The Budari Dance Company   
By: Jos� Francisco �vila

� 2014 by Jos� Francisco �vila, All Rights Reserved

 

The Garifuna communities, spread over Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, have kept alive their common language, oral traditions, music and dances. Although still practiced on various occasions, these are changing considerably as the Garifuna language is less often spoken.

  

Among the UNESCO proclamation's safeguarding project goals, is the development of an inventory of Garifuna art forms (such as songs, music, dances and related customs etc.) and promote regional Garifuna festivals with a view to confronting the erosion of the Garifuna culture in the heart of modern day communities.[1] Among the cultural groups combating the erosion of the Garifuna culture New York City through the dissemination and promotion of Garifuna Intangible Cultural Heritage, is the Budari Dance Company, Inc

 

Budari Dance Company

 Founded in 2011 by its artistic director and choreographer Yeny S. Palacios (Budari Isieni), a former member of the National Garifuna Folkloric Ballet of Honduras. Yeny performed as a dancer and cultural ambassador, promoting the values of the Garifuna heritage, artistic traditions and its dissemination around the world, through art expressions of dance, drama and music, under the leadership of world renown choreographer and artistic director Mr. Armando Crisanto Melendez (Wayujuru Saravanga).  

 

She founded Budari Dance Company primarily to teach Garifuna traditions and values to the youth, and to unite the Garifuna immigrant community, through their cultural heritage. The group features experienced dancers and drummers who wear bright colored costumes, masks and perform dances, gestures and expressions, along with folk scenes of the Garifuna nation, culture, its essence and cultural identity, where the main message is telling a story that transcends and becomes stronger with time.

 

The company has presented the traditional Garifuna dances such as the Punta, Culio , Parranda, Chumba , Sambay and Wanaragua in various educational and cultural institutions along the east coast of the U.S. Budari Dance Company exists to preserve the Garifuna art forms (such as songs, music, dances and related customs etc.). The goal is to share the cultural wealth of the Garifuna people with the general community while teaching Garifuna history. The spiritual power of the drum reaches the souls of the dancers, opening the lines of communication between the past and present, which allows Budari Dance Company to maintain the ancestral spirit alive.

 

The objective of the dancers is to take the audience through an imaginary trip back to the time of the Garifuna people in the island of St Vincent and later Roatan, Honduras. Viewers embark on an emotional journey through historical scenes of the Garifuna struggle and cultural heritage.

 

With over 20 years of artistic experience as a dancer and performer, Budir Isieni has performed in Europe, Central, North and South America, and the Caribbean. She is a former member of the Nuwani Dance group and cofounder of the Chief Joseph Chatoyer Garifuna Folkloric Ballet of New York. She has proudly represented the Garifuna Heritage and has combated the erosion of the Garifuna culture New York City through the dissemination and promotion of Garifuna Intangible Cultural Heritage.
 
Budari Dance Company will present its First Cultural Concert HONDARU IYUNAGU 1636 (Reunion of the Ancestors 1636) on Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 5:00 PM, at the Rafael Hernandez Academy PS 217, 977 Tiffany St, Bronx, NY 10459. For ticket information, contact Budari Iiseni at (347) 596-7021

 

 
Photo courtesy of Teofilo Colon, Jr.