World Arts Festival

Returns To Public Libraries With Free Family Festival Day Workshops

Saturday – Sunday • October 13 & 14

The Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL) has once partnered with the Tannery Word Dance + Cultural Center to bring the Santa Cruz World Arts Festival to families and children through Free Festival Family Days, a series of workshops at the library.

This year, the Tannery World Dance + Cultural Center celebrates the African Diaspora during the 2018 World Arts Festival on October 13th & 14th. Once again, we are lucky to have Festival artists join us at the library for these free, all ages Family Festival Days workshops.

The Diaspora Performance Project supports our community of Artists of the African Diaspora and provides opportunity for the development of new work, deep and meaningful connection to our community, and performances. For more information about the 2018 World Arts Festival, visit tanneryworlddance.com.

The partnership to expand the Festival’s reach in making world music, art, dance, and culture accessible to families throughout the county began in 2015. “Everybody had such a great time dancing and learning from World Arts Festival artists. We are lucky to have this wonderful partnership that fosters a love for the arts and bridges cultures,” said Susan Nemitz, Library Director.

Free Festival Family Days workshop Saturday, October 6 • 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Downtown Library, 224 Church St. in Santa Cruz: Oumou Faye (Senegalese): Oumou is a highly-acclaimed dancer and teacher from Senegal who lives in Santa Cruz. Her classes are a high-energy, joyful exploration of traditional Senegalese dance and incredibly uplifting, transmitting the dance without flaw in regards to her tradition.

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World Arts Festival
Saturday, October 13
Tannery Arts Center, 1060 River Street

12-4 p.m. — FREE dance performances on the Tannery promenade. Join us for over 24 dance groups from the Santa Cruz and Bay Area.

7:30 p.m. — Ticketed performance in the Colligan Theater celebrating TWDCC’s Diaspora Performance Project artists; Shawn Merriman Roberts, Oumou Faye, Vivien Boussamina, Arnaud Loubayi, and Mandjou Kone

Tannery Talks hosts an exclusive before performance round table with TWDCC’s Diaspora Performance Project artists. This FREE event inside the Colligan Theater explores the history of African dance and dance of the African Diaspora that has been thriving in the Santa Cruz community for over 25 years.

Sunday, October 14
Tannery Arts Center, 1060 River Street

12-4 p.m. — FREE Workshops from World Arts Festival artists every hour. See a performance you loved on Saturday and want to take a class, come by TWDCC on Sunday and enjoy beginner level classes from around the world.