Neighbor News
I Love NY/ Path Through History Events at Jay Estate
The life of native New Yorker John Jay is illuminated through 2 FREE performances in one day.
First at 11am see a tableau of "Striving For Freedom" which highlights John Jay's anti-slavery legacy. The play presents the nuances and contradictions of Jay’s ownership of slaves and simultaneous founding of the New York Manumission Society and abolition of slavery in his native state. Children are invited on to the stage to recreate true events - the separation, emancipation and final reunion of two sisters, Mary and Clarinda, who were likely born into slavery in Rye on the Jay Estate but died free. JHC is dedicated to presenting programs like this that examine the evolution of our American government and system of beliefs. "The struggle to maintain a democratic society is one of our greatest challenges we face as a people. One important function of the Jay Heritage Center [is] to remind Americans of the struggles of the framers of the constitution and the courts and to connect those struggles with present day concerns about civil rights and civil liberties. The Center thus becomes a forum for creative problem solving and the exploration of difficult issues that effect each of our lives." -- Gretchen Sullivan Sorin. The play stars Joy Kelly and Christa Victoria.
At 3pm enjoy "Arts & Letters of Our Founding Fathers" presented by Jefferson Carriage - carrying the audience back in time, with music from Jefferson's library...
How did Alexander Hamilton meet Elizabeth Schuyler? How did John Jay meet Sarah Livingston? Dancing! Fortnightly balls and stylish evenings of entertainment called the Dance Assemblies included lively music, dancing and a chance for young Founding Guys to meet their future partners.
Drawing from the vast music library of violinist President Thomas Jefferson, with dance and song also known to President George Washington, Arts & Letters concerts bring history to life, tying historical spaces to the arts and culture of the era. Reflecting the world of Founding Fathers John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and their peers, the program includes music of internationally popular musicians of their day, Johann Christian Bach, Luigi Boccherini, and American composer Francis Hopkinson, with dramatic readings from letters and journal entries to set the scene, enhanced by re-creations of historical social dances of the era, with dancers in period costume to further illuminate the social culture of Colonial life.
Featuring Grant Herreid, instrumentalist, singer and narrator, with Leah Nelson on Baroque violin, and early keyboard specialist Dongsok Shin on harpsichord, this program is a collaboration with the New York Baroque Dance Company's Touchstone Project, Caroline Copeland and Matthew Ting, Baroque dancers.
Both programs are suitable for all ages. FREE with funding in part provided through a grant by Con Edison.
The Jay Heritage Center at the Jay Estate
210 Boston Post Road, Rye, NY 10580
