Dance Brigade / Dance Mission Theater and Susana Arenas Pedroso with Duniya Dance and Drum Company

“Raíces et Révolution” (“Roots and Revolution”), a dance performance about Cuba and Guinea’s cultural and political relationships.

Dance Brigade / Dance Mission Theater is commissioning Afro-Cuban choreographer Susana Arenas Pedroso to collaborate with Duniya Dance and Drum Company. The work will illuminate Cuba and Guinea’s cultural and political relationships, drawing on Pedroso’s unsparing choreography, Regla de Ocha (Santería) spiritual practices, Guinea’s legacy of national dance and music companies, Cuba’s global artistic influence, and Afro-Latinx and African immigrant identities. Both Pedroso and musical director/collaborating artistic director Alpha Oumar “Bongo” Sidibe will be advised by masters of Cuban and Guinean ballet and drumming, and elders with firsthand experience of Cuba and Guinea’s political/artistic exchanges. The project title is “Raíces et Révolution” (“Roots and Revolution” in Spanish-French), and it will premiere in 2024.