Photo by Randl Bye & Melissa Sobel

Dancefusion, a West Philly-based dance company, was founded by Artistic Director Gwendolyn Bye who grew up in Powelton Village. Celebrating 35 years this year, the company will be presenting ENVISIONS at the Philly FringeArts Festival in collaboration with The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble from New York City.

The program will feature both companies with three performances on September 9 at 7:00 p.m. and September 10 at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine Street in Philadelphia.

Dancefusion will present two pieces by Pauline Koner, a visionary dancer and choreographer. Concertino (1955) is set to music by Unico Wilheim van Wassenaer. The dance, using the flavor of court dances, depicts a Lady and her ladies-in-waiting in three facets of the Lady’s life. The second work is an excerpt from Koner’s monumental solo The Farewell (1962), set to Gustav Mahler’s The Song of the Earth. Dancefusion will add a third innovative, fun work for the company, Forces in G: Ode to a Ball, choreographed by Rachel Kantra Beal to music by J.S. Bach. Continue Reading

Residents of Spruce Hill, Cedar Park, Garden Court and other West Philly neighborhoods will have a chance to hear from some local Democratic political candidates this week, ahead of the May 17 primary election. The 27th Ward of the Philadelphia Democratic Committee is hosting a Candidates’ Forum on Thursday, April 21, at 7 p.m. with the following participants:

• State Rep. Rick Krajewski, incumbent (188th District)

• State Rep. Candidate James Wright (188th District)

• State Senator Anthony H. Williams, incumbent (8th District)

• State Senator Candidate Paul Prescod (8th District) Continue Reading

Gretchen Elise (right) and funk bassist Marcy Francis (Screenshot from “Thank You” video).

Local singer-songwriter, educator and youth advocate Gretchen Elise is excited to share the news that “from the depths of the pandemic” she is releasing a new, joyful and danceable West Philly-centric single, “Thank You”. The video for the song was filmed in Clark Park, One Art Community Center and other locations in West Philly and features local jazz and arts community members.

The song celebrates arts educator Tim Gibbon, the former director of the Picasso Project, an arts education program in Philadelphia public schools for which she served as director and currently is a teaching artist. Elise solicited words about Gibbon from more than 30 of his colleagues.

“She is different,” shares Leo Gadson, Producers Guild jazz promoter. “She is caring. She is all about lifting other people up. She makes sure that her people connect, different mediums, different demographics.” Continue Reading

The family and friends of Haroon Sharifi, a West Philly resident with Afghan roots, who was stuck in Afghanistan for days after the Taliban takeover of the country, can now breathe a sigh of relief. Haroon arrived back in the United States on August 24th and has made his way back home to West Philly, according to information provided by his West Philly friends. But it took a joint effort by Haroon’s wife, Awista Hashimi (she had stayed in Philadelphia with their five children), and his West Philly friends and neighbors to bring him back home.

Earlier this month Haroon, a permanent resident who along with his wife and children was granted asylum in the U.S. five years ago, made an emergency trip to Kabul to help his family secure medical care for his seriously ill mother. His return flight was scheduled to take place last Monday, the day the airport closed to commercial flights after the Taliban takeover. Continue Reading

Amen Brown (Photo from pahouse.com).

Amen Brown, a first-term lawmaker representing Philadelphia’s 190th Legislative District, which includes several West Philly neighborhoods, joined Attorney General Josh Shapiro this week to announce an historic agreement with the state’s largest gun show promoter, Eagle Arms, to ban sales of “ghost gun” kits at its shows. Brown reached out to the Eagle Arms owner and explained the devastation these kits were doing to the West Philadelphia communities he represents and communities across the city and the state.

“Ghost guns,” also known as “80 percent receivers,” are partially manufactured firearms that can be fairly easily fashioned into working guns. They typically have no commercial serial numbers. Nearly 250 ghost guns were recovered in Philadelphia last year. Continue Reading

Haven Philly co-owners Marcus Hall (left) and Chris Scott.

This is a precarious time to open a business, but Marcus Hall believes he may have hit on a remedy for those stay-at-home blues.

Hall and partner Chris Scott launched likely the city’s first board game rental service on Saturday in West Philly (and eventually a full blown board game café near 51st and Baltimore). Haven Philly offers contactless drop off and pick up of board games in the West Philly zip codes of 19143, 19139 and 19104.

We’re talking everything from classics like checkers, Scrabble and Sorry to newer games like Catan and Ticket to Ride and, yes, even Pandemic. They have some 200 games available. Rental costs will be based on the game’s purchase price. Games that cost under $20, for example, will be available for $2.50 per day with a slight discount for multiple days (up to five days total).  Continue Reading