Samba Fusion dances history.

This year, bring your dancing shoes for a special celebration of the Black History Month.

On Sunday the 15th, the February edition of Dance Allsorts expands the discussion by presenting a mixed program of Afro-Peruvian and Afro-Brazilian dance tradition. It is an occasion for the Source Newspaper to meet two of Vancouver’s leading dance collectives sharing the same roots: AfroVibras Perú and Samba Fusion.

Understanding the realities

At the beginning of AfroVibras Perú, there were Sonia Medel and Geidy Baldeon, two UBC students. Medel was interested in the traditional aspects of the dance, “learning about African movements to understand the roots of the dance” whereas Baldeon was interested in the socio-cultural-political aspects of Afro-Peruvian dance practices. For Baldeon, staying connected to these roots is necessary.

“When I dance, I don’t intend to get up and shout out political diatribes, but I do want to get back to the critical roots of dance that maestros in Peru had taught me to search for,” says Baldeon.

That involves researching lyrics and dance moves, consulting with dance maestros and leaders that are a part of the Peruvian and Afro-descendant diaspora. The two women decided to check if forming a performance group was possible.

“We called friends from the same backgrounds and interests and by the summer of 2013, we had more performance offers than we could actually fulfill and the group grew from just us to 14!,” says Medel.

To tell its story, the group manages to unite dance and theatre. Drama has been a form through which marginalized groups in Peru have expressed their resistance and contributions for many decades.

“The way we are incorporating theatre is also as a way to introduce the contexts of dances and convey emotions to the audience. For us it is really important to provide the audience some background of the dance and its significance, and not just dance,” adds Baldeon.

Peoples from Guinea, Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique and other parts of Africa arrived in Peru during the time of the Spanish conquest. Since that moment they have contributed to Indigenous and national independence battles. And Peru has kept the importance of this community’s most emblematic instrument, the Afro-Peruvian cajón, now even famous in Flamenco and Indie music.

Medel and Baldeon say they wanted to foster Afro-Peruvian dancing in Vancouver because people outside of the Peruvian community were unfamiliar with the style of dance, and ‘folkloric’ dancing was usually not respected within the professional dance community here.

They add that the dance conveys diverse histories and understandings, “some of which are of resistance, violence and realities the mass public may not be ‘ready’ to see or may not find pleasing.”

Remembrance time

In one of Peru’s neighbours, Black History plays a leading part in the dancing customs.

“Big part of the Brazilian culture, dance and traditions come from the Africans during the slavery in the 16th century,” says Andrea Monteiro, who created Samba Fusion with Naija K in 2009 because of their common dance background.

As the ideas flowed, more dancers, including Brazilian, Russian and Canadian members, joined the group and brought their own experience in different styles of dance. This is how the name of the group, Samba Fusion, came into being.

Samba Fusion finds its roots in African dance and culture explains Andrea Monteiro.

“Samba is the most popular dance style from Brazil and was created by the African slaves as a way to express and practice their own religion and beliefs,” she says.

This style of dance was created as an expression of freedom and it has become very popular all around the world. Samba Fusion will introduce you to a few different styles of Brazilian dances including traditional Samba from Rio de Janeiro with their colorful costumes.

“The feathers will hypnotize you,” says Monteiro.

If you want to be a part of this fiesta, Dance Allsorts organizes a workshop to learn Samba Reggae, a very easy style of dance where everyone is welcome to join.

“Black History Month is a very important month for us. It is the time of remembrance of our ancestors, of the Africans who made the difference in our culture. It is the time to thank and celebrate their lives and share with other people what our culture is all about,” says Monteiro.

Dance Allsorts: AfroVibras Perú & Samba Fusion

February 15, 2015 at CBC Studio