This is the 2019 schedule

Every day there will be a multitude of classes offered in the Cuban tradition from which one can choose, including Folkloric (Yoruba/Orisha, Arara, Haitian, Rumba), Popular (Salsa, Son, Cha Cha Cha, Cabaret), Modern, and Cuban drum and song. Most of the classes will be appropriate for all levels and both the novice and the experienced dancer are welcome. 2-3 classes will be offered every class period. The morning will start with a morning pilates/stretch session and the folkloric classes will be accompanied by live drumming. Students may take as many or as few classes as they wish, with the opportunity to swim, walk, read, rest etc when not in class.

Please note the schedule below is a working schedule and subject to change. Please check back frequently as the schedule will be updated as it is solidified.

Please note that check-in is Friday, Aug 30 between 3pm and 7pm only (please aim for 6pm). EVERYONE must be on property by 7pm. If you get stuck in traffic or something else happens to delay your arrival time, then you will have to stay in Willits or Laytonville and check in Saturday morning instead between 9-10am. Arriving at night is not possible. Please call us if you get stuck and have to check in Saturday morning at 707-405-0015.

***

Friday, Aug 30
(Dinner only will be served this day)

Check-in arrival begins at 3pm
Set up tent; swim; orient oneself to property

5-6pm
Class A – dance: Folkloric: Orisha – Ellegua (all levels), live drumming

Dinner
Served 6:45-7:45pm

Orientation
8-8:30pm

Song class
8:30-9:15

9:30pm
Salsa class followed by dance party

***
Saturday, Aug 31

Breakfast
Served 8:00-9:30 am

9-10am
Morning stretch / Yoga

10:15-11:30am
Class A – dance: Orisha, live drumming
Class B – dance : Dancehall, CD

11:45-1pm
Class A – dance:Vodun, live drumming
Class B – dance: Salsa Suelta, CD

Lunch
Served 1:30-2:30pm

Free time!

4-5pm
Class A – dance: Cuban modern, CD
Class B – dance: Rumba, live drumming

5:15-6:15pm
Class A – dance – Rueda (level TBD), CD
Class B – dance – Son, CD
Class C – drum class

Dinner
Served 7:15-8:15pm

8:15pm – talk-back with teachers

8:45pm-9:30pm
Song class

9:30pm
Rumba dance party

*****

Sunday Sept 1

Breakfast
Served 8-9:30am

9-10 am
Morning stretch

10:15-11:30am
Class A – dance: Gaga, live drumming
Class B – dance: Rueda (Beg), CD

11:45-1pm
Class A – dance: Orisha, live drumming
Class B – dance: Rueda (adv), CD

Lunch
Served 1:30-3

Free time!

4-5
Class A – dance: Rumba, live drumming
Class B – dance: Reggaeton, CD

5:15-6:15
Class A – dance –Palo, live drumming
Class B – dance – Dancehall, CD
Class C – Drum class

7:15-8:15pm
Dinner

9pm
Talent show

****

Monday, Sept 2

Breakfast: 8-9:30am

10am-11am Closing circle, songs for Ellegua

11-12pm
Class A – Orisha, live drumming
Class B – Salsa Suelta

Everyone off property by 1pm

PRINT these out old school style as there will not be cell phone service after Willits. Your GPS will NOT work. It is approximately 3.5 hrs to Dos Rios from the Bay Area. There can be traffic – especially if you leave during rush hour. So give yourself time and take schnacks.

Please arrive on the land during the registration time: 3-6pm on Friday Aug 30. If you know that you have to arrive outside of this window, please email us (stella@dancemission.com). It is not possible to arrive after dark. Because of this, if you get stuck in traffic or are otherwise delayed and have to arrive after 7pm, please stay in a hotel in Willits instead and join us on the land Saturday between 9-10am. The phone number in Dos Rios is 707-405-0015.

*Line-up subject to change

RAMON RAMOS ALAYO
Popular and Modern

Ramón Ramos Alayo is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and the founder and artistic director of the Alayo Dance Company and CubaCaribe. Ramos was selected by the Cuban government to study dance in Santiago de Cuba at age eleven. In 1990 he earned a masters degree in contemporary and folkloric dance and dance education from the Havana’s National School of Art. He was the principal dancer with Danza del Caribe, Narciso Medina Contemporary Dance Company and performed in Cuba, Europe, Canada, Belize and the U.S. Since moving to California in 1997, he has performed with some of the most respected choreographers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ramon currently teaches Cuban popular dance, Afro-Cuban modern dance and children’s movement at several local dance studios and schools, and is artistic director of Alayo Dance Company and CubaCaribe. In 2002, Ramos founded the Alayo Dance Company. As director and choreographer, his work is an innovative fusion of Afro-Cuban modern, folkloric and popular Cuban dance. He eloquently articulates his aesthetic vision through a synthesis of these dance styles, citing from each traditions, movements, narratives and concepts indicative of Cuban culture. 2003 Ramos co-founded and became artistic director of CubaCaribe, a non-profit with the mission to preserve and promote the rich cultural and artistic traditions of the Carribbean and its diaspora. Alayo Dance Company is the resident company of CubaCaribe.

Sandy Perez
Percussion

Ramon “Sandy” Pérez joined Grupo Afro-Cuba de Matanzas at age 17, and within a few years he earned the positions of principal drummer and soloist. He was a featured artist at the 1996 Havana Jazz Festival and performed at the 1996 Afrocubanismo Festival in Banff, Canada. Although the roots of his techniques are founded in Afro-Cuban folkloric styles, Pérez’s open-minded approach has enabled him to adapt to styles ranging from Cuban popular (salsa) to fusion and avant-garde jazz.

