ShowcaseDance
Pages From BAC
Al Nujoom is a New Jersey-based Palestinian folkloric debkah troupe founded in 2005 and led by Ramzi Zdouq, who has called Paterson his home for nearly 3 years. Many of Nujoom’s members are originally... more
Alberto Gonzalez is director of the Brooklyn-based Panamanian dance ensemble Conjunto Nuevo Milenio. Born in Colón, Panama, he started dancing at age five and later joined the Panamanian Ballet Folkló... more
Since the start of her career, Azza has been a featured dancer in all of New York's top Arab nightclubs, including The Nile, Cedars of Lebanon, Mofeta's, and Ibis. Based in Brooklyn, she dances at man... more
Use BAC's Folk Feet Dance Workshops to book your own class or workshop series with Brooklyn’s traditional dance teachers. Folk Feet Dance Workshops focus on teaching the movement repertoire of spec... more
Brighten Ballet and Folk Dance Company
Artistic Director and Founder Irina Roizin and Brighton Ballet's dancers are former soloists from the Kirov Ballet, the Bolshoi Theater, and the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater. The company has appear... more
Chrisafo Madimenos, an excellent teacher of Greek social dance, weaves lessons about the aesthetics and meaning of dances into her classes. The Brooklyn-raised Chrisafo spent summers in Greece with he... more
DIRECTIONS: Fort Greene Park A/C to Lafayette; G to Fulton; Q/R to Dekalb;OR 2/3 to Atlantic Avenue. Enter Fort Greene Park on the south side (Dekalb Ave. and South Portland) and walk to the grassy ... more
Cliff Matias is the founder and director of Redhawk Native American Arts Council, a Brooklyn-based organization established in 1995 that promotes and presents Native American arts and culture. Each J... more
Darrah Carr, artistic director of Darrah Carr Dance, has choreographed for and performed with Broadway productions and dance companies at home and abroad. She learned traditional Irish dance in her na... more
Don Coy, who made his way to Brooklyn from his native Louisville, Kentucky, in 1990, has trained as a square dancer caller since 1974. Don is also an expert square dance teacher, and country guitar pl... more
One of the most creative and successful Irish dancers, Donny Golden, is a North American step-dancing champion and a National Heritage Award winner. He has choreographed shows for his troupe at Radio ... more
This drum and dance ensemble specializes in Bomba, Puerto Rico's oldest art form dating back to its colonial history. Bomba's musicality and aesthetics are a combination of African, Indigenous, and Eu... more
Euston James, a native of Trinidad, has lived in Brooklyn since 1972. In the U.S. he has participated in West Indian carnival traditions as a dancer of calypso and limbo and as a fire-eater. His speci... more
Folk Feet is made possible, in part, by Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and The New York Community Trust.
BAC’s Folk Feet Dance Workshops connect you to Brooklyn’s traditional dance masters. These experts in different dance cultures are available to teach dance classes throughout the New York area. Learn ... more
By the age of 3 Jehan was already dreaming of becoming a bellydancer, having been introduced to the art form via the star dancers of Egyptian golden-age cinema. Pursuing the study of raqs sharqi or... more
Kaina Quenga grew up in Hilo, HawaiI, where she studied and performed hula— “dance” in Hawaiian. She moved to Brooklyn in 2001, where she performs and also teaches Hawaiian cultural traditions and Tah... more
LaUra was born in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and comes from a family of traditional artists. Her mother, a professional dancer, was the granddaughter of one of the greatest Uzbeki poets of all time, Hamza ... more
Layla began studying Middle Eastern dance at the age of 19 at Serena Studios in New York City. Her passion for Middle Eastern dance led her to study with such masters of the form as Yousry Sharif, Ram... more
Leonardo Ivan Dominguez has been working for more than 35 years as an educator of Dominican folk traditions. Born on the outskirts of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Ivan was learning to drum by ag... more
Alberto Gonzalez is director of the Brooklyn-based Panamanian dance ensemble Conjunto Nuevo Milenio. Born in Colón, Panama, he started dancing at age five and later joined the Panamanian Ballet Folkló... more
Melinda Gonzalez dances bomba, Puerto Rico’s oldest native art form. An Afro-Puerto Rican dance, bomba involves improvised steps and a live drummer. But in bomba, it is the dancer, not the percussioni... more
Nicole Macotsis, Folk Arts Associate
As Folk Arts Associate, Nicole primarily manages the expansion and development of Folk Feet, a fieldwork driven documentation and presentation project on traditional dance in Brooklyn. Project manager... more
One of New York’s leading Arab dance artists, Ranya has performed and taught on 4 continents and locally at Lincoln Center’s Out-of-Doors Festival, the American Museum of Natural History, Wave Hill (a... more
Rayhana's dramatic and sensual style incorporates the influences of all the artists she has studied under. She interprets the subtleties and drama of Middle Eastern music, mixing different styles such... more
Rita Silva was born in Salvador, Bahia, in Northeastern Brazil, and brought up amid Afro-Brazilian traditions. An accomplished dancer and musician, Rita has performed with dance companies throughout B... more
Roundtable: Arab Dance Traditions
An evening exploring Arab dance traditions, with primary emphasis on their performance in New York City presented by Dr. Kay Turner, who teaches in NYU’s Performance Studies Dept. and is also folklori... more
Founded at Bay Ridge’s Arab American Association in 2001, Salaam Debkah promotes youth development and Arab cultural forms. Practicing weekly, under the direction of Sheren Attal, Salaam Debkah is no... more
Samara has spent 25 years dedicated to the dances of the Middle East and North Africa. Drawn to the dance because of her Mediterranean heritage (Greek and Turkish), she began dancing professionally in... more
