Past Events
Sunday Service 2025
On this sacred Sunday, February 23rd, Beyond the Black Box gathered in community to honor our ancestors, nourish our spirits, and call each other into deeper care and action. With free chicken and biscuits from Faye tha Foodie, a live community mural led by Yetunde Sapp, and a communal altar created and held by Queen Ravenden, the space became both sanctuary and celebration. The air filled with the voices of a gospel choir featuring Fatima Jamal, Kyle Kidd, and Omololu Tunde, and together we moved through ancestral breathwork led by Karine Plantadit, grounding us in the tools our ancestors left for us to build a freer future. Dominica Greene held space for an open forum, where we spoke truth and offered tangible ways to show up for each other in these challenging times. We closed the evening with a powerful performance by Cemiyon Barber and gave each attendee their literal and metaphorical flowers, generously donated by Greenpoint Florist. Sunday Service wasn’t just an event — it was a reminder of what’s possible when we gather, heal, create, and build together.
BBB WEEK 2024
BBB returned to Triskelion Arts from September 17–19th 2024 with The “Black Black Black” Week, a three-day celebration of dance, community, and connection. Each night featured choreography showcases by artists Kashia Kancey, Chalvar Monteiro, JOYBOY, Black Lazarus, Damontae Hack, and Claude Cj Johnson.
Doors opened at 6 PM for community activities, including a collaborative mural, photo booth, curated cocktails, soul food, breathwork, and meditation. Performances began at 7:30 PM, starting with a guided breathwork session and live African drumming.
The theme, FAMILY REUNION, united artists and attendees in a shared space of reflection, celebration, and connection. Thank you to everyone who joined us.
JUNETEENTH 2024
We celebrate Juneteenth by throwing a LIT party at House of Yes this year, with over 6,000 RSVPs and so much love from the community! DJs Spinelli, Daniro, KenDollaz, and JayVic kept us dancing all night long, while guests enjoyed a cookout by Elevate Cater NYC, a Dreams & Portals altar installation by Mawu, a collective mural led by Yetunde Sapp, and custom nail art by Jalen Dominique. The night featured massages by Bobby the Experience, live hair art by Tim Daly, the Black History Kink Wheel, and film portraits by Reese. Performances by Twin Eclipse, Sage Sovereign, the Brooklyn United Marching Band, and more made it truly unforgettable.
BBB WEEK 2023
In September 2023, BBB hosted a week-long event series at Triskelion Arts called The Black Black Black Week, with the theme of Blaxploitation. This culturally significant gathering of dancers, choreographers, and multidisciplinary artists included live mural painting, an active photo booth, dominoes and card games, soul train lines, and Black artists selling artisinal goods like shea butter and self-made oils.
Each night’s performance started with a guided breathwork and meditation experience accompanied by an African drummer to center our collective energy. The line-up included duendita, Dorchel&Hakeem, Jada Jenai, Claude CJ Johnson, Kashia Kancey, Lamb, Ashley Pierre-Louis, and (of course) your BBB team—and made for a Black-Ass night!
JUNETEENTH 2023
BBB celebrated Juneteenth by throwing an ICONIC party for their first collaboration with House of Yes! With over 2,000 RSVP’s and a packed house all night long, we are so grateful to have provided this celebration for our community for FREE! More than a dance party, we offered free tattoos by Dexter Ambrosius, live hair braiding by Tim Daly, and our signature community mural hosted by Chantal Stone. Twin Eclipse, Sage Sovereign, The Brooklyn United Marching Band, and BBB’s dance collective uplifted the experience with their performances. Mi Za Plaz Cater catered. We were also happy to host a Juneteenth offering ceremony influenced by the Akan and Senegalese altar traditions, initiated by Mawu. This was TRULY A VIBRANT AND ETHEREAL BLACK ENTERTAINMENT experience, and together we uplifted Black joy and freedom through dance and ritual!
The BBB Gala
On February 11th, 2023, Beyond the Black Box hosted a Winter Gala at Triskelion Arts. This evening commenced with breath work lead by Karine Plantadit and was followed with performances by Chanel Stone, Cemiyon Barber, and Eric and Erica Parra: Parra La Gente. We kept our tradition of fostering a community mural to sponsor new connections amongst the attendees, and a memento of the night. A special cocktail menu crafted by our partner, El Silencio, and hors dourves catered by @krisdabronxvegan. Thanks to the support, we were successful in raising money for our full year of programming!
BBB: The First Event
The founding artists of Beyond the Black Box recognized how most dance events in NYC center around sitting in a quiet theater, so we sought to change this by hosting an evening to sponsor community engagement. On September 24th, 2022, the BBB team brought this vision to life. Partnering with Triskelion Arts, we held space for something larger than a dance event. This first experience, at the time called Beyond the Black Box, focused on uplifting and expanding the Black dance community. We offered an experience-based flea market on-site that included hair braiding, stick-n-poke tattooing, a drum circle, a community mural, double dutch, a vegan chef, and more. At sunset, Chantal Stone, a BBB community member and the Mother of our Founder, led a special trauma release ceremony to bring the community together and segway into the evening’s performance. The evening was hosted by The Dragon Sisters, with performances by Christine Shepard, Christina Rae, Jon Joni, Cemiyon Barber and Chanel Stone. In the heart of Greenpoint, where Black queer representation is scarce, Beyond the Black Box intended to connect the community, even for a day, and showcase the beauty and versatility of Black performance art.
“We came together and wrote our traumas on paper that we glued to the body of a sculpture Chantal created. The glue smeared the pigment of the colored pencils, creating a rich textured vibrant layer of dress over the sculpture. We named her Oshun. By giving her our collective traumas she will transform them into something stronger, resilient, and fortified with the love and support of our greater community.” – Chanel Stone
Partnerships
Cadence X Beyond the Black Box 2023
Cadence, a vegan soul food restaurant in NYC's East Village, dedicated a dessert to our organization Beyond the Black Box in honor of Black History Month! At the end of the month, we received 100% of the proceeds. We'd like to thank Sharif Stone for making this happen, as well as Chef Shenarri Greens for creating the most incredible dessert.
Triskelion Arts X Beyond the Black Box
Beyond the Black Box was born at Triskelion Arts, which has served as an incubator for our organization's growth. They assisted us in producing our first event, as well as our first annual gala. Triskelion Arts was the first organization to offer us funding, resources, and guidance. We would not be here without their assistance.