Bomba, Puerto Rico’s oldest art form, originated in the 17th century as a form of communication, rebellion, and relief by enslaved Africans on the coastal sugar cane plantations of the island. Bomba is a result from Spanish colonization, which brought African as slaves to work plantations. The resiliency of the…
Master artist Fujima Kansuma and apprentice Melody Takata participated in Round 7 of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program, conducting an apprenticeship in Japanese Nihon Buyo, or Japanese classical dance. Fujima Kansma is no ordinary figure. Surmounting a series of challenges and discouragements, her long career reflects extraordinary focus and…
Joti Singh studied Guinean dance with master artist Alseny Soumah as part of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2007. Soumah’s family taught him to dance when he was a small child in Conakry, Guinea, and he performed with a neighborhood group before dancing professionally with Ballets Merveilles and Les…
Ruth Yafonne Chen (San Francisco) will study Chinese Wushu (sword dance) with Ling Mei Zhang (San Francisco). Zhang studied with masters Liu Yuhua and Lee Wenjin in Tian Jinh and became the double straight sword Wushu champion for all of China in 1975. She has taught martial arts for over…
African and African diaspora Arts and Culture
Dance Group XoroTroptzi is a performing ensemble founded in 2012 under the auspices of the Bulgarian-American Cultural Educational Forum in Los Angeles. Evolving from simple social gatherings between friends to learn traditional dances, they are the only Bulgarian folk ensemble in Los Angeles. With a mission…
After citizens of the town of San Miguel Cuevas, Oaxaca, Mexico migrated and settled their families in the Central Valley, many became concerned that their children would not be exposed to their indigenous roots leading to cultural extinction. In 2001, community members came together to discuss how they can continue…
The mission of the Morava Folklore Ensemble is to preserve Serbian song and dance traditions and to pass those traditions onto future generations. Established in 1987 as an auxiliary organization of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in San Diego with a few participants, three dance groups…
Sabrina Hou was a master artist for ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2007 with apprentice, Janice Ng. Hou studied Kunqu opera, the oldest form of Chinese folk opera, at the Beijing Opera Conservatory and performed with the Beijing Northern Kunqu Opera Theater before moving to the United States ten…
Sometimes when a people survive the greatest of tragedies, art and culture is the first thing they turn to in order to continue. Although 90 percent of all Cambodian classical artists perished between 1975 and 1979 after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, those who did survive wandered out from…
