Bonsai!

By Vera Zukelman

To the list of things that get better with age — wine, cheese, your always-gorgeous wife — add something else: bonsai trees.

And on Friday, those hand-crafted wonders will be celebrated with a Japanese-themed party at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Some of the specimens in the Garden’s spring exhibition, “Graceful Perseverance,” have celebrated a centennial; one time-defying bonsai tree, the White Pine, is more than 300 years old.

“Bonsai is about storytelling,” explained Anita Jacobs, director of public programs at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “To design a tree takes many years and usually they have been under the care of many generations. Each tree is crafted so that its shape is unique to its original environment.”

The Japanese-style reception also includes a Brooklyn bonsai tour led by Julian Velasco, who curates one of the world’s greatest collections of the miniature trees, a sake tasting, a meal of 13 mini-plates of vegetarian Japanese food, a performance by a Japanese folk dance ensemble, and a DJ cranking out 1960s-style Japanese pop.

“It will be a warm, cozy evening where people can eat dinner under the stars in our giant glass greenhouse,” said Jacobs. “Guests will be transported to a magical place but also let their hair down and have some fun.”

“Small Scale: An Evening of Japanese Tapas, Sake, and the Art of Bonsai” at Brooklyn Botanic Garden Palm House [900 Washington Avenue near Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, (718) 623-7200], Feb. 11, 6-11 pm. Tickets $75. The exhibit, “Graceful Perseverance” runs Feb. 2–May 1. For info, visit www.bbg.org.

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The King of all tributes

By Vera Zukelman

Sure, we all take the time to remember Martin Luther King, Jr. this time this year on the anniversary of his birthday. Though few of us have as vivid a memory of the man as Jimmy Hayes does.

“We got arrested at one of the sit-ins, he told us not to get angry if someone throws something at us or insults us,” recalled Hayes, a Flatbush-based singer who was arrested along with King at a civil rights march in Atlanta. “Meeting him was amazing, it was really an honor. That day is something I will remember for the rest of my life.”

Hayes will certainly recall that day when he performs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Jan. 17 with his a capella group The Persuasions as part of the Fort Greene institution’s annual King Day celebration.

The legendary group formed 50 years ago in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and its performance will include some songs that go back that far, plus the obligatory rendition of the tune, “I Have a Dream.”

“This is an event the Brooklyn community believes in, and we need to continue and spread his words,” said Hayes. “It seems today young people aren’t familiar with him as much as they should be. This event will help them learn who he is and what he stood for.”

Joining The Persuasions will be the Reverend Timothy Wright Memorial Choir of the Grace Tabernacle Christian Center, award-winning novelist Walter Mosley, and dozens of local pols, some of whom carry through King’s lasting legacy.

Institutions across the borough will also honor Dr. King, with the Brooklyn Children’s Museum in Crown Heights hosting a weekend birthday bash from Jan. 15-17 featuring storytelling and dancing; and Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts in Flatbush throwing a free community concert complete with gospel singers on Jan. 17.

Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music [30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Place in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100], Jan. 17 at 10:30 am. Free. For info, visit www.bam.org; “Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend Birthday Bash” at Brooklyn Children’s Museum [145 Brooklyn Ave. at St. Marks Avenue in Crown Heights, (718) 735-4400], Jan. 15-17 from 10 am-5 pm. For info, visit www.brooklynkids.org; “MLK Celebration” at Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts [2900 Campus Rd. at Hillel Place in Flatbush, (718) 951-4500], Jan. 17 at 6 pm. Free. For info, visit www.brooklyncenter.com.

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Sometimes you feel like a nut...

Besides mistletoe, egg nog and that sweater from grandma, there’s no greater holiday tradition than “The Nutcracker.” But no two “Nutcrackers” are alike, so we checked them all out to give you an insider’s guide:

The Classics

From Dec. 22-Jan. 2, the American Ballet Theatre brings “The Nutcracker” to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. A live orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s famous score, while more than 100 performers will bring the magical toy soldiers, sparkling fairies, mischievous mice, and, of course, young Clara and her wooden prince to life. 