Royland Lobato
Cuban Folkloric and Popular

Originally from Guantanamo, Cuba, Royland is a founding member of the Havana-based dance company, 7 Potencias, an Afro-Cuban Folkloric dance and music ensemble. 7 Potencias is one of the most creative and acclaimed Cuban folkloric ensembles, both in Cuba and internationally. A professional dancer with an expertise in Afro-Cuban folkloric and Cuban popular dance, Royland has also participated as a principal dancer as well as instructor, and invited guest in performances, workshops and classes throughout the greater Bay Area, Hawaii, New York, Cuba, and Mexico.

Danys “La Mora” Perez
Cuban Folkloric

Originally from Santiago de Cuba, Danys “La Mora” Perez is an internationally renowned master of Afro-Cuban folkloric dance. Her special experise as dancer, teacher, dance ethnologis, and choreographer is the unique styles of her native region of the Oriente province of Eastern Cuba. Oriente attributes its rich cultural heritage to the infusion of Afro-Haitian influences to an already vibrant Afro-Cuban context. Perez began training at an early age with Afro-Cuban and Afro-Haitian dance ensembles. At 13, she was asked to join the renowned national folkloric ballet company, Cutumba, and tourned internationally with the company for 18 year. In 1994, she was evaluated and was granted the designation of primera bailarina and primera profesora byh the National Dance Commission in Cuba, and has taught out side of Cuba – in Italy, Spain, France, Canada, and the US.

Susana Arenas Pedroso
Cuban Folkloric and Popular

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. In 1999 Ms Pedroso founded her own dance companies in SF, Saudunga Cubana, which specialized in Cuban Popular dance, and Olorun, which specialized in Cuban Folkloric dance. In 2004 Ms Pedroso decided to join the two troupes, establishing Arenas Dance Company, a company that has expertise in both folkloric and popular Cuban traditions. Pedroso teaches regularly in the Bay Area and leads workshops in Veracru (where she lived from 2008-2012), Hawaii, Arizona, and throughout California.

Denmis Bain Savigne
Cuban Popular

Denmis is from Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. He attended Regino Eladio Voti en Guantanamo, Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana and was a part of Conjuncto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba. He has expertise in Afro-Cuban dance, folklore, ballet, jazz, modern dance, contemporary ballet, tap dance, hip hop, choreography and singing. Denmis has choreographed for such people as, Kenny Ortega, Siegfried & Roy, Emilio Estefan, Manuel Mendive, Havana Nights Dance Company and the Latin Grammys. He has performed on “Don Francisco Presenta”, “Cosa Nostra” and with groups such as “Orichas”, “Calle 13”, “Los Van Van”, “Bamboleo”, “Pacho Alonso” and “Issac Delgado” and with the Havana Nights Dance Company he toured and performed in more than 16 different countries and was a lead dancer in about 450 performances of “Havana Nightclub – The Show”. Dennis is currently the owner of Cuban Rhythm and Rumba Dance Studio located in Vallejo, California. His goal is to show everyone how to feel and appreciate dance.

Aimee Zawitz
Dancehall

Aimee Z of TropiCali Dancehall is a San Francisco native with a passion for Jamaican Dancehall. Currently Aimee is back and forth between SF and Jamaica to study and work as a professional dancer in both locations. Her most noteworthy performances include Sumfest 2016, Rebel Salute 2017, and music videos with Damian Marley, Macka Diamond, and Mr. Vegas. She also holds the title of Bay Area Dancehall Queen 2017 and in the Bay has opened shows for Cham, Christopher Martin, and Alberosie.

Elizabeth Sayre
Percussion

Elizabeth Sayre (musical director / lead drummer) is a local artist. She  has been playing Afro-Cuban bata since 1994, and has studied with many masters of the form in the US and Cuba–her primary teachers were/are John Amira, Orlando Fiol, Lazaro Pedroso, and Amelia Pedroso. She has been accompanying Afro-Cuban folkloric dance class with master Cuban dancer-choreographers since 1999, and has worked in this capacity with former members of Yoruba Andabo, the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, Cutumba, Afro-Cuba de Matanzas, and Raices Profundas. She currently accompanies class and performs with Susana Arenas Pedroso in the Bay Area, and is a key force among women students and players of the Cuban bata drums in the U.S. In addition to the bata, she also plays congas and Brazilian percussion, Elizabeth has studied, played, taught, documented, written about, organized events around, and successfully sought funding for traditional arts and artists since 1997.

Note cancellation/refund policy: If you have to withdraw from camp for any reason before July 1, you will be refunded 100% of your tuition minus a $25 registration fee. If you withdraw from camp after July 1 but before August 1 you will be refunded 50% of your tuition minus a $25 registration fee. Tuition cannot be refunded after August 1.

Dos Rios Camp involves physical activity. You must be in good health to attend camp. By signing up for camp you release Dance Mission of any liability, including but not limited to any injury that might occur on the property and/or in class. Please note that there is no lifeguard on the river and that participants are swimming at their own risk.

Dos Rios is located in the hills of Northern California and participants must be aware and respectful of poison oak, rattle snakes (rarely seen), bees and other wildlife that they might encounter in this country setting. There is a high risk of wild fires in the summer, so we ask participants to practice mindful water conservation and respect our no open flame policy. Smoking is limited to the designated smoking area only. People seen smoking outside of the designated smoking area will be asked to leave immediately and no refund given.

Due to odor sensitivities, please do not use strong oils, cologne or perfume while at camp. Please see the FAQs sheet for more information on what to bring, expect etc.

Questions? Please call 415-826-4441 or email stella@dancemission.com.