Transcend
Cumbe Presents
Dance for Joy! 2025 Culminating Performance
Celebrate with us after the performance with live music by Julio Jean & His Band!
Dance, connect, and feel the joy of our community.
Performance @2pm | After Party 4:30-6:30pm
Welcome to TRANSCEND: Dance for Joy! Culminating Performance!
When we root ourselves in heritage, move in community, and dance with joy, we TRANSCEND.
TRANSCEND, the culminating performance of Dance for Joy! is here! Come join us for a day of joy, culture, and community, as we experience the power of dance and drumming from across the African Diaspora. Embark on a powerful journey with teaching artists and students who have come together to create vibrant choreographed performances that embody the energy of transcending.
Special THANK YOU to all of our teaching artists, staff, students, and community members who made this show possible. Your dedication, hard work, and love for this art form are felt in every movement and rhythm.
Dance for Joy! is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Chi Ossé, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Performances
“Lwa Transcending”
In the spirit of Katherine Dunham’s love for theater and folklore, this piece is inspired by Haitian Folklore as a reimagining of the power of the Lwa (spirits) with creativity, reverence, and joy.
Dunham - Influenced Jazz (RISE) | Candice Michelle Franklin
Performers: Rae Whitley, Stephanie Shider, Nicole Webster, Alicia Thomas, Dianne Robinson, Asia Lambert, Courtney Pretlow, Elle Robinson, Leyla Pringle, Nedra Ward, Luna Love, Jernee, Catherine Nolan, Chris McLeod, Mariah Maisonet, James Leonard, Diannah Sparks, Tanya Thelusma, Hetty Cunningham, Mary Smith-Mitchell, Laryssa Green, Valerie A McLeod-Katz, Nai-Robi Cousar, Christopher Bisram, Isabella Arguello, Sadie Levy
Musicians: Fitzgerald Sam, Olatunji Ojore
“Connect and Flow”
Experience the smooth style of Chicago Style Step as students connect and flow with one another to soulful grooves. Creativity and connection can help us transcend and become better versions of ourselves.
NY Chicago Style Steppin -- NY Chicago Style Steppers led by Martin Robert
Student Performers: Sabrina Hope King, Mary Smith-Mitchell, Marva White-Simmons, Lawrence Simmons, Shadena Scott-Clarke, Cliff Roye, Patricia Mills, Monique Bunn, Lesley Pollard, Erasmus Ikpemgbe, David Byer-Tyre
"Beyond Limits"
A dance performance exploring the themes of transcendence, freedom, and spiritual elevation. It features a calm and meditative atmosphere. It features dynamic and expressive choreography that conveys a sense of transcendence and freedom. It also features an intense and moving moment that symbolizes transcendence, a return to serenity and reflection. The performance aims to give the audience a sense of transcendence through dance and music.
Congolese Dance | Andoche Loubaki
Student Performers: Larisa Doroshenko, Jasmine Washington, Cherayna Rullow, Aqila Norris, Janet Griffith, Heloise Laloux, Donovan Rogers, Patrice Ricks, Fumu Jahmez
Musicians: Roccsy Mahania, Fitzgerald Sam, Olatunji Ojore, Cezar Jacobson, Cezar Hernandez Carmona
“Samba Agoniza Mas Nao Morre”
(Samba agonizes but does not die)
This performance captures the unwavering spirit of samba. Despite all that Africans and African descendants have endured, the essence of samba can transcend our communities and reconnect us with our joy, cultures and pride. Samba can reach everyone, it is within all of us, it can help us transcend past boundaries imposed upon us.
Afro Brazilian Dance - Quenia Ribeiro
Student Performers: Performers: Zaria Taylor, Aledra Floyd, Sibèlle Toussaint, Nkenge Simms, Allison Thompson, Kashia Curry, Kamaria S Brisseau, Frank Song, Maki Wennmann, Suzanne Meadows, Maritza Okata, Jenny Wang, Heaven Moore, Kevyn Way, Samuel Buchanan, Yolande Delius, LaMonte DuValle
Musicians: Adanna Alexander, Everton Isidora, Angela Rey
“A Fishing Celebration”
After a successful fishing venture, villagers are happy for their momentary good fortune. They celebrate by eating, singing, and dancing their favorite dances (Bademalon, Goumbe, Bolohi).
