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Produced by La Mezcla & KULARTS/Alleluia Panis Dance Theatre, join us at Eastside Arts Alliance & Cultural Center in Oakland, CA for this exclusive WAA Showcase! Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served.

Date:

Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Doors at 6:30, show at 6:45pm

This showcase features dance and music as living archives of migration, resistance, ancestry, memory, and cultural survival. The artists span many traditions (Filipino, Indian, Latin American, Japanese, African diasporic, etc.), but they’re connected by stories that move across borders and generations.

More info here.

Sat, May 9, 10:30am-12pm | Groove and Ground: Principles of Afro-diasporic Movement and Rhythm with Samad Raheem Guerra | Brava Theater | RSVP: here!

In this workshop, we will explore the rhythmic elements and movement principles of Afro-Diasporic dances. From the Polyrhythmic Layering of Comparsa Rhythms to Embodying Ogun / Ogum Movement across Afro Cuban and Afro Brazilian traditions, this workshop centers cultural background and movement of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian Orixa, and an exploration of movement principles through embodiment and improvisation.

Samad Raheem Guerra is a multidisciplinary performing artist and arts educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. A Fulbright-Hays Scholar, he holds a BA in World Arts and Cultures/Dance from UCLA and has toured internationally with CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Theater. His credits include performing at the Hollywood Bowl and the Ford Amphitheater with Viver Brasil and Sergio Mendes, appearing as a featured artist and choreographer for La Doña, and producing work presented at LACMA, as well as Hamburger Bahnhof and daadgalerie in Berlin. He has taught with the East Bay Center for Performing Arts Diploma Summer Intensive Program and served as Director of World Dance at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts for five years. Currently, he sits on the board of World Arts West, the largest multicultural dance network in the United States.
Fri, May 1, 10-11:30am | Cuban Movement Fundamentals with Diana Aburto Vega | Brava Theater | RSVP: here!

This class focuses on the foundational mechanics of Cuban movement, emphasizing grounded posture, isolation, coordination, and rhythmic precision. Through guided exercises and progressions, dancers will develop a deeper understanding of how the spine, pelvis, and feet work together to create fluid, dynamic movement. Open to all levels, this class supports dancers in building strength, musicality, and cultural awareness while expanding their movement vocabulary across styles influenced by Afro-Cuban traditions.
Diana Aburto Vega was born and raised in Managua, Nicaragua where she started her dance career in a wide variety of Latin American rhythms, contemporary dance, modern techniques, belly dance and urban Latin styles like Reggaeton and Dancehall. She is also a professional Nicaraguan Folklore Dancer trained under Folkloric Ballet Macehuatl (“Worthy” in Nahuatl, the language of the first people in Nicaragua). Diana has served as a Nicaraguan cultural ambassador for the Bay Area through building and directing individuals from two Nicaraguan folklore groups.