On September 25 & 26, 2021, Danielle Russo Performance Project (DRPP) will premiere Final Notice, a free, outdoor performance series in Red Hook and Southside, Williamsburg coinciding with Climate Week NYC and the launch of DRPP’s interactive mobile app of the same name. The culmination of a two-year collaboration with Youth Leaders at Red Hook Initiative and El Puente, the #FinalNotice map app exposes climate change, environmental racism, and historical erasure on the Brooklyn waterfront, with an explicit emphasis on neighborhoods with Superfund and Brownfield sites. DRPP will present site-specific performances activating the app. Audience members will be invited to download the #FinalNotice app at the launch event, available in English and Spanish.
Performances by
Antuan Byers
Jason Collins
Christine Flores
Vanessa Vargas
Choreography by Danielle Russo
Costumes by Jenny Lai
Performances will start at the coastline and travel inland, traversing city parks and marking the increasing floodplain caused by climate change in Red Hook and Southside, Williamsburg. In the wake of Hurricane Ida, the tangible risks of Brooklyn’s floodplain are very present.
In Red Hook, the dancers will traverse terrain anticipated to be inundated by the floodplain; in Williamsburg, the work will travel the length between the floodplain edge, illustrating the way the Southside community will be fully surrounded by the waterline.
Data research, diverse archives, and community interviews will be cued on audience members’ phone screens and headphones, correlating to their real-time locations. For example, climate change visualizations of increasing high tides and Urban Heat Islands are layered with information about well-known local sites like the Red Hook Houses. Meanwhile, lesser-known histories of Lenapehoking farmland and Red Hook’s “Tin City” Hoovervilles will pop up alongside site-specific oral histories from today’s Brooklynites. Additionally, the performers will wear GoPro cameras to actively record the landscape endangered by climate change. GoPro footage will be live-streamed through Instagram live at @finalnoticebk for remote viewing.
Event Details
Saturday, September 25
Performances by DRPP dancers will begin at 4pm at Grand Ferry Park, at the intersection of Grand and River Streets, just north of Domino Park. Audiences will be led to various locations along the coastline and surrounding neighborhood, arriving at El Puente’s ¡WEPA! Festival at 5 pm on Roebling St. between South 4th and South 2nd Streets.
Sunday, September 26
DRPP will host a community gathering at 2pm at the RETI Center’s Blue City barge at the intersection of the Erie Basin and Gowanus Bay. Performances will begin at 2:30pm and travel north through Red Hook and Coffey Parks.
Rain Dates
October 2 and 3; same locations and weekend schedule.
Safety & Accessibility
Free headphones, as well as additional direction by signage and printed maps will be provided. Accessible seating will be available at select locations, details forthcoming. Audiences are asked to follow provided social-distancing guidelines and to wear a mask for the duration of the event; disposable masks will be offered onsite.
Official performance routes will be available for reference at https://www.finalnoticebk.com/performance-program. Due to the ever-changing landscape of COVID-19, we will be continually updating this webpage to reflect updated protocols. There, we will also be posting maps pinning locations with accessible seating. For general inquiries, please contact info@finalnoticebk.com.
Press Inquiries
To request an official press kit and high-resolution imagery, please contact Doug LeCours at info@finalnoticebk.com.
About the App
The first of its kind, the #FinalNotice app synthesizes past and living histories, community resources, and scientific research to steer users toward actionable, everyday solutions and initiatives in the immediate area—those already actively working to dismantle structural racism and build local, urban resilience in the face of climate change. DRPP developed the app in collaboration with the Youth Leaders, who were paid through career exploration programs at Red Hook Initiative and El Puente. Together, we gathered, processed, and organized research and data content, and in doing so prioritized self-authorship and reclaiming narratives—particularly championing the Youth Leaders, many of whom are Black and Brown adolescents [between the ages of 10 and 22] whose lived experiences have been directly impacted by the systemic and environmental racism investigated in our collective research. By centering and amplifying their voices and those of local community allies, we reimagine “archive” as a collaboratively generated, living record where science, history, personal storytelling, and activism meet.
The #FinalNotice app was developed by lead designer Henry Holmes and technologists Winnie Yoe, Tong Wu, and Stuart Lynn.
Our ever-growing community of researchers, writers, collaborators, and contributors currently include:
Abdul Keshinro
Akem Le Gendre
Antuan Byers
Arianna Villafane
Ashly Tavarez
Billy Jean
Carolina Salguero
Catherine Hadlock
Cheng Bao
Christine Flores
Danielle Russo
Deandre White
Demetrius Negron
Devin Dennis
Devrin Goodridge
Doug LeCours
Elyse Mertz
Gita Nandan
Henry Holmes
Hugh Ryan
Iris Ivey
Isis Ivey
Ismael Diaz-Tolentino
Jady Woo
Jakai Lowe
Jason Collins
Jazmin Nazario
Jholdy Cruz
Jordan D. Baptiste
Jorge Luis Berríos
Karen Blondel
Kathryn McKenzie
Katie Dean
Kayla Farrish
Kellyn Thornburg
Kia Glean
Kimberley Lucas
Kymani Hines
Lauren Kimiko Parrott
Laura Rodriguez Torres
Leslie Gomez-Rivera
Lisa Willis
Lyndsay Lewis
Michelle Lau
Michelle Montalbano
Monae Minter
Nyla Sprinkle
Nevaeh Middleton
Peter Rothenberg
Reniia Sealey
Roya Carreras Fereshtehnejad
Stephanie Zheng
Steven Jeltsch
Stuart Lynn
Suzanne Spellen
Tiffany Agront
Tim Gilman
Tong Wu
Valentina Tepepa
Vanessa Vargas
Whitney Browne
Winnie Yoe
Yacetie Santos
Yuneicy Ramirez
Zaniya McDay
#FinalNotice is led by Danielle Russo Performance Project, Red Hook Initiative, and El Puente, with community partners and ally organizations such as The RETI Center, Blue City, Red Hook Farms, Resilient Red Hook, The Brooklyn Public Library/Center for Brooklyn History, PortSide NewYork, and Los Sures.
For more information about the app and its community engagement programming, please visit www.finalnoticebk.com.