2022 Stage Garden Rumba

Date: Saturday, July 23, 2022
Time: 2pm to 6pm
Location: Pregones Theater & Garden, 575 Walton Avenue

• Caridad De La Luz is a multifaceted performer also known as “La Bruja.” She raps, acts, sings, hosts, dances, writes, and teaches others how to do the same. Winner of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship 2020-2021, she has been one of America’s leading spoken word poets for over 15 years.

• DeLaCeiba is an Hondureño born poet/rapper/DJ/scholar/father/husband/activist that grew up in South Central Los Angeles.
• Nina Dilet is a vocal powerhouse whose unique fusion of Yoruba sacred song with African-and Afro-Caribbean-inspired dance music lights up any dance floor.
• Kumera Zekarias is a multilingual singer-songwriter, producer, and the former band leader of Kino Musica—a five-piece group based in Washington, DC.
• Jarana Beat is a 10-piece band that incorporates music and dance into its vibrant live performances, double nominee at the 2020 Independent Music Awards, and winner of the 2015 Mexican Music Award for Best Contemporary Folk Band.

• Advocate of Wordz is a published award-winning performing poet, certified breeder of mythical creatures, and an educator who teaches his students how to talk their way out of detention.
• Destiny Padilla is a spoken word artist and poet from the Bronx, New York. Spirituality, NYC, Women, and Latinx/Indigenous identity are the driving forces behind her work.
• Brother North Luis Henrique Canyada PKA Brother North is an artist educator from the Bronx. He is the lead vocalist for the Hip Hop Music group Division X.

• Esperanza Martell is a human rights activist, peace educator, organizer, healer, life-skills coach, mother, poet, and accomplished artist.
• Gregory Jost is an adopted Bronxite of nearly 30 years, working on campaigns for community control of reinvestment, land and institutions.

ARTISANS

• Karla Mayenbeer Cruz: Author, The Adventures of Pepita Morales at City Hall: The Fight to Save el Jardin.
• Olga Ayala: “Hecho A Mano” handmade crafts. Jewelry and functional art in polymer.
• StayFree Wellness (Stacey Toro): Herbal crafted body and wellness products including tinctures, salves, body butters & herbal packs.
• Saviana Arts: Collaboration of Nuyorican artists Vivian Lipman-Denis and Sara Morales, featuring art prints and crafts.
• Carmen Ayala: Paintings and hand-made collectibles.
• Mercedes Molina: Traditional and spiritual dolls. “May the spirits of your Ancestors always walk with you.”
• Taller Experimental de Arte: Handmade jewelry, garments, paintings, calligraphy and more by local collective featuring Virginia Ayress, Nieves Ayress, Rosita Ayress, Graciela Muñoz, and Adriana Quesada.

Date: Saturday, August 27, 2022
Time: 2pm to 6pm
Location: Sunshine Garden, 174th St & Bryant Avenue

• Caridad De La Luz is a multifaceted performer also known as “La Bruja.” She raps, acts, sings, hosts, dances, writes, and teaches others how to do the same. Winner of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship 2020-2021, she has been one of America’s leading spoken word poets for over 15 years.

• DeLaCeiba is an Hondureño born poet/rapper/DJ/scholar/father/husband/activist that grew up in South Central Los Angeles.
• Oñí Añá is a group of young batá drummers from New York led by Nelson Matthew González, trained in the art of Yoruba drumming and chants from the Orisha tradition.
• People of Earth is a global music collective set on blurring the barriers between the great art forms of the terrestrial sphere, creating an explosive blend of the music of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil and beyond. .
• Los Cielitos is a Bolero project from husband and wife duo Jill Peacock, Canadian vocalist and bass player, and Yasser Tejeda, Dominican guitarist and vocalist. Their classic take on Latin American Boleros brings back the greatest love songs from the 1930’s, 40s and 50s..

• Rich Villar is a poet, essayist, educator, and performer. He is the author of the poetry collection COMPREHENDING FOREVER (Willow Books, 2014), and one of the co-founders of Acentos, a grassroots initiative for Latinx literature in the United States, based in the Bronx. He works as a community health worker and counselor for the NYU Prison Education Program..
• Bonafide Rojas  is the author of four collections of poetry: Notes On The Return To The Island (2017), Renovatio (2014), When The City Sleeps (2012) & Pelo Bueno (2004). He’s appeared on Def Poetry Jam & has been published in numerous anthologies & journals.
• True Rodríguez is a poet, playwright, and visual artist from Queens, NY. In her work, True deconstructs the titles thrust upon women, highlighting women’s evolution in various social, political, and cultural constructs to show there is no one way to woman.

• Wanda Salamán is Executive Director of Mothers on the Move, working to end disparities in education by fighting political corruption and organizing students to take leadership roles in their schools.
• Mili Bonilla is a long-time South Bronx activist and a founding committee member and Lead Organizer of South Bronx People for Change.

