Dance Mission Theater: Raíces et Résistance

Dance Mission Theater’s Liberation Academy presents
Arenas Dance Company and Duniya Dance and Drum Company in
Raíces et Résistance
October 11-20, 204 at Dance Mission Theater
Fri-Sat 8pm, Sun 3pm

AND! “Cuba to Guinea” film screening before each performance!
Fri 6:45pm, Sat 7pm, Sun 2pm. Free entrance with your ticket to Raíces et Résistance. (More info below).

PLUS! Don’t miss the FREE Cuban/Guinean dance class on Sat, Oct 12 at 1pm with Raíces et Résistance guest artists, Fode Sulla and Barbarito Ramos. This is a great opportunity to dive deeper into the themes explored onstage. (Find out about the class.)

Tickets: Buy now
General (after Aug 12): $35
Youth (12 years and under): $10
Students (w/student ID): $15

Check out the trailer!

Raíces et Résistance
“Raíces et Résistance” (or “Roots and Resistance” in Spanish/French) is directed by Susana Arenas Pedroso and Bongo Sidibe , with dancers and musicians from Arenas Dance Company and Duniya Dance and Drum Company. It explores the vibrant, layered, and largely unknown social-political relationship between Guinea, West Africa and Cuba, forged by the transatlantic slave trade as well as the post-colonial cultural exchange that began in the 60s. Bringing together their cultural expertises, their passion, their senses of joy and justice, Pedroso and Sidibe have created a unique performance built on storytelling and cultural collaboration. “Raices et Résistance” embodies the past as well as the present, a story of Black people defining themselves through dance and music, during and after the traumas of slavery and colonization.

After independence from France, Guinea elected socialist president Sekou Touré, one of the African continent’s prominent independence leaders. Touré aligned closely with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, and through this alliance came cultural exchange between the two countries. Artists were invited to festivals by the government’s of both countries, and national music groups in Guinea, like Bembeya Jazz, created music with heavy Cuban influence. This story informs the collaboration between Duniya, Arenas, and Dance Mission in “Raíces et Résistance.”

Free with your ticket, you can catch a screening of the documentary short, Cuba to Guinea, before each show (Fridays at 6:45pm, Saturdays 7pm, Sundays 2pm).

Cuba to Guinea (film, 2024)
“Cuba to Guinea” is an immersive and poetic documentary short film, following the research and creative process building up to the performance, Raíces et Résistance. Travel with the artists to Cuba and Guinea, as they uncover profound and polyrhythmic crossroads connecting their countries and cultural traditions.
Run time: (28 minutes)
Director: Joanna Ruckman