
BANDALOOP
BANDALOOP #PVDPublicCanvas
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Raising the dance floor up to the sky! While artists and musicians transformed Kennedy Plaza into a world-class festival, BANDALOOP transformed the sky above it into an awe-inspiring aerial performance incorporating spoken word and vocals by local collaborators including poet Christopher Johnson.

CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON
CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON
The poet laureate of PVD’s grassroots
Christopher’s performance history with FirstWorks dates back to its first street festival in 2004. At this year’s festival he will assemble talent from across the Creative Capital to collaborate with aerial dance troupe BANDALOOP on #PVDPublicCanvas, a community-driven performance.

DBR EN MASSE
DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN
En Masse
More than a deconstructed parade
After a show-stopping collaboration with local student musicians at last year’s PVDFest, the Haitian born, Harlem-based composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (aka DBR) returns for a massive musical spectacle in the shadow of the West Side’s iconic Cranston Street Armory.

Doppelganger Dance Collective
DOPPELGÄNGER DANCE COLLECTIVE
The Trail We Left Behind
Two is better than one when Rhode Island’s own Doppelgänger Dance Collective (DDC) takes the stage. Co-founding dancers Shura Baryshnikov and Danielle Davidson were drawn together to foster the creation and performance of original, contemporary choreographic work for duet.

Armory Animated by Art
ARMORY ANIMATED BY ART
A FirstWorks / AC+T initiative
Cranston St. Armory: Animated by Art uses the arts as a focal point to engage community stakeholders around envisioning a bright future and multiple creative uses for this historic site, built in 1907 in the heart of Providence’s West End neighborhood.

Bettye LaVette
BETTYE LAVETTE
The Great Lady of Soul
Bettye LaVette is a true legend of blues and soul with a career spanning more than 50 years – but it’s only within the last decade that she has truly earned recognition as one of America’s finest vocal talents. Huffington Post dubbed her “the High Priestess of R&B.”

Betty Bonifassi
BETTY BONIFASSI
One of Canada’s Great Vocalists
Montreal’s Betty Bonafassi is a true musical traveler, using her deep, booming voice to explore everything from jazz to electronic to American roots music. Her latest album, “Lomax”, revisits the turn-of-the-century slave songs recorded by famed ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Mixing modern electronics with early Delta roots and her signature contralto vocals, “Lomax” is Betty’s tour de force.

International Rebels
INTERNATIONAL REBELS
Two Local Legends, One Phenomenal Party
Rhode Island’s favorite hometown rapper joins forces with our own master of rhythm for a very special PVDFest performance. Chachi Carvalho and Sidy Maiga are the International Rebels. Combining Chachi’s poignant lyricism and positive hip-hop vibes with Sidy’s polyrhythms and propulsive energy, this special collaboration is sure to get the party started.

ETIENNE CHARLES CREATIVE CONVERSATION
CREATIVE CONVERSATION WITH ETIENNE CHARLES
The Importance of Art Education
This young jazz master from Trinidad defies easy categorization – a student of pan-Caribbean music, as fluent in the horn riffs of New Orleans brass as he is the Spanish rhythms of the islands. Etienne Charles will discuss the many influences in his life and education that have helped shape his career.
RSVP Required
RSVP Required

Mike Boston and the Mobile Stu
MIKE BOSTON AND THE MOBILE STU
A movement and a mobile recording studio
Mike Boston is a rapper-entrepreneur-activist who has gained local and national attention as the founder of Mobile Stü, a mobile studio he takes into tough urban areas to give inner-city kids a voice—and to collaborate musically with police officers.