In Bay Ridge, the Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company (right) borrows ballerina Jennifer Ringer, principal of the New York City Ballet, once again for a full-length production on Dec. 19. Ringer stars as the Sugar Plum Fairy, while the rest of the cast is rounded out by the young members of the company for a particularly sweet production.

Similarly, over at the Kingsborough Performing Arts Center, the Brighton Ballet Theater’s Russian American Kids Ballet revives the holiday classic on Dec. 12, with lavish costumes, splendid scenery, and a junior company of more than 50 young dancers in an abridged production. You can catch the Brighton Ballet Theater again at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, as the company performs all your favorite excerpts from “The Nutcracker”  on Dec. 19.

American Ballet Theatre at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Gilman Opera House [30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100], Dec. 22-Jan. 2. Tickets $20-$135. For info, visit bam.org; Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company, Dec. 19 at 7 pm and Dec. 20 at 2 pm at the Poly Prep Country Day School [Seventh Avenue at 92nd Street in Bay Ridge, (347) 517-4169]. Tickets, $25–$35. For info, visit www.vspac.com; Kingsborough Community College [2001 Oriental Blvd. at Decatur Avenue in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368-5596], Dec. 18 at 2 pm. Tickets $12. For info, visit www.kbcc.cuny.edu; Brighton Ballet Theater at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum [145 Brooklyn Ave. between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place in Crown Heights, (718) 735-4400], Dec. 19 at 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm. Admission $7.50. For info, visit www.brooklynkids.org.

Cracked

“The Nutcracker” wasn’t known for humor until Mark Morris’s “The Hard Nut,” an irreverent take now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Dec. 10-19. Morris’s troupe transplants the story from the decorous 1890s to the swinging 1970s, and live music will be provided by the MMDG Music Ensemble with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

The Gowanus-based Company XIV, known for its sensuous, Baroque-inspired performances, gives “The Nutcracker” an erotic makeover with its “Nutcracker Rouge” (left), running Dec. 10-Jan. 9. In keeping with the company’s opulent flair, this retelling promises to be a hedonistic display of gorgeous and decadent winter entertainment, complete with burlesque that further strays off book as it blends pieces by Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi and Duke Ellington, with text inspired “The Nutcracker” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” That, at least, explains the “rouge.”

“The Colonial Nutcracker,” an annual, hour-long production at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 12, sets the action in wintry colonial Yorktown in Virginia, during the Revolutionary War. That makes for a red-coated mouse army and an enchanted nutcracker prince in, naturally, a powder wig.

“The Hard Nut” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House [30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100], Dec. 10, 11, and 15-18 at 7:30 pm, and Dec. 12 and 19 at 3 pm. Tickets $25-$70. For info, visit bam.org; “Nutcracker Rouge” at Company XIV (303 Bond St. at Union Street in Gowanus, no phone), Dec. 10-Jan. 9, Friday-Sunday at 8 pm. Tickets $25-$40. For info, visit www.companyxiv.com; “The Colonial Nutcracker” at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College [2900 Campus Rd. at Hillel Place in Flatbush, (718) 951-4600 X22], Dec. 12 at 2 pm. Tickets, $6. For info, visit www.brooklyncenteronline.org.

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This fiesta is hot hot hot!

By Joe Anuta

The world is a volatile place — so perhaps it’s no surprise that the only thing that everyone agrees upon is the beauty and joy of the fiery chili pepper. 

That’s why the annual Chile Pepper Fiesta at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Oct. 2 is a multi-national affair, featuring peppers from the Caribbean to the Himalayas, sample recipes from New Orleans to Seoul, international music, and even mouth-charring cocktails.

“The chili is one of the few plants used all over the world,” said Kate Blumm, spokesperson for the festival. “And we want to use it to educate people about different cultures.” 

