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Video: Coney Island Dancing 2011 by Jim McDonnell

Posted in Events, Music Video, tagged Boardwalk, Coney Island Dancers, Coney Island Dancing, dance party, dancing, free event, Jim McDonnell on September 6, 2011| 6 Comments »

“Everyone likes to dance at Coney Island,” says photographer and Coney regular Jim McDonnell, who has been shooting Coney Island Dancing 2011 all summer long. We’ve been anticipating the debut of the second vid in what promises to be an annual series. Jim is a professional film editor and self-described “footage guru” who has a knack for distilling a season’s worth of dance moves at the People’s Playground into a short video.

The 2011 vid clocks in at four minutes and 48 seconds–one minute and 19 seconds longer than Coney Island Dancing 2010–so you’ll get to see more dancers this year. In addition, it’s set to music with a less frenetic tempo and a mellow mood: Intodeep’s “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.” Highlights include the Coney Island Dancers, Mermaid Paraders and performers in Luna Park and the Coney Island Talent Show on the Boardwalk. Music at the Polar Express, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park and Coney Island Flicks on the Beach also sets the stage for impromptu boogying.

If you’re not in this video, or on the cutting room floor, chances are you haven’t spent enough time dancing on the boards. There’s always next summer.

May 7: Coney Island Boardwalk Trash Can Art Contest

Posted in art, Photography, tagged Boardwalk, Bruce Handy, Coney Island, free event, New York City Parks, trash can art on May 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Composite Hand Painted Trash Can - Three Sides, Coney Island. July 22, 2008. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Calling Picassos of all ages! On Saturday at 10 am, you’re invited to create trash can art that will be displayed on Coney Island’s world-famous Boardwalk all season long. The Parks Department provides the barrels and painting supplies for the 5th annual Boardwalk Barrels of Fun, you supply the talent.

On flickr, ATZ found almost 200 photos of Boardwalk trash can art from past seasons, including abstracts, seascapes, and carnival-themed art. The above composite by Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy shows the three sides of a striking Cyclone, Wonder Wheel and mermaid-themed barrel from 2008.

To get an early start on your masterpiece, register in advance by phoning 718-965-8917. You may also register at the event, which begins at 10 am on the Coney Island Boardwalk between W. 10th and W 12th Street. Judging starts at 12 noon and awards are presented at 1 pm.

The free event is sponsored by New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement & Kiddie Park, Coney Island Development Corporation, New York Aquarium, Brooklyn Cyclones, Luna Park & Scream Zone.

UPDATE May 8, 2011…The new crop of Boardwalk Barrels of Fun are looking good! Here’s a link to Bruce Handy’s flickr slide show of Saturday’s event.

UPDATE May 2, 2012…This season’s Boardwalk Barrels of Fun is scheduled for Saturday, May 5th. Registration starts at 10 am on the Boardwalk between West 10th and West 12th Streets in front of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park and Luna Park. Paint and brushes are provided.

Coney Island 2011: Free Movie Screenings on the Beach

Posted in Events, film, tagged Coney Island, free event, Movies on the Beach, Rooftop Films on April 27, 2011| 2 Comments »

Rooftop Films outdoor movie screenings include such venues as the roof of El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem. Photo © Dillon DeWaters via Rooftop Films

UPDATE… JULY 9, 2012… The 2012 season of Coney Island Flicks on the Beach began on July 2 and continues on Monday nights through August 6. The schedule includes Bound for Glory featuring David Carradine as Woody Guthrie, Woody Allen’s Manhattan, and Jim Henson’s The Muppets. Full schedule at “Coney Island 2012: Free Movie Screenings on the Beach” (ATZ, July 9, 2012).

Rooftop Films, a nonprofit which has been showing underground films outdoors in New York City since 1997, will bring free movie screenings to Coney Island’s beach this summer. The Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC), NYC & Company and EpixHD are partnering with Rooftop to launch the new Coney Island Film Series.

Lela Scott-MacNeil of Rooftop Films tells ATZ that the Coney Island screenings will be free of charge and the program is being put together especially for the new venue. “It is not part of our regular summer series,” said Scott-McNeil. When details of the Coney Island program are announced, ATZ will post an update.

Rooftop’s 14th Summer Series of “Underground Movies Outdoors” includes 25 feature films and over 150 short films in themed programs. Screening venues include Fort Greene Park, Socrates Sculpture Park and the roofs of Brooklyn Tech, El Museo del Barrio and Brooklyn Grange in Long Island City. According to Rooftop’s website: “We couple films with venues, and connect artists with audiences so that each event is unique and memorable.”

A tip of the hat to our friend Brian Hedden of the South Brooklyn blog BK Southie, who wrote in January, “Dear Luna Park, make this happen, movies at the beach.” Today he says: “Hey, I’m glad someone was listening back when I was begging for beachside movies!” ATZ urges BK Southie and everyone else to keep the ideas coming for event programming in Coney Island. Your idea could turn out to be the next new thing! We also ask our readers: What movies would you like to see on the big screen at Coney Island’s beach?

UPDATE, May 16, 2011…

NYC & Co. announced the schedule for the new film series today. Coney Island Flicks on the Beach will be shown on Monday nights at sundown on the beach between W 10th and W 12th Streets. The series begins on July 11 with Saturday Night Fever. Here’s the full schedule…

July 11 - Saturday Night Fever (1977)
The ’70s disco-kid flick stars a young John Travolta in an Oscar-nominated performance as Tony Manero, a Brooklyn teen who works a dead-end job and suffers from “night fever,” but knows how to boogie it off. The film is famously set in NYC, largely in the now-closed Bay Ridge disco 2001 Odyssey.

July 18 - Rango (2011)
This animated comedy-western follows Rango (Johnny Depp), a domesticated lizard, as he stumbles upon a town in the Old West and winds up becoming sheriff, only to brave a rattlesnake showdown.

July 25 – Top Gun (1986)
Revisit the time when Tom Cruise was Maverick, a too-cool-for-school Navy fighter pilot recruit, fueled by the need for speed. The hit film celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

August 1- Iron Man 2 (2010)
Now that the world knows the double identity of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) as the armored superhero, everyone wants the Iron Man technology. Stark refuses to hand it over. But the evil Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) has built his own weapon to retaliate.

August 8  – Annie Hall (1977)
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton star in this romantic comedy as a neurotic yet charming New York couple who fall in love after an awkward meeting, flirt in Central Park, argue over lobsters in the Hamptons and, eventually, split.

August 15  – Moonstruck (1987)
Cher plays Loretta, a widowed, 30-something Brooklyn bookkeeper who, while indifferently engaged to Johnny (Danny Aiello), falls for her fiancé’s estranged brother, Ronny (a young, hairy and angry Nicolas Cage).

August 22  – Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011)
Watch the Biebs prepare for his first sold-out show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. This documentary is titled for his song and mantra: “Never Say Never.”

August 29  – How She Move (2008)
After her older sister dies suddenly, a talented teen flubs her chance at a private-school scholarship and moves back home to her family’s crime-ridden neighborhood. But after she earns a spot on a respected step crew, she discovers how her dance skills can deliver the future she dreams of.

When the weather is iffy, check the Coney Island tweeters on Coney Island Fun’s list for updates here.