Year: 2023-2024
DanceForce Member: Margarita Espada
Artist: Rosa Lina Lima
Community Partners: Brentwood Library; Brentwood School District; La Fiesta Radio; Latina Moms Connect; Noticias News; Suffolk Community College; Teatro Rodante Hispanico; Uplift Our Town; Westbury School District
Audience: 234
County: Suffolk
“ Bailando Ubuntu” / .”I am, because you are”: contemporary dance residency embracing Afro-Caribbean culture led by dancer Rosa Lina Lima and percussionist Dr. Drum.
Ubuntu has its roots in humanist African philosophy. Ubuntu means “I am, because you are”. “Bailando Ubuntu” seeks to amplify and celebrate the BIPOC community on Long Island through the celebration of Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Ubuntu captures the idea of common humanity, oneness.
Dancing Ubuntu/Bailando Ubuntu is a dance and community project that involves movement, painting, percussion workshops, and the creation of a bead necklace.
Rosa Lina will offer contemporary dance workshops that honor our Afro-Caribbean descent and the intersectionality in the multiculturalism of Latin American culture. The project will consist of dance workshops, painting, community conversations, and the creation of a bead necklace for each of the participants. The necklace will be used by the participants in the final presentation as a symbol of the relationship with others: I am and you are because we are. The workshop will have as guests the percussionist Dr. Drum and the anthropologist Dr. Ivette Chiclana and Margarita Espada from Teatro Yerbabruja.
Workshops : 6 intensive workshops (dance, painting and construction workshops. (10 hours)
2 community talks (6 hours)
Final presentation can community celebration
Our partners include Latina Moms, Uplift Our Town, Brentwood School District, Teatro Rodante Hispanico and new collaborations include Brentwood Library, Cuentos de Triada and Suffolk Community College.
Long Island is one of the most segregated places in the USA.
Communities served: Latinx/Back/Afro Caribbean communities
Estimated size of audience: 300
This project creates visibility and amplifies Afro-Caribbean voices and bodies through the creation of a dance space that honors the cultural roots of an immigrant community.