651 ARTS launches its first full Fall/Winter Season featuring dance, film, music and theater, celebrating the brilliance of the African Diaspora.
651 ARTS, Brooklyn’s premier institution dedicated to African Diasporic performing arts, has announced its 2025 Fall/Winter Season, marking the organization’s first full slate of programming in its permanent home at 10 Lafayette Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn.
The new season signals a major milestone for 651 ARTS as it deepens its mission to champion innovative Black artistry, nurture emerging plus established artists and build transformative cultural experiences for Brooklyn audiences.
“For nearly four decades, 651 has created space for the voices and visions of Black artists, and now, with a home of our own, we are able to deepen that commitment in transformative ways,” said 651’s Executive Director Toya A. Lillard. “The works we are presenting this fall and winter — from music and dance to theater and film — embody the innovation, resilience, and brilliance of the African Diaspora. They invite us to gather in community, to celebrate, to question, and to dream together.”
Kicking off Oct. 25, the season opens with a partnership with the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, now in its 28th year, as 651 serves as a host venue for screenings, talkbacks and networking events highlighting bold new films by women of color.
On Oct. 29, the institution debuts its 2025 Artist-in-Residence program featuring acclaimed choreographer and performer Maleek Washington, who brings his distinctive movement style to Bricks, a new musical by Charlene Jean plus Franklin Rankin, presented in partnership with The Apollo’s New Works program.
The lineup continues on Nov. 15 with vocalist, composer and educator Nicholas Ryan Gant, who performs selections from his forthcoming album Restore. The concert offers an intimate evening of music and healing, blending gospel, R&B, plus contemporary sounds.
In December, 651 presents Najee Omar’s Little Black Book (Dec. 5–6), a genre-defying performance that fuses theater, poetry, plus movement to explore love, queerness and self-discovery.
The season concludes with The Incredible Drunkertons: A Very Merry Disco Era Variety Show (Dec. 11–13), a glittering, satirical celebration of the 1970s that reimagines the disco era through humor, music and cultural critique.
Occupying a new 12,500-square-foot multi-purpose facility, 651 ARTS now brings its community under one roof, providing a permanent stage for local, national and international artists. The new home cements the institution’s role as a vital cultural anchor in Brooklyn and a global beacon for Black creative excellence.