Families and children celebrate hip-hop at Carnegie Hall

Celebrations for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop continue for some arts institutions. Carnegie Hall had a line wrapped around the block Saturday for their free day of events centering the artform that was birthed in New York City.

The program, known as “Family Day,” is a free event that invites households from across the city to indulge in a day of educational play. This year kids 3 to 10 years old learned the basics of how to make beats, breakdance, DJ, and even create their own graffiti artworks.

At least six floors of the Judith and Burton Resnick Education Wing were packed with families shuffling from workshops to performances that incorporated different elements of hip-hop. Some workshops taught the basic principles of writing a rap while others played a dance version of the game “Red Light, Green Light,” where participants are supposed to dance towards the game leader and stay frozen when that person turns around.

Lisette Kellman said she brought her two kids, who were busy making beats with instructors, to the family day because they love music.

“They love the piano. They love guitar. My son loves to dance,” she said. “The fact that it's incorporating music and the arts and having people from the community come and actually showcase their talents and my children [are able] to see it, it's amazing.”

Jacqueline Zeigler and her three children have been coming to “Family Day” since 2019.

“Hip-hop is such a historic musical legacy that started in the Bronx and it just took over the globe,” she said. “For Carnegie Hall to be acknowledging that is a big deal on this glamorous center stage and gives hip-hop the honor and praise that it deserves.”

Carnegie Hall is just one of a plethora of arts institutions and organizations that have had some kind of programming around hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. Since the beginning of the year New Yorkers have attended photo exhibitions, festivals, and block parties dedicated to the cultural movement.

“There's so many amazing and talented artists who are exploring hip-hop related activities for kids,” said Tiffany Ortiz, the director of early childhood programs at Carnegie Hall. “I really hope that folks, first and foremost, have a lot of fun exploring all these activities. And that they feel really connected to the music, hopefully making music at home and finding ways that they can bring these experiences to their day to day lives.”

The next Carnegie Hall “Family Day” will be in April.