Milton’s Samarah Marks to participate in Cape Verde cultural dance exchange

OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center will lead a powerful international youth development experience this November, as seven student dancers from several Boston neighborhoods travel to the African island nation of Cape Verde for a weeklong cultural exchange. While in Cape Verde, the students perform and teach dance in local schools and community spaces, participate in traditional meals, engage in peer-to-peer dialogue with local youth, and distribute needed supplies in the communities they visit.

This year’s youth cohort includes Nasya Baine of Dorchester, the South End’s Jay’dha Rackard and Amanie Yusef, Laila Smith from Jamaica Plain, Milton’s Samarah Marks, Makalah Brown from Mattapan, and Shaumba-Subira Dibinga-Robinson from Rosindale, with chaperones Sonia Lomba (an OrigiNation alum and current Board member), Shaumba-Yandje wa Dibinga, and OrigiNation Executive Director Musau Dibinga.

Two ticketed fundraising events are planned for August: a Conscious Cafe at Black Market Nubian Square in Roxbury on August 15th at 7:00 p.m. with family-friendly performances in spoken word and karaoke; and a community Line Dancing Workshop at the Dorchester headquarters of The Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers (MAMLEO) on August 17th from 2 to 3:30 p.m.