The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum's popular performance series Cocktails at Cooper Hewitt returns to the Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden for Thursday evenings from June 21st through August 9th. The summer season, set in one of the largest enclosed museum gardens in New York City, will showcase an array of performers from musicians to singers to dancers to DJs.
“Cocktails at Cooper Hewitt celebrates design’s vibrant influence on the performing arts and this year we are expanding our offerings to embrace an even greater diversity of genres and artists,” said Caroline Baumann, director of Cooper Hewitt. “Along with Cooper Hewitt’s first-ever Pride Night with the extraordinary Horrorchata, co-founder of Bushwig, we will welcome the viral sensation MILCK, the new sounds of ShoutHouse, an ensemble of 15 jazz, hip hop, and classical musicians, and the pioneering Heidi Latksy Dance, which confronts prejudice through performance and its inclusive company of dancers of all abilities.”
The series kicks off June 21 with an NYC Pride Celebration. Horrorchata, co-founder of the annual Brooklyn drag festival Bushwig, will team up with friends Hannah Lou, Merrie Cherry, Mini Horrorwitz, Angelica Sundae, and more to electrify the garden with DJ sets and performances.
As the season heats up, Atlantic Records will present two evenings showcasing artists with fresh approaches to pop. On June 28th, MILCK, the Los Angeles-born performer whose viraanthem “Quiet” became a rallying cry of the January 2017 Women’s March in D.C., will perform songs from her debut EP This Is Not the End. On August 3rd, Clara Mae will bring her electronic-infused vocal stylings to Cooper Hewitt.
On July 19, to coincide with New York City’s Disability Pride Month and the exhibition Access+Ability (on view through Sept. 3), New York-based modern dance company Heidi Latsky Dance will perform “ON DISPLAY,” a work in which a diverse cast varying in age, race, disability, and gender transforms into a sculpture court of living statues.
Juilliard School returns for a third season to present a series of evenings that spotlights alumni talent. On July 26, Drew Forde and Friends, a group that has made waves on social media with its inspired covers of pop hits on classical instruments, will perform. On Aug. 9, ShoutHouse—an ensemble of musicians and dancers with backgrounds in hip-hop, classical and jazz—will deliver the final performance of the season.
The full performance schedule (subject to change) is:
June 21: Cooper Hewitt Pride Night with Horrorchata and Friends
June 28: Atlantic Records Presents MILCK
July 5: Juilliard School Presents Kleine Blumen
July 12: Coco and Breezy with special guest performance by Zak Leever
July 19: Heidi Latsky Dance
July 26: Juilliard School Presents Drew Forde and Friends
Aug. 2: Atlantic Records Presents Clara Mae
Aug. 9: Juilliard School Presents ShoutHouse
Cocktails are served from 6 to 9pm. Admission is $13 per evening with online advance purchase at cooperhewitt.org/cocktails, or $15 at the door; specialty cocktails and light fare are available for purchase from Cooper Hewitt’s Tarallucci e Vino Cafe. Performances are held rain or shine in the museum’s Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden at East 90th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues. For more information, visit cooperhewitt.org/cocktails.
Photo: Agaton Strom
