An immersive weekend celebrating Afro-Cuban movement, rhythm, culture and tradition with live music, workshops and performances.
The Afro-Cuban Dance Congress takes over Academy Ballroom from Friday, October 16 through Sunday, October 18, bringing the foundations of Afro-Cuban folklore, Orishas, Rumba, and traditional rhythms to Atlanta. It's an immersive weekend run by Ana Llorente and Michelito Herrera, with a faculty that includes Gilset Mora, Francys Ramos, and Yuniel Araujo — all former members of Cuba's leading National Dance Companies, so they're bringing authentic training and professional stage experience rather than just a few steps.
Things kick off Friday night with a cultural symposium on Afro-Cuban culture and an introduction to the instructors. From there, the next two days are intensive workshops covering Afro-Cuban contemporary Cuban technique, Yoruba, Arará, Rumba, and Congo cycles, alongside popular Cuban dances, carnival traditions, cha-cha-chá, and son, and how they fuse with salsa and mambo. Musicality, song, theory, and new cultural trends are woven in throughout, so you're getting the context as much as the movement.
The Saturday night party runs until 2 AM with a salsa class and live music, and the weekend closes with an Afro-Salsa fusion class on Sunday. Leading the event are Ana Llorente, a Cuban-born choreographer and former world champion trained at Havana's National School of Arts, and Michelito Herrera, a dancer, percussionist, and cultural educator who served as musical director of Yoruba Andabo.
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Logistics: Doors open Friday at 8 PM; Saturday runs 9 AM to 2 AM; Sunday is 10 AM to 4 PM. A Full Pass is $140, which includes 12 hours of workshops and the AfroSalsa party and show. The venue is Academy Ballroom, 800 Miami Cir NE, Atlanta, GA 30324.
