Project Cuba Workshop Series In Boston !
Masacote School @ 215 1st Street, Cambridge, MA
March 7 & 21, 2012
7:00 pm-10:30 pm.
Nola Rehearsal Studios @ 250 West 54th St, NYC
LEARN THE HISTORY! BUILD RELATIONSHIPS! TRANSFORM YOUR MOVEMENT!
After three years of intense, inter-disciplinary study, the MetaMovements Team brings you an amazing series of workshops that will change the way you think, move and feel.
We will unite dancers of different styles, and build lasting connections between them, and honor each phase of this intriguing dance chronology. You will deepen your understanding of the history and practice of moves that originated centuries ago in Africa, their unique development and preservation in Cuba, and how they evolved into contemporary body movements and sequences of steps executed in Salsa, Casino Rueda, Hip Hop and Modern Dance today.
Sign up now!
Class Schedule:
| January 28 | January 29 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Time | ||
| 10:15-11am | FREE Cuba Travel Expo & Info Session | 10:15-11am | FREE Cuba Travel Expo & Info Session |
| 11am - 12:20pm | Rumba & Afro-Cuban Body Motion | 11am - 12:20pm | Orishas Dance Workshop |
| 12:30 - 2:00pm | Lunchtime Cultural Presentation: "The History and Evolution of Salsa & Casino" | 12:30 - 2:00pm | Lunchtime Cultural Presentation: "Afro-Cuban Influence In Other Dance Forms" |
| 2:00 - 3:20pm | Son Styling for Salsa "Danza Contemporanea Cubana" | 2:00 - 3:20 pm | Modern Dance Techniques |
| 3:30 - 4:50pm | Rumba and Afro-Cuban Styling for Salsa | 3:30 - 4:50 pm | Hip Hop with Afro-Cuban Inspiration |
Rumba & Afro-Cuban Body Motion with Yesenia Selier, Anara Frank and Project Cuba staff
Ancient Palo, Congo, Yoruba and Arara movements are present in many popular dance forms in the Americas-- from Hip Hop to Samba to Salsa—and they are essential for Rumba. This class will include an upbeat warm-up, full of authentic Afro-Cuban steps that can be incorporated into Cuba's sexiest dance. You will also learn a series of exercises that will help you gain the sensual body movement, posture and groove that are essential for Rumba and other Afro-Cuban dances. When you incorporate the steps with the fluid body motion you will be dancing a beautiful rumba! This workshop will be divided by level as needed.
Son Styling for Salsa; Experienced levels with Amanda Gil & Adrian Valdivia, Beginner levels with Project Cuba instructors
(Skills will be demonstrated On1 and On2). Son, “the father of casino”, has influenced salsa music and dance all over the world. You will gain awareness of basic son elements found in salsa and improve your men’s and ladies styling by focusing on elegant flavor and traveling patterns in partnerwork.
Rumba and Afro-Cuban Styling for Salsa; Experienced levels with Amanda Gil & Adrian Valdivia, Beginner levels with Project Cuba instructors
(Skills will be demonstrated On1 and On2). Without rumba, salsa dance would be food without sazon. Rumba adds the components necessary to understand and express the soul of the music. You will learn how to create shines (to be used individually and in partnerwork) that manifest the accents in the music. There will be an Afro-Cuban dance warm-up to train your body’s musicality.
Orishas Dance Workshops with Yesenia Selier, Anara Frank and Project Cuba staff
The Orishas in the Yoruba Pantheon each have dances, rhythms, songs and legends that have endured centuries. The main Orishas have some dances in common that many people learn in classes. But certain Orishas also have a unique dance that is for them alone, that identifies them and exemplifies their characteristics.
In this workshop, experienced students will study these exclusive dances of Chango, Oshun and Yemaya, and deepen their understanding of who these Orishas are.
Beginners will recieve an overview of the pantheon, learn how to recognize each Orisha and what he or she stands for, and also learn how their dances have evolved into other forms including Rumba, Salsa, Casino, Hip Hop and Modern Dance.
"Danza Contemporanea Cubana" Modern Dance Techniques with Anara Frank and Yesenia Selier
This workshop will offer an overview of the modern technique that is taught throughout Cuba at all major art schools, universities and dance companies and is referred to as “Contemporanea Cubana”. Cuban Dance Professors describe it as a fusion of the following genres: American Modern Dance (especially Graham, Cunningham, Sokolow and Limon), Classical Ballet and Afro-Cuban Folkloric Dance. The results of this intensive training technique can be seen in the numerous strong, powerful, expressive, flexible dancers graduating in Cuba each year and joining top national and international companies. The movement vocabulary shows incredibly crisp lines in naturally flowing movement, and amazing “undulations” in the torso and arms. Many believe that the success of the technique lies in the developmental exercise series that is used for training every age, level and style in the country. We will explore this series today, with a special focus on the undulations that are rare outside of Cuba. This workshop will be divided by level as needed, and will be useful for many styles, including Salsa, Afro-Cuban, Hip Hop and Modern Dance. This workshop will be divided by level as needed.
Hip Hop with Afro-Cuban Inspiration with Ray F. Davis and Yesenia Selier
This workshop may appear out of place in our “Project: Cuba” series, but as Hip Hop Dancer & Historian Ray F Davis will tell you, nothing could be farther from the truth. The African roots of Cuban Dance and Hip Hop are very closely linked, and the way Salsa and Hip Hop evolved in NYC, LA & Puerto Rico, brings even more connections. This workshop will begin with a warm-up that will help you improve your body control, making it able to pop, isolate, wave and more. You will learn many popular Hip Hop steps, and see firsthand their similarities to the Afro-Cuban motion we learned in previous classes. Finally you will learn how you can fuse the hottest NYC Hip Hop moves with Salsa to improve your look in both styles.
Lunchtime Cultural Presentations & Potlucks
We will take a break from physical activity in the middle of each Saturday series, for a meal and an interactive presentation. Please help us end up with a delicious, varied meal by signing up in advance for what you would like to bring! SIGN-UP [hyperlink to email Yesenia]
Saturday, January 28: The History and Evolution of Salsa & Casino
An interactive multi-media presentation by Anara Frank of the Marazul Roots of Salsa Research Trips, and Project Cuba instructors, discussing the shared roots of these two unique dances, and how their evolutions took different paths.
Sunday, January 29: Afro-Cuban Influences In Current Dance Forms
An interactive multi-media presentation by Dance Scholar Yesenia Selier of NYU, and Project Cuba instructors, discussing the Afro-Cuban Influences in other dances, including NYC Salsa, Casino, Hip Hop, and Modern Dance