Cuban Folkolore and Salsa with Susana

Susana Arenas Pedroso is an internationally recognized Cuban Folkloric and popular dancer. Born and raised in Havana, Cuba, Ms Pedroso began her career in dance at age twelve, studying at La Casa de Cultura de Matanzas and at Cojunto Folklorico Nacional in Havana. She danced professionally for seventeen years in Cuba with popular, folkloric and theatrical performing groups. Since her arrival in the United States in 1998, Ms Pedroso has performed and choreographed numerous pieces that have been exhibited throughout the United States, Mexico, Cuba and Hong Kong . 

Afro Brazilan with Tania 

Born and raised in Salvador, Bahia, Tania Santiago grew up in the heart of African-influenced Brazil. She has taught, danced, and choreographed for the most well-known companies in Brazil. She spent six years working with Olodum, a highly respected and internationally acknowledged Bloco Afro in Brazil. Tania also choreographed and performed for Olodum on television, at concerts, and at music festivals. Since 1997 Tania has been teaching classes and giving workshops in California, New York, Hawaii, Florida, and Vancouver, Canada. 

Bhangra, Bollywood, West African with Joti

Joti Singh is a dance creator and dance innovator sprung from the U.S. American south to parents from northern India. Joti began her dance training in Punjabi circles, carrying through her body the culture that’s in her blood and memory. As an adult, West African dance entered Joti’s purview, transforming her body’s culture. Through this multilingual body, Joti explores where history intertwines with contemporary continuities of celebration and injustice. She participated in the CHIME mentorship program and has been an Artist-in-Residence at CounterPULSE twice, most recently in their Performing Diaspora program. Joti teaches all over the SF Bay Area, including Dance Mission Theater and the San Francisco School of the Arts. 

Stay up to date with Cunamacue

Cunamacué based in Oakland, California, was founded by artistic director Carmen Román.  The company promotes the continuity of Afro-Peruvian culture, representing it not as a point in time, but as a living, vibrant and evolving form whose music and dance can be used as a means of contemporary expression.  Adapting to its new environment, the San Francisco Bay Area, Cunamacué uses Afro-Peruvian movement vocabulary as well as movements inspired by modern dance and dances of the African Diaspora.

​​​​Cunamacué has performed locally and abroad, having had the pleasure to collaborate with local and international artists to create original compositions in both music and dance.  

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Salsa with Yismari via Zoom

YISMARI RAMOS TELLEZ is a Cuban dancer, teacher, and choreographer located in the Bay Area. Ramos is a graduate of the National School of Art in Havana with a degree in modern and Afro-Cuban folkloric dance. She regularly performed on television, in video, and in live shows for the top bands in Cuba.

In 2009, Yismari Ramos Tellez assumed the role of artistic director of LQSS. As choreographer and principal dancer of LQSS, Ramos brings rigorous training, stellar professional experience, and inspired creative vision to the company.

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Salsa fusion with Tika Morgan

Tika Morgan is a full-time instructor of Contemporary & Latin Dance with 20 years of professional experience. Her unique teaching style has garnered a devoted following throughout the San Francisco Bay Area dance community.
Tika began dancing at age 4 and performing professionally at age 11. She has worked in several dance companies performing both nationally and internationally. Tika is a graduate teacher of the acclaimed Silvestre Dance Technique (Brazil) and has been working with its founders since 2008.
Tika Morgan Dance workshops are centered around dance as a way of life. 

Samba for all ages with Tainah

Tainah Damasceno Harvey is an Oakland native who has been dancing her whole life. Her dance training began with her mother, Conceicao Damasceno, and included various styles of traditional dance from all over Brazil. At the age of three, Tainah also began ballet training, and her passion for ballet led her to study for five years at the San Francisco Ballet School. As a teen/young adult, Tainah began to explore her roots with Brazilian dance with more depth and scope, eventually taking over teaching the youth classes that she had participated in as a child. Tainah acts as Assistant Artistic Director at BrasArte and has helped produce such shows/festivals as Yemanja Arts Festival, SF Bay Brazilian Day & Lavagem, and Sambrazil!