Category: Photography

Melina at Byblos! with the Ed Melikan Ensemble

The old train depot in Worcester has been restored, rescuing another architectural gem.  Inside is Middle Eastern restaurant, Byblos, with a spacious dance floor. The lighting is much too dark for my camera so I had to resort to using flash when I wanted to photograph the incomparable Melina dancing with the Ed Melikan Ensemble.
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Afro-Cuban Dance – Rene Thompson and Dancers

“Santeria is a danced religion because dancing expresses the fundamental dynamism of the life force.  Words cannot express the mystery.  The world is a dance.  Its meaning lies in its constant movement.  The dance is the expression of this mystery.”   Santeria: African Spirits in America by Joseph M. Murphy

The tradition of Afro-Cuban dance is rooted in the dance and drum traditions of the Yoruba in Africa, transported to to Cuba during the era of enslavement.  Facial expressions are as important as other movements that relate to mythology, ancestors, and storytelling. 
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