The Young Roots Performance Series

Showcasing emerging artists experimenting with the artistic roots of Afro-Latino traditions to create new branches that reach into the future.

SPRING 2011

de rumbo de rumba

April 7 & 8 (Thurs & Fri), 7:30pm

Bronx Culture Trolley preview performance, April 6 (Wed), 6pm, Longwood Gallery @ Hostos

A collaboration between choreographer/dancer Noemí Segarra and percussionist Henry Cole in which the artists loosely work on the edges of Cuban rumba and jazz improvisation.  Framed by vivid lighting created by designer Dave Overcamp, the performers' shared ground lies in intensive listening as creative process as they explore the dialogue between live music and the body. The performance follows a structured improvisational score and, like a fiesta or rumba, it celebrates the possibility of transformation. The audience will be seated on the stage to create a more intimate performance.

the mermaid's feet

May 6 & 7 (Fri & Sat), 7:30pm

Bronx Culture Trolley preview performance, May 4 (Wed), 6pm, Longwood Gallery @ Hostos

A collaborative effort between East Harlem-based vocalists Catarina dos Santos and Raquel Z. Rivera who draw on roots music of the Afro-Ibero-American world, highlighting women's experiences.  The project title makes reference to the female-centeredness of dos Santos' and Rivera's music and to the ocean that touches all the countries whose musical traditions they draw from:  Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Portugal, Cape Verde and Angola.

FALL 2011

dominican beats from matey batorix

September 30 & October 1 (Fri & Sat), 7:30pm

Bronx Culture Trolley preview performance, October 5 (Wed), 6pm, Longwood Gallery @ Hostos

Areytos Performance Works, under the direction of choreographer/dancer Sita Frederick, and composer and master percussionist Alexander Callender, will perform an evening of new work exploring the convergence of the Afro-Dominican traditions of Gaga and Guloya in the Dominican Republic's sugar belt area around the town of San Pedro de Macoris.

los monstritos...
from the barrio zone

September 30 & October 1 (Fri & Sat), 7:30pm

Bronx Culture Trolley preview performance, October 5 (Wed), 6pm, Longwood Gallery @ Hostos

This ensemble of young, virtuoso percussionists (backed by Zon del Barrio with Aurora Flores) hurtle headlong into a variety of latin musical genres--from plena to bachata, from bomba to boogalu, salsa, rumba and merengue.  Along this journey, they give the music their own twist refleting the hip-hop and reggaeton sensibilities and rhythms of their urban neighborhoods.  Los Monstritos are:  Nelson González, Oreste Abrantes, Jason González and Kyle Matthews.

The series was made possible in part by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation’s highly selective New York City Cultural Innovation Fund 2010-12, which supports creativity and the arts, with an emphasis on innovation.

Additional info:  The Young Roots Performance Series

Location:  Main Theater Stage
Hostos Community College/CUNY
450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street
Bronx, NY  10451

Directions:  By Train:  Take the #2, 4 or 5 to 149th Street/Grand Concourse.  By Bus:  BX1 or BX19 to 149th Street and Grand Concourse.  By Car:  From Manhattan, take the FDR Drive north to the Willis Avenue Bridge to the Major Deegan Expressway (87N). Proceed north to Exit 3. Take the right fork in the exit ramp to the Grand Concourse and proceed north to East 149th Street (Eugenio María de Hostos Boulevard).  From Queens, take the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge to the Major Deegan Expressway. Continue north to Exit 3. Take the right fork in the exit ramp to the Grand Concourse and proceed north to East 149th Street (Eugenio María de Hostos Boulevard).