The Apollo Theater: Health Festival

apollo1

The Apollo audience

THE APOLLO THEATER: THE 2ND ANNUAL HARLEM HEALTHY SOUL FESTIVAL

Event Will Educate the Community about Local Health Resources and Feature Fitness Demonstrations, Family Activities, Live Music, and More

Hosted by celebrity health expert Dr. Ian Smith

Featuring a Special Performance by R&B Star Faith Evans. An Appearance by Darian “Big Tigger” Morgan & Sports Activities with the NY Knicks

Saturday, September 13, 12-6PM

Free and Open to the Public

The Apollo Theater will present its second annual community initiative focused on family wellness—Harlem Healthy Soul Festival, on Saturday, September 13, 2014 from 12pm – 6pm. Building on the Apollo Theater’s role as a community resource and gathering place, Harlem Healthy Soul Festival is designed to serve as a platform for Harlem families to learn about the numerous community health resources to live active and vibrant lives.

This daylong, free event will transform the Apollo building and 126th Street behind the Theater into a fairground filled with health and educational resources, live music, and family fun. The Festival will be hosted by celebrity health expert Dr. Ian Smith, who will provide tips on healthy living, lead discussions on the health challenges prevalent in the Harlem community, and interview other health experts and celebrity artists. In addition to being a New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Smith is a co-host of The Doctors TV show, a medical contributor to The Rachael Ray Show and host of the nationally syndicated radio show Health Watch.

On 126th Street, there will be a host of offerings for the whole family including health screenings, sports activities with the NY Knicks, fitness and nutrition-based cooking demonstrations, health services, a Children’s Pavilion and other interactive programming. The Festival will offer screenings testing blood pressure, BMI, HIV, hepatitis, and other health issues. There will also be health education resources addressing some of Harlem’s most critical health concerns, including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, childhood asthma and more. Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Community Affairs and Diversity at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. John M. Palmer, serves as the health advisor for the Festival.

Harlem Healthy Soul Festival will also include live entertainment under the Apollo’s iconic marquee, health presentations by celebrities, doctors, and experts as well as a special performance by muti-platinum Grammy Award winning R&B singer Faith Evans, on the Apollo mainstage. Faith will also talk to the audience about her own health challenges and how she has managed to overcome them. 

The Harlem Healthy Soul Festival, which launched in July 2013, is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, with additional support from EmblemHealth.

Community Partners Include: For Health Screenings & Information:

Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement; Harlem Hospital Center; Harlem United; Iris House; Ki Energy Wellness Center; District 620 of Alcoholics Anonymous; Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine; William F. Ryan Community Health Center, and others.

For Family Fun Activities & Information:

“Asking for More”/Eric Lockley; Abada-Capoeira NYC; Apollo Education Instrument Making; Dance Theatre of Harlem; Double Dutch Empire; Fabulous Face Painting; Fort Washington Collegiate Church Step; Harlem Children’s Zone; Harlem Seeds; Harlem YMCA; Harriet Tubman Zumba Fitness/Wendy Meija ; Kenny J Line Dancing; Sparkle Tiger Face Painting; Watch Your Mouth-Susie Q Fitness, and others.

Additional space provided by: Harriet Tubman Learning Center- C.S.154

To learn more about the Harlem Healthy Soul Festival, please visit:www.Harlemhealthysoulfestival.com.

The legendary Apollo Theater— the soul of American culture— plays a vital role in cultivating emerging talents and launching legends. Since its founding, the Apollo has served as a center of innovation, and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world.

With music at its core, the Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, performance art, spoken word initiatives, and more.  Recent highlights have included James Brown: Get on the Good Foot, which will begin an international tour in 2015, the Africa Now! Festival and Apollo Club Harlem. The Apollo is a presenting organization that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and music work. The Apollo’s vision is global and includes touring and a digital media presence.  The Apollo’s work is organized around a set of core initiatives:  Apollo Music (African American and culturally diverse artists); Signature programs (Amateur Night, Salon Series and the Apollo Music Café); Legacy Series (work that celebrates and extends our legacy in a more contemporary way); Global Festival (international and U.S. based artists presentations focused under a specific theme); Special Projects (multidisciplinary work with partner organizations).

Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms, and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres – including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at the Apollo are Lauryn Hill, Machine Gun Kelly, Miri Ben Ari, D’Angelo, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, and Stevie Wonder; and the Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy.

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