ARTISANS

• Karla Mayenbeer Cruz: Author, The Adventures of Pepita Morales at City Hall: The Fight to Save el Jardin.
• Olga Ayala: “Hecho A Mano” handmade crafts. Jewelry and functional art in polymer.
• Mercedes Molina: Traditional and spiritual dolls. “May the spirits of your Ancestors always walk with you.”

Date: Saturday, September 10, 2022
Time: 2pm to 6pm
Location: Rincón Criollo, 749 Brook Avenue (off 157th Street)

• Simply Rob  – This Bronx-based poet and LGBTQ+ activist is one of the original members of El Grito De Poetas, an all-Latinx poetry collective. Among many other accolades, Rob is also the subject of the 2011 film “Simply Rob” by Tom Shrapnel.

• DeLaCeiba is an Hondureño born poet/rapper/DJ/scholar/father/husband/activist that grew up in South Central Los Angeles.
• Oñí Añá is a group of drummers who have studied the art of batá drumming and the chants of the Yoruba tradition in the United States since very young. Led by Nelson “Mateo” González, their aim is to show how these traditions are being passed on to and preserved by new generations via live performance.
• Bámbula Project is a vibrant and dynamic quartet fusing Afro-Puerto Rican “Bomba” rhythms with Jazz, and led by Alex “Apolo” Ayala. A unique musical celebration of Afro-Boricua heritage and culture.
• La Manga is a cultural identity laboratory honoring Black and Indigenous oral traditions, celebrating Afro-Colombian life through storytelling and bailes cantaos. This collective of women artists features Daniela Serna, Mafer Bandola, Andrea Chavarro, Katherine Ocampo and Lina Fernanda Silva.

• Anthony Morales
• Storm Marrero

• TBA

ARTISANS

• Karla Mayenbeer Cruz: Author, The Adventures of Pepita Morales at City Hall: The Fight to Save el Jardin.
• Olga Ayala: “Hecho A Mano” handmade crafts. Jewelry and functional art in polymer.
• StayFree Wellness (Stacey Toro): Herbal crafted body and wellness products including tinctures, salves, body butters & herbal packs.
• Saviana Arts: Collaboration of Nuyorican artists Vivian Lipman-Denis and Sara Morales, featuring art prints and crafts.
• Carmen Ayala: Paintings and hand-made collectibles.
• Mercedes Molina: Traditional and spiritual dolls. “May the spirits of your Ancestors always walk with you.”

Date: Saturday, September 17, 2022
Time: 2pm to 6pm
Location: Brook Park, 494 E 141 Street at Brook Avenue
Presented in collaboration with VAMOS A LA PEÑA

• Caridad De La Luz is a multifaceted performer also known as “La Bruja.” She raps, acts, sings, hosts, dances, writes, and teaches others how to do the same. Winner of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship 2020-2021, she has been one of America’s leading spoken word poets for over 15 years.

• Legacy Women is an all-women’s traditional musical group rooted in Afro-Dominican and Afro-Puerto Rican traditions. Featuring original and traditional songs, they are known for their sultry and booming vocals, precision drumming and expressive dances.
• Argelia Arreola is a Mexican dancer, choreographer and musician formally trained in traditional African Dance of Guinea for 19 years. Her work brings to the fore the dynamic relationship between the music of percussion instruments and the language of African (Guinea & Senegal), Afro-Cuban and Mexican folk dance.

• Chilo Cajigas is a Hip Hop writer/performer and a founding member of the award winning NYC based poetry collective, El Grito de Poetas. His catalog of music includes 12 Hip Hop albums including his solo offering “Closed Doors and Opened Windows”.
• Audry Funk is a singer, MC, and activist from Mexico with more than 17 years of experience and an international presence as an independent artist. She writes and performs songs about her immigrant experience, feminism, philosophy, and body positivity, among many other topics.
• Espada De La Luz is a Bronx born Nuyorican artist, passionate about their craft in music production, and film making. Espada has had the privilege of being a performer since they were a child, acting along side their mother Caridad De La Luz.

• Nieves Ayres and activists from Vamos A La Peña del Bronx.

ARTISANS

• Karla Mayenbeer Cruz: Author, The Adventures of Pepita Morales at City Hall: The Fight to Save el Jardin.
• Olga Ayala: “Hecho A Mano” handmade crafts. Jewelry and functional art in polymer.
• StayFree Wellness (Stacey Toro): Herbal crafted body and wellness products including tinctures, salves, body butters & herbal packs.
• Saviana Arts: Collaboration of Nuyorican artists Vivian Lipman-Denis and Sara Morales, featuring art prints and crafts.
• Carmen Ayala: Paintings and hand-made collectibles.
• Mercedes Molina: Traditional and spiritual dolls. “May the spirits of your Ancestors always walk with you.”
• Taller Experimental de Arte: Handmade jewelry, garments, paintings, calligraphy and more by local collective featuring Virginia Ayress, Nieves Ayress, Rosita Ayress, Graciela Muñoz, and Adriana Quesada.

