$20

Join Yenny and Sita for a bilingual Spanish/English workshop offering an introduction to two different African-based dance and music traditions in the Dominican Republic: Salve and Gagá. La Salve Dominicana has its roots in Catholic ceremony, referring to songs for the Virgin Mary. It evolved into its contemporary form of secular party music that honors various saints and luas. Gagá, a close cousin of Haitian Rara, is also a syncretic Afro-Dominican music and dance that thrives primarily in sugarcane plantations (bateyes) and is shared  through the streets during Holy Week before Easter. The class includes a warm-up for body and voice, basic movement combinations across the floor, and salve rhythmic patterns and songs. Please wear vibrant colors, hats/headwraps and bring your own pandero/hand drum or be ready to share. 

Yenny Núñez is a lead performer, composer and the band coordinator for Enerolisa y Su Grupo Salve Mata los Indios, from Villa Mella in the Dominican Republic, which was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage site. Recording since 1992, Yenny has performed with her family's multi-generational band nationally and internationally in Mexico, Bolivia, Venezuela and Martinique. They recorded an album with Merengue celebrity Kinito Mendez and the track ‘Ogun Balenyo’ became a popular anthem for Dominican pride world-wide. 

Sita Frederick is a Dominican and American choreographer, performer, arts administrator, mother and educator based in New York City. After graduating from Swarthmore College, Sita performed with Bessie-winning choreographers Jawole Willa Jo Zollar of Urban Bush Women and Merian Soto, co-founder of Pepatian. She currently works for Lincoln Center Education as the Director of Community Engagement where she was proud to produce a NY-based tour of Enerolisa and Yenny’s first US concerts with the entire group in 2018. Sita holds a Master of Fine Arts in New Media Art and Performance from Long Island University, Brooklyn.