Two Brooklyn chefs will demonstrate their zesty specialties: Corwin Kave, excutive chef at Fatty ’Cue will make Malaysian food, while Simon Glenn, owner of Tchoup Shop, will cook Cajun-style. Other demonstrations will feature Mayan, Mexican, and West Indian meals. 

The dessert only gets hotter with the chili chocolate competition. It was such a hit last year that organizers had to go back for seconds.

“People are surprised about how well the chili and chocolate bring out the best in each other,” said Brian Sell, part of the team from Nunu Chocolates on Atlantic Avenue, which will be participating again. “It may make them rethink what chocolate can be.”

If there’s one thing that complements chocolate (and just about anything else), it’s booze. Luckily, Kara Newman will be mixing up spicy mocktails, since alcohol isn’t allowed in the park, from her book “Spice and Ice.”

And of course, it wouldn’t be a party without music.

Bands playing music from West Africa, North India, the Middle East, and the Caribbean will play all day to round out the festival.

Chile Pepper Fiesta at Brooklyn Botanic Garden [1000 Washington Ave., at Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, (718) 623-7220]. Oct. 2, noon–6 pm. Tickets $15. For info, visit www.bbg.org.

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Labor Day Fun, Part VI: Party down Eastern Parkway

By Damian Harris-Hernandez

Scantily clad revelers and stilt-dancing moco jumbies return to the streets of Brooklyn this weekend for the annual West Indian Carnival Festival.

The Labor Day institution, which will take over Eastern Parkway this Sept. 6, draws over three million spectators and merrymakers to partake in Caribbean music, dancing and tasty fare.

“People from all over the world come to celebrate the culture of the Caribbean region,” said Jean Alexander, of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association, which organizes the parade. “Families reunite on Eastern Parkway. It’s a real nice time.”

Organizers of the jovial procession, the longest in the city, remain unfazed by the city’s call to cut the parade’s length and duration in a cost-saving move. As a result, this year’s starting point is Schenectady Avenue, cutting the parade length by one block, but the bacchanal promises to be bigger and better than ever this year.

“I don’t see it as a setback,” said Alexander of the one-block trim. “We have 40 new groups this year, many of whom are even coming from the Islands.”

Indeed, Idakeda, a Trinidadian cultural dance troupe from Port of Spain, will perform “Kambule,” a play celebrating Canbouley, a Trinidadian carnival that gave rise to Calypso and later soca music.

For the diehard revelers who can’t wait for the real parade to start, J’ouvert begins at 2 am near Grand Army Plaza on Labor Day. In this predawn procession, masqueraders wear wild costumes and douse each other in mud and paint while steel bands pump out live soca music.

Bring your flag and costume, but leave your inhibitions at home.

West Indian American Day Carnival [along Eastern Parkway starting at Schenectady Avenue in Crown Heights to Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights, (718) 467-1797], Sept. 6 from 11 am-6 pm, For info, visit www.wiadca.com.

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Croquet and cocktails

If this is any indication, they certainly knew how to throw a party in 1910.

On Aug. 12, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Linnaean Libation League will host a high-style affair, complete with croquet, artisanal cocktails, peach-bourbon ice cream cookie sandwiches and ragtime standards.

“We have these parties once a season so they can highlight a particular collection or garden that’s peaking or really special at that moment and invite people to experience it in a new way,” said Kate Blumm (pictured) of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which last threw a winter-themed party in the Garden’s Desert Pavilion. “The Garden is such a hotbed of color and texture and feeling that it’s really fun for us to be really creative in how we share all of those characters with everyone.”

In this case, the special occasion is the Garden’s centennial (hence the 1910 theme). It’s also a great time to enjoy its lily pond terrace, as the water lilies and sacred lotus are peaking.

Of course, most eyes will be on the other attendees, who are encouraged to come dressed in their vintage finest. Think white colors, sweater vests, bow ties and navy blazers for the gents, wide-brimmed hats, vibrant colors and art nouveau-inspired silhouettes for the ladies.

“We’re inviting people in to inhabit another world,” said Blumm. “They get to have a beautiful summer evening, not just sitting at an outdoor bar, but experiencing the Garden.”

