Tambu: Modern Afro-Caribbean Dance Workshop (with Live Drums) with Remses Rafaela

Remses Rafaela has been dancing since childhood and has been active since 1996 as a professional dancer,

choreographer and theater maker. His style has many influences from a wide variety of Afro-Caribbean dance

traditions, such as calypso, salsa and also Tambu. Over time he has mixed these styles in a natural way with

acrobatics, hip hop and modern dance, to create his own unique dance language. A style that clearly shows the

effect of history on the evolution of African dance.

Tambu

Tambu originates from the island of Curaçao from various ancient West African (mainly Congolese) music, dances

and rituals. The “Tambu” is also the name of the accompanying drum, the beating heart of this rhythmic music

culture. These traditions were taken there by Africans were forced to work and live on plantations under appalling

conditions. The first musical instruments were therefore made from (parts of) agricultural instruments, such as the

Chapi (a hoe), the Cachu (made from an old cow horn) but also the Calco (a kind of wind instrument made from a

Calco shell, in which holes have been drilled). .

Traditionally, the Tambu has been "a means of communication" for covertly denouncing events and abuses on the

plantation and targeting public figures without the plantation owners realizing what was happening. But it is also a

dance form, in which partners never touch each other, but dance close together as a unit.

Remses; Tambu lessons are characterized by his commitment, quality, a lot of humor, warmth and conviviality.