Activating Open Spaces Through Community Engagement Programs
That Promote Diversity And Cultural Heritage Preservation
South Bronx | Wednesdays 6:30 PM
Beck Street (Leggett Ave / Avenue St John)
Train: 6 Train to E 149 St | 2 Train to Jackson Avenue Station
Jul 26 | Aug 2 , 9 , 16 , 23 , 30
East Harlem | Saturdays 6 PM
East 115 Street (Pleasant Ave / First Ave)
Train: 6 Train to E 116 St Station
Aug 19, 26 | Sep 2 , 9 , 16 , 23
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, Salsa Stories 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.
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, MUSE and Telly® Award-winner producer, a 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 express their cultural identity amidst the pandemic.
Through Salsa Stories Bianka is a recurring Open Streets partner and Public Space Programming partner with NYC DOT. The project has awarded her with several grants, including the City Artists Corps, the Enfoco 2022 Media Arts WIP, Creatives Rebuild New York, Citizens NYC, Alfresco NYC, and the NYC Green Fund Grassroots Award by the City Parks Foundation.
Salsa Stories gratefully acknowledges our privilege to be able to work and create on the traditional and ancestral lands and waters of the Weckquasgeek, Lenape, and the Siwanoy Nations.
In addition, we acknowledge the ancestors of the Taínos of the Arawak people of the Caribbean.