Son Merekumbe

Son Merekumbe started in Colombia with the
instruction of the groups choreographer (Jessica
Diaz) received in the folkloric traditions of the her
native country. Moving to America at the age of 15 she
was exposed to the traditions of other Latin American
countries. She began performing for friend's birthday
day parties with her sister and close friends. Very
quickly the group's talents were seen and contracted
for the annual Colombian independence festival in L.A.,
CA. With the union of the groups artistic music
director (Christopher Quast), brought the African
influence to an already talented dance troupe. Son
Merekumbe quickly changed course from representing
just Colombia to presenting African influence on the
Americas ("De Africa para las Americas"). With much
training and learning, the group was able to blend the
two styles of dance traditions to create what has been
dubbed as "Afro Latino". Son Merekumbe has grown to
present traditions from five different countries and
currently have performing members native to five
separate countries as well. The group is ever growing
and has many traditions being studied to be made into "SonMerekumbe", "De Africa para las Americas"