Damasceno, who died in April, organized near-constant festivals and parties at West Berkeley’s Casa De Cultura and beyond. BrasArte’s Lavagem festival this Sunday is dedicated to her memory.
Dance
Posted inObituaries
Remembering Marilyn Naparst, 86, dancer, artist, activist, free spirit
Naparst, 86, moved to Berkeley in 1957 and was a potter and a painter, a Greek folkdancer and a theater-lover, a daycare provider and a secretary, a storyteller and a kibitzer.
Posted inCommunity
AileyCamp back in motion after 2-year gap in Berkeley
The camp taught dozens of 11-14-year olds dance moves created by the legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey.
Posted inArts
At Berkeley’s queer tango class, it takes 2 but it doesn’t matter who
“Queer tango is Argentine tango without the homophobia, transphobia and rigid heteronormative rules,” says a co-founder of Abrazo Queer Tango, open in Berkeley since 2012
Posted inArts
Gamelan Sekar Jaya, haven for Indonesian music and dance, gets home of its own in South Berkeley
The 43-year-old Balinese cultural group purchased its Shattuck Avenue headquarters from its landlord for $1.5 million.
Posted inCommunity
Kamala Harris’ Berkeley ballet teacher fled the Russian Revolution and danced for royalty
Madame Bovie was a world-famous ballerina before teaching in Berkeley for 30 years.
Posted inArts
Shape-shifting dance company Pilobolus will blow minds in Berkeley this week
Pilobolus comes to Zellerbach Hall Oct. 21-22 for the dance company’s first Cal Performances engagement in more than three decades.
Posted inObituaries
Remembering Patricia Bulitt, who danced in creeks and like a bird and held storytelling tea parties for Berkeley women
Patricia Bulitt, a creative force and an impresario, also exhibited her embellished paper dresses in galleries and taught dance to kids in Berkeley and in remote Inuit communities throughout Alaska.
Posted inArts
Hālau O Kekuhi, a dance of revolution, and Māhealani Uchiyama’s Pasifika
Don’t miss the hypnotic sound and movement of this powerhouse hula troupe from the Big Island at Zellerbach Hall, this Sunday at 3 p.m.
Posted inSchools
‘Mama Washington,’ who brought West African dance to thousands of her ‘children’ at Berkeley High, retires
After nearly 30 years at Berkeley High, the Liberian-born educator and dancer is leaving the studio.
Posted inVideo story
In class with Mama Washington’s dancers
Naomi “Mama Washington” Diouf is retiring after nearly 30 years of teaching West African dance to Berkeley High students. Here, her beginning/intermediate Afro-Haitian class practices a routine in spring 2019. Video by Natalie Orenstein.
Posted inArts
Bay Area Dance Week? No, Berkeley/Albany Dance Week!
The Bay Area Dance Week program encompasses more than 400 events, almost all of them free, offering the uncoordinated and nimble alike access to classes, performances, open rehearsals, lectures and more.