Moving Spirits Dance Workshop: Variations of Samba (Afro, Reggae, Traditional)

Samba was created by African people in Brazil from the music and dance culture they brought from Africa, with origins from the Congo and Angola. Samba-reggae is a mix of reggae beats created by Samba drums. It has birthed a style of African-influenced dance which has been obtained from the styles of Afro-Brazilian and candomble dance.

African Diaspora dances explore movements inspired by the Yoruba, Angola, Nago and Akan people of West Africa. These cultures represent a wide range of descendants of Africa that were brought to the Americas as enslaved people. Through the education of African diaspora forms in movement, these workshops will expose participants to African derived dance forms from the United States, Cuba, and Brazil that are foundational to the history and development of American cultures.

The dances combine several rhythms in their movement, with various rhythmic syncopations found in the shoulders, chest, pelvis, arms, legs etc. These African diaspora forms are a study of the connections between the rhythms and the traditional movement, archetype and story, and spirituality interpreted as an art form.

About The Instructor

Tamara Williams is a native of Augusta, GA, where she began her dance training. She earned her BFA in Dance from Florida State University and received her MFA in Dance from Hollins University in collaboration with The American Dance Festival, The Forsythe Company, and Frankfurt University. She is a certified GYROTONIC(R) Trainer, Reiki Practitioner and Capoeirista.

In 2011, Williams created Tamara LaDonna Moving Spirits, Inc., a contemporary arts organization dedicated to performing, researching, documenting, cultivating, and producing arts of the African Diaspora. Williams continues to serve as Artistic Director.

For the past six years, Williams has trained intensely in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, in Silvestre Technique and Afro-Brazilian dance. She is a 2012 recipient of the Artist Residency Fellowship at the Dance & Performance Institute in Trinidad, a 2013 recipient of the Harlem Stage/Aaron Davis Hall Fund for New Work grant, and a 2014 & 2015 Community Arts Fund Grantee by the Brooklyn Arts Council. She was the 2014 Lecturer/Emerging Artist-in-Residence at Penn State University-Altoona. Williams was a 2015 Turkey Land Grove Foundation recipient. As a result, she participated in a seven-day dance writing residency in Martha's Vineyard she also received a 2015 Fall Space Grant which was awarded by the Brooklyn Arts Exchange.