On December 1, 2023, MÁS had the amazing opportunity to bring together nearly 100 artists to celebrate the cultural contributions and manifestations of the Latin American Afro-diaspora here in Seattle continuing our work of building bridges between the arts and the Afrolatino, Afro-Indigenous, Black and migrant communities. With the support of Seattle Symphony’s Community Stages Fund grant we were able to produce an event at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, showcasing traditional music and dance from more than 9 regions in Latin America.
Ancestral Whispers: A multi-layered collaborative effort
Production and Staging
Ancestral Whispers: of land and sea aimed to unify our Afro-diasporic communities by bringing the cultural knowledge and artistic manifestations of the Afrolatino American diaspora and exemplify the deeply rooted cultural connections. Under the artistic direction of Mónica Rojas, founder of MÁS, the following artistic groups collectively planned and performed at the event: De CAJóN Project, Otoqui Reyes y los Hijos de Agüeybana, Silvio Dos Reis and FICA, Seattle Fandango Project, Milvia Berenice Pacheco Salvatierra, Panamá Folklore Seattle, Alfredo Chavez, Dance with Dora, Marcela Rosero and Rimawaynina Cumbé, Todo Folklore Cubano, Hagucha Garinagu and Destiny Vasquez. Each artist contributed a piece of great cultural value, showing the diversity of Afro-diasporic expressions rooted in Abya Yala. To close the event, we presented the song of MÁS: El Eslabón, a collective composition written and performed by musicians and community artist collaborators of MÁS, and with musical arrangements by Eduardo Montero.
Watch the full event here
We are stronger together
At MÁS we always want to guarantee that the entire community can have access to enjoy the cultural and ancestral connections that we share. For this reason, we opened a donation campaign to ensure that purchasing power did not impede connecting through art. We obtained 33 individual donations through the givebutter platform, and the support of 5 local organizations to make this task possible. On the day of the event, we managed to fill the theater, delivering around 200 free seats to our community. For us at MÁS, this represented a beautiful opportunity for the entire community and will remain a milestone in our history as an organization, bringing our community together in one place for an event of this kind.
Once again we can say that We are stronger United!
We want to thank everyone who helped make this event possible and supported free tickets to community members. Big thanks to Dr. Tavasi Silvas, Kelly Summerfield, Stacey Tran, Marea Angela Castaneda, Dr. Nathalia Jimenez, Peter Bloch Garcia, Nubia Lopez, Stephanie Mano, Monica Guevara, Flo Sum, Antoinette Angulo, Laura Ordoñez, Danae Dotolo and Kathleen Weber, Seattle Amistad School, RVC, ArtsFund, Seattle Symphony, 4Culture, Seattle Foundation, Emergent Fund, anonymous donations in honor of Beautiful Milvia, Jason Fackler, Cristina, Meg Gomez, Mental Health Matters of Washington and Early Music Seattle and many more!
We continue centering Blackness and activating ancestral art as a tool for healing and connecting our AfroLatino, AfroIndigenous, migrant communities. If you’re interested in this movement, come join us at our upcoming events, sign up for our newsletter, and contribute to sustaining our work!Learn more and check out our resources here.
