Sancocho

Iris Rosa and Anthony Artis are a husband and wife team who research the music and dance of the African diaspora. Iris is a professor at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, in the department of African and African American Diaspora Studies where she teaches courses in dance and dance history and directs a student-based dance ensemble, the IU African American Dance Company, one of three performing ensembles of the IU African American Arts Institute. She has travelled and done research in West Africa (Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria) Puerto Rico , Domincan Republic and Cuba. Anthony is a singer, drummer and drum maker who is currently working towards his master's degree in Ethnomusicology at Indiana University/Bloomington. He has studied in Ghana, West Africa, Cuba, Puerto Rico and various cities throughout the U.S. His research focus is the Yorubas of Nigeria, West Africa, and their influence in Cuba and the U.S. He is a Babalawo in the Afro Cuban Lukumi religious tradition and an initiated Omo Anya Bata drummer.
Sancocho Music and Dance Collage began in 1995 in response to a request to create an ensemble that could perform in the public schools to show the African influence and connections of the growing Hispanic population in Indiana. Their primary performance venues are grades K through 12, universities, public festivals and institutions. 'Sancocho' is the name that is used throughout Latin American countries to describe a stew. Each culture has their own unique version of this stew, which consists of meat, vegetables and spices indigenous to their country. Sancocho Music and Dance Collage brings their own unique blend of traditional music and dance from selected Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean that is sure to satisfy your cultural appetite.