell Bears.

     Saturday afternoon, November 17, at 1 in the Baker Athletic Complex in Inwood.

     The chaos and cacophony of the busy city inspired some of the most innovative composers in Renaissance London.

     Sonnambula will perform Orlando Gibbons's famous “Cries of London,” from the night watchman announcing the 3 o’clock hour to the closing of the market at the end of the day—in the urban oasis of Fort Tryon Park.

     $55; children, $1 (<— not a typo). Saturday afternoon, November 17, at 3 in the The Fuentidueña Chapel of the Cloisters Museum.

     Zacarías Ferreira, the Bachata artist from the Dominican Republic, is performing Uptown.

     $80–$250. Saturday night, November 17, at 7 at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 175th Street.

     Since there’s no beach in WaHi, come to an improvised version and settle in for a film with sand galore.

      A British lieutenant is sent to Arabia to find Prince Faisal and serve as a liaison between the Arabs and the British in their fight against the Turks.

      Lawrence of Arabia dramatizes the story with Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness and a cast of thousands.

     Sunday evening, November 18, at a time to bea nnounced later, at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 175th Street.

     The Macs open their home season hosting Skyline Conference rivals Sarah Lawrence.

     Tuesday night, November 20, at a time to be announced later in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     The Dominican Urban Fest brings music, performers and more to El Alto.

     $200–$400. Friday night, November 23, at 7 at the United Palace Theatre in Lower WaHi on Broadway at 175th Street.

     Williams College comes to the Heights for a game against Yeshiva.

     Sunday, November 25, at a time to be announced later in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     The Macs resume conference play when they host St. Joseph’s College, from Brooklyn.

     Tuesday night, November 27, at a time to be announced later in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     The Dolphins of Mount Saint Vincent find their way to Fort George for a Skyline League basketball game against the Macs of Yeshiva.

     Saturday night, Decmeber 1, at 8:30 in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     Saint Joseph’s College of Long Island makes the journey to the Heights to play the Macs.

     Tuesday night, December 4, at a time to be announced later in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     Maritime College docks at Fort George when they play Yeshiva in intra-leage matchup.

     Saturday night, December 8, at 8:30 in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     The United States Merchant Mariners come ashore at Fort George to visit the Macs for Skyline League action.

     Thursday night, December 13, at a time to be announced later in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     Moravian College braves the Heights to take on the Macs at their Yeshiva home.

     Wednesday night, December 19, at 8 in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     Experience an all-new chamber music version of contemporary master John Adams's Christmas oratorio, El Niño, arranged for the forces of the American Modern Opera Company and adapted for the intimate setting of The Fuentidueña Chapel.

     Featuring Julia Bullock, soprano, and Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor.

     $65; take your kids for $1. Friday and Saturday evenings, December 21 and 22, at 5:30 at the Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park.

     Celebrate Christmas with a program of intimate Canciones (popular tunes with poetic texts), joyful Villancicos (songs with rustic themes), and virtuosic instrumental pieces, all drawn from the Cancionero Musical de Palacio, a manuscript found at the Royal Palace of Madrid which exemplifies the Spanish Golden Age of music.

     A performance by Esteban La Rotta, lute and guitar, with Sonnambula.

     $65; children $1. Sunday, December 23, at 1 and 3 in the Fuentidueña Chapel of The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park.

     City College of New York treks Uptown for a matchup with the Macs.

     Thursday night, December 27, at 8 in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     Skyline League action resumes when the Macs host Mount Saint Mary College.

     Tuesday night, January 29, at a time to be announced later in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     Sonnambula teams up with acclaimed author and photographer Teju Cole in a dynamic performance of music, spoken word, and photo installation that celebrates the work of Leonora Duarte, the only known woman composer of viol music in the 17th century.

     $55; children $1. Saturday night, February 2, at 7 in the Fuentidueña Chapel of the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park.

     The College at Old Westbury rolls into WaHi to play the Macs in more Skyline League action.

     Tuesday night, February 5, at a time to be announced later in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     Purchase College visits Yeshiva for a night of intra-league hoops.

     Tuesday, February 12, at a time to be announced later in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     The Macs close out the regular season with a home game against Skyline rivals, Farmingdale State College.     

     Saturday night, February 16, at 8:30 in the Max Stern Athletic Center on the campus in Fort George.

     This captivating male vocal sextet is named in honor of Queen Elizabeth I.

     Based at Windsor Castle, Queen’s Six sing together every day for services and both private and state occasions, frequently before members of the royal family.

     Enjoy the royal treatment yourself as they perform everything from early chant, to vivid Renaissance polyphony, to racy madrigals.

     $55; take the kids for $1. Sunday afternoon, February 24, at 1 and 3 in the Fuentidueña Chapel of The Cloisters in Fort Tron Park.

     The Lions host the Columbia Open for teams around the region, though you’ll have to jump on the GWB or PATH to get there.

     Saturday morning, April 13, at 8 at the Montclair, N.J., Country Club.

     ModernMedieval Trio of Voices was created by Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, a former member of the vocal quartet Anonymous 4, with Martha Cluver and Eliza Bagg (from the celebrated ensemble Roomful of Teeth) rounding out the trio.

     Following their triumphant debut at The Met in 2016, they return with a fresh repertoire of medieval and contemporary works in a program designed specifically for The Fuentidueña Chapel.

     $55; children, $1. Saturday afternoon, April 13, at 1 and 3 at The Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park.

     Only in New York ...
     One day late in most springs, The Great and Glorious Grand Army of The Bronx comes together to claim the neighborhood of Marble Hill which, the group suggests, belongs to the only borough on the mainland on the basis that it was annexed by Bronx Borough President James Lyons in the 1930s.
     Care to fight back? Everyone is welcome, even hecklers.
     Free. A Saturday morning in early May, beginning with pre-invasion cocktails; the battle of Marble Hill commences soon thereafter.

     Rarely heard live, Praetorius's dances from Terpsichore, named for the Greek muse of the dance, display uncommon composition.

      In this landmark program, Sonnambula brings together the nation’s leading interpreters of Renaissance repertoire for an evening of unforgettable phantasmagoric splendor.

     Saturday, June 1, at 3 in the Fuentidueña Chapel of The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park.

     The annual Drums Along the Hudson began in 2002 as a traditional Pow Wow to celebrate Native American heritage and culture, and also to commemorate the Lenape people who first inhabited Inwood Hill Park, or Shorakapok (“edge of the water”).

     The event features dancers and drummers from around the world, combining Native American heritage, culture and art with the diversity of New York City. Activities include a Tree of Peace planting, international cuisine, Native American storytelling, a Pow Wow and crafts.
     The event has attracted a growing audience, numbering from 400 in the first year to over 8,000 in recent years.
     Free. A Sunday in early June in Inwood Hill Park at Indian Road and 218th Street.