Cumbe Center For African And Diaspora Dance Ready To Open Doors Of New Studio

Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance (Cumbe), a thrilling and diverse dance studio championing African Diaspora dance and music, is ready to open the doors to its new home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn at RestorationART. After unexpected delays led the resilient nonprofit to postpone its opening day, the rescheduled Community Dance Day on November 11 will celebrate Cumbe's homecoming with a sampling of $5 classes. Adult classes are set to resume on November 12.

To be taught by a dynamic lineup of instructors, Cumbe's adult classes will offer a wide array of opportunities for students to experience ashé-the power and spirit that underlies African and Diaspora culture-through dance and music. Fitness-focused classes such as SOCA'N WET will have students moving to the point of being drenched-as the name suggests, dance-enthusiasts can also experience the joy of couple-dancing through a Chicago Style Steppin' class or take a West African class with world-renowned dancer and choreographer Lamine Thiam.

"All of us at Cumbe send a huge thank you to our entire community for supporting and loving us while we've been 'in the diaspora,'" says Executive Director Jimena Martinez about the opening. "We're anxiously anticipating the opening and opportunity it will bring for us to return to a larger offering of programming, connect to a new neighborhood, and spread the joy of dance in these challenging times!"

For Cumbe, the time of "diaspora" began with being pushed out of its space in 2015 to make room for a residential building. The start of classes at its new studio space in RestorationART is like a homecoming for Cumbe, its staff and students-many of whom have excitedly waited for the well-loved dance organization to resume its larger programming.

RestorationART will welcome the community to the newly renovated dance space on Saturday, Oct 28 with a sampling of classes and presentations from Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Youth Arts Academy, Choreoquest, Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble and Cumbe. More information can be found here: https://tockify.com/cac1368/agenda.

November 11 Cumbe Open House Schedule at RestorationART:

9:30 a.m.-10:15 a.m. African Cardio Fitness (Instructor: Johari Mayfield)
10:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Playtime with Mrs. Red Foxx (Instructor: Johari Mayfield) for kids ages 3-4
11:15 a.m.-11:45 a.m. Journey through the Diaspora (Instructor: Goussy Célestin) for kids ages 1-3
12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. SOCA N' WET (Instructor: Bajanalla Cann)
1:15 p.m.-2:15 p.m. Sabar/Kutiro (Instructor: Ousmane Sall)
2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Afro Haitian (Instructor: Julio Jean)
3:45 p.m.-4:45 p.m. Chicago Style Steppin' (Instructors: New York Chicago Style Steppers)
5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Dancehall (Instructor: Yaminah Legohn)

ABOUT CUMBE

Cumbe is a home in New York City for the music and dance of the African Diaspora. In the five years since its launch in 2012, Cumbe has set out to house the varied traditions and dances of the African Diaspora-priming itself to offer adult classes in West African, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Haitian, Caribbean, Modern, Dancehall, dance fitness, Chicago Style Steppin, Samba and Congolese dance among others, as well as creative movement classes for ages 1 to 4?. Through dance and music classes, shows, parties, and social events, Cumbe offers the community the opportunity to gather and experience the breadth and power of the music and dances that stem from Africa. Its lectures help educate others about the deep cultural knowledge held in African Diaspora music and dance.

ABOUT RESTORATIONART

RestorationART (formerly branded The Center for Arts & Culture), the cultural centerpiece of Restoration, is a dynamic 21st-century creative complex that is committed to folding our community into world-class artistic discovery and storytelling in dance, music, theater, visual arts and conversation in the epicenter of Black culture, Central Brooklyn. RestorationART reaches a diverse audience of more than 40,000 annually through dance concerts and choreographic showcases, music festivals and salons, theater performances and a new works reading series, as well as talks & films; a Youth Arts Academy; the Skylight Gallery; institutions-in-residence, including the Billie Holiday Theatre, Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Cumbe: The Center for African and Diaspora Dance, Noel Pointer School of Music and Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy.

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