Date: Saturday, October 1, 2022
Time: 2pm to 6pm
Location: Woodycrest Community Garden – 94 W 162nd Street (corner of Woodycrest & 162nd St.)

• Caridad De La Luz is a multifaceted performer also known as “La Bruja.” She raps, acts, sings, hosts, dances, writes, and teaches others how to do the same. Winner of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship 2020-2021, she has been one of America’s leading spoken word poets for over 15 years.

• DeLaCeiba is an Hondureño born poet/rapper/DJ/scholar/father/husband/activist that grew up in South Central Los Angeles.
• Nélida Tirado is a Flamenco dancer trained at Ballet Hispanico of New York from the age of six. She has toured the U.S., Europe, & Asia with José Molina Bailes Españoles and as soloist in Flamenco Vivo, Compañia Maria Pages and Antonio El Pipa and Noche Flamenca among many others.
• Atiyya Abdur-Rahman – Soulful singer/songwriter born and raised in sugar hill. Sounding something like sunshine, love vibrations and hard truths
• Legacy Women is an all-women’s traditional musical group rooted in Afro-Dominican and Afro-Puerto Rican traditions. Featuring original and traditional songs, they are known for their sultry and booming vocals, precision drumming and expressive dances.

• TBA

• TBA

ARTISANS

• Karla Mayenbeer Cruz: Author, The Adventures of Pepita Morales at City Hall: The Fight to Save el Jardin.
• Olga Ayala: “Hecho A Mano” handmade crafts. Jewelry and functional art in polymer.
• StayFree Wellness (Stacey Toro): Herbal crafted body and wellness products including tinctures, salves, body butters & herbal packs.
• Saviana Arts: Collaboration of Nuyorican artists Vivian Lipman-Denis and Sara Morales, featuring art prints and crafts.
• Carmen Ayala: Paintings and hand-made collectibles.
• Mercedes Molina: Traditional and spiritual dolls. “May the spirits of your Ancestors always walk with you.”
• Taller Experimental de Arte: Handmade jewelry, garments, paintings, calligraphy and more by local collective featuring Virginia Ayress, Nieves Ayress, Rosita Ayress, Graciela Muñoz, and Adriana Quesada.

Date: Saturday, October 15, 2022
Time: 2pm to 6pm
Location: Crotona Park Amphitheater,
enter at Claremont Parkway & Crotona Park East

• Caridad De La Luz is a multifaceted performer also known as “La Bruja.” She raps, acts, sings, hosts, dances, writes, and teaches others how to do the same. Winner of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship 2020-2021, she has been one of America’s leading spoken word poets for over 15 years.

• DeLaCeiba is an Hondureño born poet/rapper/DJ/scholar/father/husband/activist that grew up in South Central Los Angeles.
• Full Circle Productions is a hip-hop collective that celebrates a wide spectrum of approachable and straight-from-the-heart Hip-Hop Culture. The group is helmed by celebrated hip-hop dance artists Ana “Rokafella” Garcia and Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio. IG @Fullcirclesouljahs
• Bámbula Project is a vibrant and dynamic quartet fusing Afro-Puerto Rican “Bomba” rhythms with Jazz, and led by Alex “Apolo” Ayala. A unique musical celebration of Afro-Boricua heritage and culture.
• La Manga is a cultural identity laboratory honoring Black and Indigenous oral traditions, celebrating Afro-Colombian life through storytelling and bailes cantaos. This collective of women artists features Daniela Serna, Mafer Bandola, Andrea Chavarro, Katherine Ocampo and Lina Fernanda Silva.

• Jesús Papoleto Meléndez is an award-winning New York-born Puerto Rican poet recognized as one of the founders of the Nuyorican Movement. He is also a playwright, teacher and activist.
• Anthony Morales is a Bronx born, Nuyorican poet/educator/father who currently resides in Maryland. His work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, Aster(i)x, Hostos Review, Great Weather for Media, HBO’s Def Poetry, MANTECA!
• Espada de La Luz is a Bronx born Nuyorican artist, passionate about their craft in music production, and film making.

• Francisco Hiraldo aka “DJ Dr. Dust,” is community activist, psychotherapist, hip-hop social worker/artist, poet and DJ/producer of Division X.
• Vivian Vázquez is Nuyorican and grew up in the Longwood district of the South Bronx during the time of the fires. Filmmaker of acclaimed documentary “Decade of Fire.”

ARTISANS

• Karla Mayenbeer Cruz: Author, The Adventures of Pepita Morales at City Hall: The Fight to Save el Jardin.
• Olga Ayala: “Hecho A Mano” handmade crafts. Jewelry and functional art in polymer.
• StayFree Wellness (Stacey Toro): Herbal crafted body and wellness products including tinctures, salves, body butters & herbal packs.