Plant Your Feet

Born and raised in Salvador, Bahia, Dandha Da Hora has been a member of Ilê Aiyê, one of Brazil’s most important musical and cultural institutions, since she was 6 years old. A master dancer, as well as vocalist and percussionist, Dandha invokes the incredible spirit of Ilê Aiyê and Salvador, Bahia, each time she steps onstage.

As a lead dancer with Ilê Aiyê, Dandha toured internationally and has shared the stage with many of Brazil’s most renowned artists such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Daniela Mercury. In addition to performing with Ilê Aiyê and SambaDá, Dandha has performed with Casa Samba (New Orleans, LA), SambaDendê and Bateria Alegria (Boulder, CO), Banda Remelexo and Bahia Soul (Bay Area, CA).

Alongside a full touring schedule, Dandha also is a master dance teacher and teaches ongoing dance classes in Santa Cruz and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as giving special workshops across the country. Whether she is teaching, dancing, singing, or playing an instrument, Dandha’s art always reflects her passion for sharing Afro-Brazilian culture, and she brings a message of hope, love, equality and freedom every time she performs.

Choreographer, instructor, dancer and creator of the Silvestre Dance Technique, Rosangela is a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance and completed post-graduate studies specializing in choreography, earning her degree from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). She has researched dance and music in Brazil, India, Egypt, Senegal and Cuba as part of her ever-evolving and eclectic palette of movement. She acquired training in such diverse techniques as: Martha Graham, Limón, Horton, Floor Bar, Classic Ballet, Dunham Technique, and has experienced diverse dance expressions including Germany Theater Dance, Contemporary, Folkloric, as well as Traditional dances of Africa and other continents.

In 1981, Ms. Silvestre started to travel in and out of Brazil to teach, to train dancers, to perform, to lecture and to consult, and has since then attended seminars and residencies at universities and dance festivals around the world. She choreographed numerous dance pieces for companies based in Brazil - Balé Folclórico da Bahia and Odunde - as well as Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico Repertory Company, American Academy of Ballet, Roots of Brazil, Dance Brazil, Viver Brasil, Muntu Dance Theater, and the Kendra Kimbrough Dance Company.

Rosangela’s use of her voice is an integral part of her work in dance. In September 2011 she completed the CD: “Voices of Nature” recorded and produced by Mike Zecchino at The Nail Recording Studio in Tucson, Arizona.

Mabiba Baegne is an internationally acclaimed dancer, singer, percussionist, educator and choreographer of traditional and contemporary African Dance. She was born in Congo Brazzaville and was initiated into dancing by her grandparents at the age of eight. In addition to her Congolese dancing, Mabiba has studied West African dundun drumming with master drummer Famoudou Konate in Guinea and Mamady Keita. She was the first woman to teach this form and record an instructional cassette in the United States.