Linnaean Libation League’s 1910-themed garden party at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden [1000 Washington Ave. near Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, (718) 623-7200], Aug. 12, with croquet starting at 6:30 pm and cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from 8-10 pm. Tickets $40 for just drinks and food ($75 with croquet). For info, visit www.bbg.org.

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Aretha concerts canceled

The Queen of Soul is not Brooklyn-bound after all!

Aretha Franklin’s two free shows here next week — first on Aug. 9 at Wingate Field in Crown Heights, and then again on Aug. 12 at Asser Levy Seaside Park in Coney Island — have been canceled due to an unspecified injury that the singer claims to have suffered on Sunday (recent reports say she fell in the bathtub).

“We’re quite bummed,” said Laura Sinagra, a spokeswoman for Borough President Markowitz, who hosts both concert series. Sinagra added that Markowitz and his producer are hoping to re-schedule Franklin’s dates, but do not yet know if that will be possible this season.

Sinagra referred all questions to Debra Garcia, the organizer of Markowitz’s free summer concerts. Garcia did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Calls to Franklin’s agent about the injury were not returned as well.

For 20 years, the borough president has been enticing the 66-year-old Franklin — known universally as just Aretha — to play his free concert series. This would have been his biggest coup since succeeding Howie Golden, and Franklin’s first shows in Brooklyn.

“Certainly thousands of music lovers were eagerly awaiting these historic shows, her first ever in Brooklyn, in the heart of our African-American community in Crown Heights and in world-famous Coney Island,” said Markowitz. “Believe me, for the more than 30 years that I have been presenting free concerts here, Ms. Franklin has been at the top of my wish-list, and that dream was about to come true. We can only hope she will reschedule when she’s feeling better — and we Brooklynites will be thrilled to welcome the Queen of Soul to the County of Kings.”

On the Sunday in question, Franklin performed at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, Mass., for 85 minutes, which included a 10-minute intermission when she “slipped to the side of the stage, took a seat in the shadows and toweled off while her massive orchestra took over,” according to the Boston Herald. Throughout the performance, the hefty soul legend also seemed out of breath, according to the paper.

The remainder of Markowitz’s concert series will continue as scheduled, with John Legend performing this Thursday at Asser Levy Seaside Park.

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All cooped up

In Brooklyn, the chicken came first.

At the Brooklyn Schenectady Avenue Community Garden, the city’s largest garden chicken coop, a new workshop series is bringing the farm to the urban dweller curious about keeping chickens in the city (cause it's all the rage now).

The monthly series covers the fundamentals of doing just that, with the next one this Sunday, focused on children. Bring the whole family for a fun day in the garden as the New York Restoration Project explores chickens and eggs and the difference between factory farm and organically produced eggs.

Children will also have an opportunity to create art inspired by the chickens and even hold them. But be forewarned, you can’t take one home with you afterwards.

Fun with Chickens! at the Schenectady Avenue Community Garden [91 Schenectady Ave. between Dean and Pacific streets in Crown Heights, (212) 333-2552], July 18 from 2-4 pm. Free. To register, call or e-mail rbrody@nyrp.org. For more info, visit www.nyrp.org.

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George Clinton brings the funk to Brooklyn

Tensions may be brewing over the borough president’s concert series in Coney Island’s Asser Levy Park, but over at Wingate Field in Crown Heights, things are not just groovy, but funky.

The R&B and soul counterpart to the rock ’n’ roll at Asser Levy Park, the Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series kicks off tonight with the P-Funk legend himself, George Clinton.

Along with contemporaries James Brown and Sly Stone, Clinton was the most-influential funk innovator during the 1970s and ’80s, an undeniable force as the mastermind behind the bands Parliament and Funkadelic.

In addition to his colorful locks, the artist has also gained a reputation for his stunning shows. All these years later, his live performance hasn’t waned, with extravagant lighting and two dozen backing musicians and dancers busting it out to hits like “Atomic Dog” and “Mothership Connection.”

