Title: Como falar com você (How to talk to you)
Choreography by: Kevin LaMarr Jones, Instructor. Additional choreography by the performers.
Music: Too Good by Drake, featuring Rihanna, Magalenha by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown. Mon Zabala Alemán, Class Accompanist
Performers:
DANC 215: Dances of the African Diaspora
Cole Brashear, Emma Brashear, Charlie Burdell, Yakelin Cana Figueroa, Camilla Carr, Grant Cohen, Irantza Goytia Hernández, Patrick Kenny, Victor Mwine, Siham Niori, Sloane O'Reilly, Paxton Pritchard, Sam Rathmanner, Otto Sewell, Linh Tran Khanh, Kevin LaMarr Jones
CLAVES UNIDOS
Dancers: Aysha Brown, Dance Captain, Valentine Balguerie, Marcia Burns, Shantell Dunnaville, Kevin LaMarr Jones, Ericka Lacks, Faith Rowland, Shalandis Wheeler Smith
Percussionists: Mon Zabala Alemán, Baba Will Anderson, Tre Anderson, and Baba Roderick Davis of Akoma de Gado Dance & Drum Performance Ensemble
DANC 215: Dances of the African Diaspora reveals global African dance traditions as leading cultural identifiers within countries of the Americas, the Caribbean, and Iberian Peninsula. The course is designed to provide a community-oriented movement experience that is welcoming to all dance experience levels, encouraging students to make connections with each other and with the shared history of dances of the African Diaspora – all of which are historically dances of resistance, resilience, and personal and community empowerment. A central goal for the course is for students to be able to express shared human experiences through community performance and we are grateful for the opportunity to perform in COD 2026.
Community Organization Bio: CLAVES UNIDOS is a dancing community that celebrates the African heritage of many of the world's favorite music and dance forms through an intentionally international blend that Artistic Director, Kevin LaMarr Jones calls, African Roots Reunion™ Special thanks to Bonner Center for Civic Engagement and Weskley Faustino
This piece weaves together inspiration from various samba traditions of Brazil with radio hip-hop vibes, and heavy Caribbean influences.