An Afrodance Movement Emerges in Brooklyn

By the BK Reader

For the past decade in Brooklyn, Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance has brought residents traditional dance instruction from across the African Diaspora– styles from Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, West Africa and more.

On February 4, as part of its ten-year anniversary, Cumbe, in collaboration with Afrodance New York, kicked off a dance festival, Afro’Dance Emerges: The Beat, The Beats & The Dance, taking place at 1368 Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

The festival represents a reemergence of sorts for the dance center, as it brings back a number of in-person classes after two years of remote instruction during the pandemic. Also with the festival, Cumbe becomes the first in the borough to host a 6-week-long series of workshops dedicated to the genre of African social and street dances popularly known as “afrobeats.”

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Return of the Dance: Cumbe Center in Bed Stuy ReOpens

Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance is celebrating the reopening of its dance studio, located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, with free or donation-based public instructed dance.

The dance studio opened in 2012. When the pandemic hit, they were forced to host all their dance classes online.

Co-founder Jimena Martinez says she is grateful to be open again.

News 12’s Dorissa White has more on Saturday’s festivities.

Watch the coverage here.

Together and in Person: Everybody Dance Now

A Fall Review by New York Times’ Siobhan Burke

The pandemic brought dance to a halt on multiple fronts, shutting down not only theaters but also the spaces where dancers train. Alongside the gradual return of live performance in New York, dance studios have been making a cautious comeback, as they reopen for in-person classes with safety protocols in place.

That’s good news for anyone, professional or amateur, who has grown weary of dancing at home, alone, in front of a screen. Across the city this fall, opportunities to dance offline abound: One way to shake off the pandemic blues, even as the pandemic presses on.

“As much as we’re thankful for being able to work virtually, it’s a completely different energy to be with each other in person,” said Jimena Martinez, the executive director and co-founder of Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Like many dance studios, Cumbe switched to a fully online schedule early in the pandemic. Its indoor, in-person classes — in forms like Afro-Haitian dance, Samba and Chicago-Style Steppin’ — resumed this month. (The studio continues to offer virtual and outdoor classes.)

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Celebrating Carnival in COVID with Cumbe

Cumbe, Mickela Mallozzi with Bare Feet Travel and NBC New York Live!

It’s Carnival season and we asked one of our teaching artists, Careitha Davis to dance with Mickela Mallozzi and Oneika Raymond and give them a taste of what this season is all about. Check out the clip here!

Cumbe Celebrates Kwanzaa

Cumbe: Center for African Diaspora Dance held its Kwanzaa festival. The event included dance demonstrations, a Kwanzaa history lesson and a marketplace featuring vendors of African diaspora. Organizers say it’s a celebration of life.  

“Keeping these traditions alive, keeping the culture alive is about introducing pride, determination and tradition into for people of color,” said Kendra Ross, Senior Program Manager, Center for African Diaspora Dance.

The holiday was first celebrated in 1966. It begins on December 26th, and ends on New Year's Day.
Watch the video here.

Scenes from Atlantic Antic 2019

Published in Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn’s oldest street fair took place Sunday, and thousands turned out to shop, snack and celebrate the occasion along Brooklyn’s “Main Street.” Atlantic Avenue was closed to traffic from Fourth Avenue to Hicks Street for the Atlantic Antic street fair, which has been drawing huge crowds since its inception in 1975.

Eleven stages hosted musicians, DJs and dancers, with performances from groups like the Amber-ABA Orchestra (accompanied by a troupe of Yemini belly dancers), New York Arabic Orchestra, Dabka Team Dancers, Decoster, Becky Krill and Cumbe Center for African Diaspora Dance.
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Cumbe Celebrates Women’s History Month with New Workshops

Published in the BK Reader
Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance just announced a new series of workshops to celebrate women’s empowerment, beginning Sunday, March 10.

“This month is all about the feminine energy within the African and African Diaspora world through dance and song,” Cumbe announced. “We are excited to give the feminine energy and power a special highlight this month by making space for some of the most powerful teachers, like West African Dance master teacher Marie Basse-Wiles, to share and express their creativity and techniques.”
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I Took A Katherine Dunham–Technique Dance Class And Learned About The Iconic Black Dancer's Genius

Published at Essence.com by Starr Rhett Rocque

“Like I mentioned earlier, I have dance experience. I’ve done West African (Sabar), Modern, Tap, and Ballet, but never got around to taking an official Dunham Technique class. When I walked into the class at Cumbe Dance, which was described as “Open Level,” Godboldo asked me to describe my level of dance experience. We both figured that I would be able to follow along smoothly due to my experience. We were right. The movements were familiar, but Dunham Technique was a work out work out, especially since I haven’t done any formal dance training in years.”
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Cumbe Celebrates Traditions and Culture of Senegal with New Dance Series

Published in the BK Reader
Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance is celebrating the 59th anniversary of Senegal’s independence by honoring the West African country’s contributions to the world of dance with a series of classes and workshops. 

“Did you know that Senegal’s first president when it gained its independence, Léopold Sédar Senghor, was a poet and proponent of négritude, a philosophy affirming the value of African heritage that helped guide Senegal into independence with strong pride?” said Jimena Martinez, Cumbe’s executive director. “Did you know that New York City boasts some of the best Senegalese dance teachers in the U.S.?” 
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Carnival in Kings! Bed-Stuy dance studio celebrates pre-Easter fest with annual show

Published in the Brooklyn Paper
They didn’t stop the Carnival!

Spirited young students at a Bedford-Stuyvesant dance studio got their groove on this month at the company’s performance honoring the annual Carnival festival that many Christian cultures celebrate to mark the start of Lent.
The performers showcased their moves after spending months perfecting their action-packed routines, according to the executive director of the Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance.
“There’s so much vitality in this form of dance, and the crowd could see the hard work that was poured by each one of our students,” said Jimena Martinez.
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Bless Their Soles! Reggie Nance and Synchana Madonna Win 9th Annual Stars of NY Dance!

Published in the BK Reader
On Friday, six New Yorkers from corporate, to clergy, to government, to nonprofit laced up their shoes, challenged their bodies and put their best foot forward to do something they’d never done before: dance for a cause.

It was the 9th Annual Stars of New York Dance, a competition where community leaders are coupled with trained dancers to compete for a $5,000 prize that is donated to a deserving arts organization of their choice.
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