Adding to the funk nostalgia of the night, the show will open with the Ohio Players, best known for their hits “Fire” and “Love Rollercoaster.” George Clinton and the Ohio Players — let’s get this party started.

George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic at Wingate Field [Brooklyn Avenue between Rutland Road and Winthrop Street in Crown Heights, (718) 222-0600], July 12, 7:30 pm. Free. For info, visit www.brooklynconcerts.com.

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Great lineup at the next Franklin Park reading on June 14

Get your week started with some booze and books.

Tonight, the Crown Heights bar Franklin Park kicks off its monthly summer reading series with an eclectic line-up of writers and performers.

There will be Zetta Elliott, author of “A Wish After Midnight,” a time-travel novel set in that most sci fi of neighborhoods, Crown Heights; Matt Gallagher, author of the Iraq war memoir “Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War,” hailed for being both humorous and harrowing; and poet Hila Ratzabi presenting, “The Apparatus of Visible Things.”

Aimee Norwich, an experimental artist who performs with her own specially made instruments, will round out the night with “a piece about Michael Jackson, God and swimming goggles.”

“We’re not exactly sure what that means, but we can’t wait to find out,” said Penina Roth, curator of the series.

Reading Series at Franklin Park [618 St. Johns Pl. near Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, (718) 975-0196], June 14 at 8 pm. Free. For info, visit www.franklinparkbrooklyn.com.

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This event is the bee's knees!

Happy bee-day!

On June 12, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden celebrates its 100th birthday the sweetest way it knows possible.

From bee-made and -inspired products to honey taste tests from local beekeepers, it’s an apiary extravaganza.

Fill up on honey products made by Liddabit Sweets and Sugarbuilt and the sweet stuff itself made by local rooftop beekeepers, who got a boost after the city made the practice legal in the city this past March.

Then learn where it all came from through talks with renowned apiarist Dennis vanEngelsdorp and nature writer Verlyn Klinkenborg, or how to do it yourself in a Beekeeping Boot Camp with Sam Comfort of Anarchy Apiaries.

Throughout the day, sample sounds from local bands including soul revival act the Sweet Divines, performing with the queen bee herself, Maxine Brown; Brooklyn’s own kings of a cappella, The Persuasions; the gypsy jazz of Stephane Wrembel and his Django Experiment; as well as a special performance by Hiten Marimba Duo of — what else — “Flight of the Bumblebee.”

There’s a lot to bee excited about.

“Centennial Bee-Day Party” at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden [1000 Washington Ave. at Crown Street in Crown Heights], June 12, 11 am-6 pm. Free. For info, visit www.bbg.org.

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Get your own 'key to the city' with this artist's new project

Finally, there’s a key to the city that actually unlocks something.

Unlike those ceremonial souvenirs that the mayor gives to hero airline pilots (go, Sully!) and World Series champions (some Yankees have four of them!), a new art project has taken the spirit of the all-city pass and made something tangible out of it.

For instance, participants in Paul Ramírez Jonas’s “Key to the City” public art happening get a key that unlocks a locker at Gleason’s Gym in DUMBO (pictured), a room in the Brooklyn Museum and steel gates, padlocks, PO boxes, and secret doors all over town.

So how does it work? From June 3-27, the special keys — along with a booklet with information on how to get to participating venues, and what to do once you get there — can be picked up and exchanged between friends in an informal ceremony in a take on the time-honored tradition that bestows symbolic keys to do-gooders and dignitaries.

From there, participants can explore the city at their leisure, using the key to unlock gardens usually off limits to the public, or that door at the Brooklyn Museum concealing a secret painting usually not on display at the museum.

Other participating spots in Brooklyn include Cabinet magazine in Boerum Hill, Gleason’s, and the Coney Island branch of the public library.

The project is not so much about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow — the locker at Gleason’s, for instance, will most likely be empty — but the literal and metaphorical act of unlocking a place that is new or familiar to you, as well as the opportunity to honor a friend with his very own “key to the city.”