West African (Ivorian) Dance - Vado Diomande
Student Performers: Nivanya Abraham, Hongying Zhang (Vivian), Nedra Ward, Chanel Joy, Diannah Sparks, Fumu Jahmez, Judith Purvis, Wanda Quiles
Musicians: Mookie Sanders, Tra Bi Lizie, Moussa Dramee
“A Dance Party for Dianke”
Dianke is a teenage girl from Cassamance. Her parents want to honor her by giving her a dance party because Dianke is a very good child who cheerfully helps out with the housework and loves to dance. Dianke is very excited and happy to invite her friends from different regions in Senegal where many traditional dances are performed,including Sabar and Kutiro rhythms and dances. Diank and all her friends celebrate in grand style.
Sabar - Ousmane Sall
Student Performers: Patricia Peticolas, Afua McKinney, Rae Agwé aka Rachael Hollingsworth, Také Phillip, Magali Regis, Shawn Bethune, Yolanda Walters, Patrice Ricks, Candice Joseph, Ruth Celis, Zakiya Huntley, Empress Idama Kefentse
Musicians: Thiokho Diagne, Alioune Faye, Abdoulaye Diop, Ngoe
“Embody the Groove”
Students will demonstrate rhythms and choreography that lift the spirit, build community, and honor the deeply transcendent traditions of Black resistance in Brazil and around the globe.
Afro Brazilian Drumming - Batalá led by Adanna Alexander
Student Performers: Maria Georgopoulos, Gareth Mahon, Nechy Marte, Loan Diep, Jasmine Washington, Iris Reyes, Ary Myles, Rose N Lafontant, Alyssa Cheng, Rachaele Raynoff, Nardeline Stcatherine, Bruni Torras, Nefertare Charles, Erlene Trumpet, BillieJean Frage, Kashimi Asai, Kristen Myers, Michelle Romero, Antonio Romero
“Pasaj (Tranzisyon Part 2)”
“Pasaj” explores the emotional journey of migration leaving home, crossing uncertain distances, and searching for a new place to belong. Through fluid movement, grounded rhythms, and imagery of memory and transformation, the dancers embody the courage, loss, and hope carried by travelers between worlds. Pasaj honors the resilience of those who seek new beginnings while holding their history close.
Haitian Folkloric and Modern -- Robenson Mathurin
Student Performers: Courtney Pretlow, Elle Robinson, Leyla Pringle, Luna Love, Regina King, Tanya Thelusma, Mary Smith-Mitchell, Laryssa Green, Valerie A McLeod-Katz
Musicians: Renald St Juste, Jean Mary Brignol
Special Mentions!
CONGRATULATIONS to Robenson Mathurin, who received a NYSCA award to produce new choreography this year in his featured performance!
Robinson has used this award to develop TRANZISYON, a two-part choreographic work that explores the internal mental, emotional, and spiritual processing of a group of young Haitians who choose the unknown of a foreign land over the known instability and insecurity of their home in Haiti.
As we bid farewell to 2025, we invite you to transcend with the vibrant rhythms and rich traditions of Brazil and the Congo!
CELEBRATE THE END OF 2025 WITH US!
Join Us Year-Round
Love what you see tonight? Stay connected with Cumbe!
🌐 Visit us at cumbedance.org
📲 Follow us on social media @cumbedance
📅 Sign up for a class or attend our next performance, FAREWELL ‘25.
Together, we continue to honor, preserve, and evolve the vibrant traditions of African and Diaspora dance. Thank you for sharing this unforgettable experience with us.
Let the rhythm move you. Let the joy of dance transform you.
— Your Cumbe Family