Cunamacué

Bay Area Alameda County African/African-American Latino/a/x Dance Afro-Peruvian 2022 2023

About the Organization

For Cunamacué, the arts are a tool for creative expression, healing, and self- transformation; everyone should have equitable access to quality arts education. To ensure this right for those without the economic means to pay for a dance or music class, Cunamacué offers free dance and music residencies and programs in low-income, underrepresented schools serving Black and Brown youth.  Cunamacué’s interactive dance and music assemblies, as well as their family dance classes (offered free and quarterly), focus on Afro-Peruvian history and culture. The organization also performs and teaches at the annual Afro-Peruvian Fest, self-produces full-length performances, and creates dance films about Afro-Peruvian culture. Their film “Herencia de un Pueblo,” highlighting the Afro-Peruvian town of El Carmen, Peru, won “Best Documentary” and “Best Cinematography” at the 2016 San Francisco Dance Film Festival.

 

 

---

Living Cultures Grant

2023

Huellas

ACTA’s Living Cultures Grant Program will support Cunamacué’s Afro-Peruvian dance theater performance Huellas, inspired by the ancestral dance Son de los Diablos; free Son de los Diablos dance and percussion workshops; and a free panel discussion on “Voices of resistance through cultural manifestations in the African Diaspora.”

2022

Huellas

Supported by ACTA’s Living Cultures Grant Program, Cunamacué will complete Huellas (Footprints), a project centering the ancestral, street-masquerade dance Son de los Diablos and featuring other Afro-Peruvian rhythms (Festejo, Zapateo, and Landó). Huellas will include a dance, music, and theater piece; free Son de los Diablos dance and percussion workshops; and a conference about the historical context in which the tradition evolved, addressing issues of decolonization and resistance.