Hot fusion
A new arts festival celebrates the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.
By Rita Felciano

LEAVE IT TO the modest Dance Mission Theater to pull together the Cuba Caribe Festival of Dance, Music, and Theater. This first-annual event features four weekends of premiere performances, plus master classes, panel discussions, lectures, and a book signing with Ned Sublette, author of Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. While at first glance Cuba's influence on local culture may seem less than pronounced, many African Americans – particularly those of a certain generation – are fully aware and grateful that long before the '60s, Cuban music offered a valuable link to their own West African heritage.

CUBAN FUSION
CubaCaribe Dance Festival
Founder fuses folkloric forms with other styles, even modern
Reyhan Harmanci

Thursday, April 19, 2007

In its third year, the CubaCaribe Dance Festival fuses folkloric and traditional dances from Cuba and the Caribbean with those of other cultures, including Brazil, as it blends in modern dance elements, too.

It'll take two weekends to fill such a tall order.

Ramon Ramos Alayo, a Cuban emigre who has lived in the United States for nine years, says he started the festival because Cuban dance -- the mambo, the cha-cha-cha -- needed a local showcase. He also wanted to draw connections between classic Cuban dance and other styles.