FREE Noontime Dance at U.N. Plaza
Shake a tail feather to Latin and Caribbean beats
All classes will take place Tuesdays from 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Learn from these master performers and join in on the fun!
When: Tuesday, October 25, November 1, and November 8 at noon to 1:30 p.m.
Where: U.N. Plaza, Market Street between 7th and 8th streets
The ARTery Project presents a lively series of interactive dance and musical performances created in partnership with Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. For three consecutive Tuesdays this fall, the public is encouraged to head down to U.N. Plaza where everyone can enjoy delicious bites courtesy of Off the Grid and shake a tail feather to Latin and Caribbean beats. Tuesday, October 25 features high-energy Brazilian dance and live percussion by Fogo na Roupa; on Tuesday, November 1, former Carnaval SF Queen Elizabeth Soberanes will teach her popular Latin Dance Grooves class, featuring a variety of Latin rhythms; and on Tuesday, November 8, folks can enjoy live Haitian drumming and dance with the Afoutayi Dance Company. All performances will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. Audience participation is strongly encouraged!
Dancer Bios:
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 (RSVP here)
Metzi Henriquez is a graduate of San Francisco’s School of the Arts Dance Department; After years of formal and classical training, Metzi found inspiration in dances of the African Diaspora, primarily Afro-Latin dances and began training in Afro-Brasilian dance and folklore with Mestre Carlos Aceituno and performing with Fogo Na Roupa performing company. Currently she is co-artistic director and choreographer of Fogo Na Roupa Grupo Carnavalesco and teaches weekly classes at Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 (RSVP here)
Elizabeth Soberanes emigrated with her family from Mexico to San Francisco’s Mission District in 1973. She began to pursue dance as a way of life in 1985 at Rhythm and Motion Dance Center. She holds a BA in Dance Ethnology and has studied Dunham Technique, Afro-Haitian, Brazilian, Cuban, Modern, Hip Hop and Jazz Dance. Over the past 20 years, she has been involved in dance as a performer, arts educator, administrator and producer for prominent organizations such as Performing Arts Workshop, World Arts West, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnaval San Francisco, where she was crowned Carnaval SF Queen in 2001. she created Latin Dance Grooves in 2008 as a way to share her love of Latin dance with others.
Elizabeth has traveled to Brazil and Cuba to study dance and participate in their Carnaval celebrations and regularly travels to New York and Miami to study dance and fitness. She believes that dance is a healing force for physical, emotional and spiritual well-being and hopes to inspire students to lose themselves in the joy of dance!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 (RSVP here)
Haitian-born Djenane Saint Juste is an accomplished choreographer, dancer, actress and vocalist specializing in authentic Haitian folkloric dance. Through spiritual practice she continues to refine, protect and preserve the Haitian dance tradition. Djenane has dedicated herself to the research, development, and promotion of traditional Haitian dance, song and storytelling. In 2009, she co-founded Afoutayi Dance, music and Arts Company with her mother Florencia Pierre, a renowned choreographer, singer, actress and educator, and Mambo priestess, and her brother and gifted drummer, Jeff Pierre. Afoutayi was founded to provide awareness and education about Haitian culture. Locally they have performed at Stanford University, MOAD, SF State, Occidental College, Dance Mission Theater and Bollyhood Café.