ACTIVATING OPEN SPACES THROUGH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS
THAT PROMOTE DIVERSITY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE PRESERVATION
SOUTH BRONX | FRIDAYS 6 - 9 PM
681 Kelly Street
Train: 6 Train to E 149 St | 2 Train to Jackson Avenue Station
AUG 26 | SEP 2 , 9 , 16 , 23 , 30 | OCT 7 , 14
EAST HARLEM | SATURDAYS 5 - 7 PM
463 East 115 Street
Train: 6 Train to E 116 St Station
AUG 27 | SEP 3 , 10 , 17 , 24 | OCT 1 , 8 , 15
LOWER EAST SIDE | SUNDAYS 3 - 6 PM
107 Suffolk Street
Train: F / J / M / Z / Trains to Delancey St Essex St Station
AUG 28 | SEP 4 , 11 , 18 , 25 | OCT 2 , 9 , 16
SALSA STORIES is an immersive Salsa experience presented in the communities that gave birth to Salsa in the streets of NYC.
By engaging a diverse audience, the program advocates for disseminating misconceptions engraved in environmental justice areas stigmatized by past events to this day, such as the arsons, violence and crime from the 70s.
Salsa emerged from displacement impositions, a phenomenon that impacts and breaks up community ties and long-standing support systems, perpetuates welfare culture, and prevents generational wealth. Physical spaces coexist with sociocultural identity.
The stars of the show are the neighborhoods that served as incubators and transformed these cultural traditions into a vital part of New York City’s cultural heritage, and global popular culture whose many styles reflect the geographic areas that nurture them.
Bianka is a Brazilian-born filmmaker and Telly® Award-winner producer, story curator, and an avid Salsa dancer.
She created the community engagement program SALSA STORIES in 2021 to provide her local dance community with a safe open space for them to continue to express their cultural identity amidst the pandemic.
Through SALSA STORIES Bianka is a recurring Open Strees partner and Public Space Programming parter with DOT. The project has awarded her with several grants, including the City Artists Corps, the Enfoco 2022 Media Arts WIP, Creatives Rebuild New York, Alfresco NYC, and the NYC Green Fund Grassroots Award.