Bronx Arts Ensemble is hosting a FREE online arts education series during the month of July! Featuring professional Bronx-based artists. Open to all ages!
Learn more about the artists below.
Courses include:
Hip-Hop Dance: Students will learn the concepts of hip-hop & “social” dance styles (Popin’ & Breakin’, Running Man, Butterfly, etc) & their historical origins, particularly as they relate to the Bronx.
African Drumming and Dance: Students will learn the basics of African drumming & dance, focusing on the African drum orchestra and related traditional African dances. You do not need to have drums to participate in his class, just any flat surface/item you can find in your household.
Capoeira Movement: Students will learn the basic concepts of Capoeira: African-Brasilian Martial Arts (Ginga, Meia-lua, Queixada, etc).
General Music/Voice: Students will learn the concepts of basic vocal technique & health (vocal warm ups, scales, breath technique, etc) while learning to sing in the genres of pop, latin, jazz, & traditional chorus.
As an added feature, each video includes a “Bronx Arts and Culture Fact,” celebrating our artistic community and making “Summer Arts” an extension of the culturally responsive arts education programming that we present during the school year in our NYC Department of Education partner schools.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Christina “CC” Cruz
Christina “CC” Cruz is a Bronx native who holds a BA in Dance from Lehman College. She has trained in various forms of dance since the age of 5 and has a profound love and respect for the arts. Cruz has worked with Bronx Arts Ensemble as a Hip-Hop Dance Teaching Artist since 2016.
With more than 10 years experience in the professional dance world, she has worked extensively with her team (Hip Hop Theory & Each 1 Teach One Dance Series), giving back to the community while helping to shape the lives of hundreds of dancers throughout New York City and along the East Coast.
Yahaya Kamate is a native of the Ivory Coast. As a former member of the National Ballet of the Ivory Coast, he first came to the United States to honor his country by touring with the ballet in 1994. In 1997, he established himself in the Sunshine State. Kamate performed at Busch Gardens, the Animal Kingdom, and Epcot Center for two years before coming back to New York and the tri-state area where he teaches in both public and private schools. He practices African Dance, Drumming, Modern Dance, and Ballet. Currently, he is an instructor at Alvin Ailey, a performer and dance teacher at Friends Academy, and a Teaching Artist with Bronx Arts Ensemble.
Yahaya Kamate
Moses “Bronx” McCarter
Moses “Bronx” McCarter was first introduced to Capoeira in 2001. A year later, inspired by the beauty and complexity of the art, he decided to move to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. He ended up living there for three years and trained at Academia Mandinga. It was in Bahia that McCarter acquired the nickname, Bronx, an homage to the borough where he was born and raised. After moving back to New York City, he started teaching and co-created the non-profit organization Capoeira Concepts. He has been invited to Toronto, France, Spain, Prague, Boston, and Atlanta for workshops and events. McCarter continues to teach at high schools in the Bronx and at Senshi Okami.
Victoria Ortiz is a classically trained vocalist, instructor, and entertainer based in New York City. She has been working for Bronx Arts Ensemble as a Teaching Artist and Director since
2014 and has sung all over the city in jazz concerts, musical cabaret revues, operas, and park events, including a performance of the national anthem for the Mets. Ortiz teaches Music in New York public schools, working with children aged 5-18 on voice and technique, along with choreography and acting. Ortiz has also appeared on talk shows and worked on film sets, commercials, and music videos. Her BAE Rosalyn Yalow Choir opened for the Bronx Opera Company’s “Messiah.”
Victoria Ortiz