Michele (Buffy) Drysdale has studied West African, Brazilian, Jamaican and other Caribbean dance forms for over 15 years. Since 1994 she has focused her studies on Cuban folkloric and popular dances. She has traveled to Brazil, Cuba, Canada, and California to study with master Cuban dancers from the Folklórico Nacional de Cuba, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, AfroCuba de Matanzas, and Raices Profundos.
In New York her principal teacher was Xiomara Rodriguez. She has performed at Symphony Space and and has been a lead dancer with Los Afortunados, Puntilla Rios y Su Nueva Generación and given lecture demonstrations at Brown University and Swarthmore College.
Buffy has studied the Batá drums, songs, and dances of the Afro-Cuban tradition and performed with two all-women’s groups, Cambio Libre and Obini Ash
Her performances include concerts with Cambio Libre, at Camden’s Caribbean Cultural Celebration, Wesleyan University for the Ethnomusicology department, Lincoln Center in New York Cit,y The Painted Bride in Philadelphia, The Happen’n Drum Collective, and The Sivananda Yoga Ashram. Buffy taught dance at Djoniba Dance and Drum Centre and the Park Slope Fitness Collective. She designed a multidisciplinary, creative movement class for two and three year olds. Buffy currently drums for an Afro-Cuban dance class at Alvin Ailey, teaches water aerobics at the YMCA and offers private yoga and dance classes.