“The tradition of the key to the city comes from the age of fortified cities, when a key could open the gates of a city like a home,” said Anne Pasternak, president of Creative Time, the arts group behind the project. “This new version is a functional sculpture that opens urban spaces to the public and honors everyday citizens.”

Because not everyone’s Derek Jeter.

“Key to the City,” June 3-27, at various locations. For info, including how to get a key, visit www.creativetime.org.

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Knock, and the door shall be opened

By Tony Cella

Brooklyn voyeurs, here’s your chance to see how the other half lives — the other half that lives better than you do, that is.

Yes, folks, house tour season is upon us once again. Starting this weekend and through the fall, the cream of the crop in nearly a dozen neighborhoods across the borough will be opening up their doors for those who can’t get enough of unique architectural details, modern home decor or simply meeting new people.

Want in? Here’s your one-stop shop for all of that this year’s self-guided house tours have to offer, from the landmarked homes of Brooklyn Heights to the brownstones of Bedford-Stuyvesant.

TOUR: LiveWorkPlayFortGreene

DATE: May 2

TIME: Noon–5 pm

COST: $20 in advance

STARTING LOCATION: BAM Triangle Park, Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street

HIGHLIGHTS: Behind-the-scenes tours of BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House, as well as a focus on places where people live and work, such as an artist who has a studio in her home. “It’s a lifestyle that a lot of people are beginning to associate with Brooklyn,” said Hallie Kapner, of the Fort Greene Association.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit www.historicfortgreene.org/house-tour-2010 or call (718) 875-1855

TOUR: Brooklyn Heights tour

DATE: May 8

TIME: 1–5 pm

COST: $40

STARTING LOCATION: 129 Pierrepont St. at Clinton Street

HIGHLIGHTS: An Italianate styled brownstone built in 1865. The current owners have restored the villa-styled building’s double-door stoop, which was removed during the 1950s in favor of a black brick door “the size of a closet,” said Judy Stanton, executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit www.thebha.org or call (718) 858-9193

TOUR: Park Slope Civic Council

DATE: May 16

TIME: Noon to 5 pm

COST: $20

STARTING LOCATION: Poly Prep Country Day School, 50 Prospect Park West at First Street

HIGHLIGHTS: A 1919 Neo-Tudor, one of the last single-family homes built in the neighborhood. “The house has a driveway that leads up to the house because back then, people actually had cars,” said Candace Woodward, of the Park Slope Civic Council.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit, www.parkslopeciviccouncil.org or call (718) 832-8227

TOUR: Boerum Hill tour

DATE: May 23

TIME: 1–5 pm

COST: $20 in advance

STARTING LOCATION: Bishop Mugavero Center, Hoyt and Pacific streets

HIGHLIGHTS: An 1870s Italianate brownstone with flat Greco revival facades and an expansive third floor family room with Scrabble and Play-doh stashed in antique wooden cabinets.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit www.boerumhillassociation.org or call (718) 625-4073

TOUR: Prospect Lefferts Garden tour

DATE: May 23

TIME: Noon–5 pm

COST: $20 in advance

STARTING LOCATION: K-Dog & Dunebuggy, 43 Lincoln Rd. between Ocean and Flatbush avenues

HIGHLIGHTS: The kitchen in a free-standing neo-Georgian two-story English-bond brick home: arched doors lead to a dramatic full-width black and white kitchen featuring high-end European appliances housed in an ingenious triple island design.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit www.leffertsmanor.org or call (718) 284-6210

TOUR: Clinton Hill garden walk

DATE: June 6

TIME: 11 am–5 pm

COST: $15 in advance

HIGHLIGHTS: Symbols, Parables and Healing, a biblical-themed garden run by Teen Challenge, a group that helps keep kids off the streets.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit www.brownpapertickets.com/event/107257 or call (718) 852-9283

