Judy Graboyes began studying timbales and other latin percussion instruments in 1977 with Carlos Federico, a Bay Area treasure. She played with Orchesta Sabrocita, an all women’s salsa band from 1978 to 1981, when she spent the summer in Amsterdam playing with Estaire Godinez and Nippy Noya. Since that time, she has played with various[…]
Odilia Galván Rodríguez is an internationally recognized poet, writer, journalist, editor, teacher, and activist who has traveled extensively. She has three books of poetry and her work has been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Her most recent book, Migratory Birds: New and Noted Poems, is about her many journeys the physical as well[…]
Sidney Weaverling is a co-director and co-founder of Rueda Con Ritmo, a Cuban-style dance school and performing group based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a longtime contributor to the currently thriving Cuban-style salsa scene in the SF Bay Area, with more than 10 years of experience as a teacher, performer, and choreographer.[…]
Annette A. Aguilar – multi-percussionist, recording artist,educator, producer and bandleader – was born in San Francisco into a family from Nicaragua. She began playing music at the age of eleven. At sixteen, she was recognized for her percussion playing and began sitting in and performing with internationally renowned Latin artists such as members of the[…]
Rana Halpern has been playing drums since elementary school where she learned Afro-Cuban, Caribbean and Brazilian rhythms. As a youth under the direction of Carolyn Brandy, Rana performed throughout the Bay Area alongside artists such as Pete Escovedo. In high school, she taught drums and percussion at Cazadero Music camp. She performed at venues such[…]
Shawn Nealy has been walking with the drum for the past 6 years & actively apprenticing & performing throughout the Bay Area (2 years) with Afia Walking Tree, learning traditional rhythms from West Africa, as well as learning how to utilize the drums for healing & liberation. As a progressiv, social justice educator, she continually[…]