TOUR: Victorian Flatbush tour

DATE: June 13

TIME: 1–6 pm

COST: $20 in advance

STARTING LOCATION: Temple Beth Emith (83 Marlborough Rd. near E. 15th Street)

HIGHLIGHTS: Legitimate houses; home and garden enthusiasts come from all over the country to tour this suburban oasis.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit www.fdconline.org or call (718) 859-3800

TOUR: Crown Heights North tour

DATE: Oct. 2

TIME: 11 am-4 pm

COST: $20 in advance

HIGHLIGHTS: Artist and artisan homes, historic places of worship and architecturally significant residential buildings.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit www.crownheightsnorth.org or call (917) 748-4664

TOUR: Bedford-Stuyvesant tour

DATE: Oct. 16

TIME: 11 am-4 pm

COST: $15 in advance

STARTING LOCATION: Brooklyn Academy at Marcy and Putnam avenues (tentative)

HIGHLIGHTS: In addition to gorgeous brownstones and limestones, this year’s will feature the Bed-Stuy Bazaar — get started on that holiday shopping early.

BASIC INFO: For info, visit www.brownstonersofbedstuy.org or call (718) 221-2213

— with Elizabeth Dana

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Style council! Brooklyn Museum opens its closet with fashion exhibition

By Elizabeth Dana

Dior. Schiaparelli. Lanvin.

You’re more likely to see such names in fashion magazines, but next month, they’ll be on the walls of the Brooklyn Museum — when the borough’s pre-eminent art gallery throws open its closet for the first large-scale exhibition from its enormous fashion collection in 20 years.

“American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection” opens on May 7 and will feature 85 pieces by renowned French, Italian and American designers including Elisa Schiaparelli, Jeanne Lanvin, Arnold Scaasi and Christian Dior — “tracing the evolution of fashion in American from its 19th-century European beginnings through the late-20th century,” Brooklyn Museum Director Arnold Lehman said.

One highlight is Schiaparelli’s famous “Insect Necklace” — a collaboration with Surrealist Salvador Dali that comprises a chain of metallic bugs that look like they’re crawling on the neck of the wearer. It’s considered one of the most important works in a collection that also includes slim evening dresses by Charles James, gold silk lounging pajamas by Norman Norell and jaunty sun hats by Sally Victor.

It’s centuries of fashion for just the price of the museum’s suggested admission fee. Just don’t ask to try anything on.

“American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection” at the Brooklyn Museum [200 Eastern Pkwy. at Washington Avenue in Crown Heights, (718) 638-5000], May 7–Aug. 1. Admission $10. For info, visit www.brooklynmuseum.org.

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Bloom county! Sakura Matsuri back at the Botanic Garden

By Elizabeth Dana

Break out your kimino — Sakura Matsuri is back.

A celebration of Japanese culture, the festival will take over the Brooklyn Botanic Garden from May 1 to 2.

The weather may not fully cooperate — the blooms were in full crepuscular beauty this weekend and are starting to fade — but the weekend will still feature workshops including flower arranging, anime-inspired costume competitions and haiku poetry readings.

“It is the best of Japanese and Japanese-American culture here at the garden, with the stunning background of the cherry blossoms,” said Kate Blumm, of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Across the garden’s grounds, traditional arts performances will mix with events focused on modern Japanese culture such as anime and manga, making for a “visual circus,” said Blumm.

Among the more traditional offerings will be a performance by Dancejapan featuring Sachiyo Ito — a staple at the festival for nearly 30 years — and taiko drumming by Taiko Masala and Soh Daiko.

For Japanese fashionistas, the festival will also host a high tea for “Victorian maidens, boho bo-peeps, and Tokyo goth girls,” as well as a costume fashion show to exhibit manga-inspired designs.

Despite its name, it’s not all about the cherry blossoms at Sakura Matsuri.

Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden [1000 Washington Ave. at Crown Street in Crown Heights, (718) 623-7200] May 1 from 10 am to 6 pm and May 2 from 10 am to 7 pm. For info, visit www.bbg.org.

Photo by Barbara Alper

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