The New York Crimean Tatar Ensemble

The New York Crimean Tatar Ensemble

Crimean Tatar
​​​​​​​Brooklyn, New York

Called “a jewel of the United States’ Crimean community,” the New York Crimean Tatar Ensemble is the only U.S.-based group performing the exquisite traditional music of their heritage.

Crimean Tatars are an Islamic, ethnically Turkic people who trace their history in Crimea back to the 12th century, when they came west under the leadership of Batu Khan (Ghengis’ grandson) and intermarried with people already living on the Peninsula. Their vibrant music and dance traditions have substantial similarities with other cultures around the Black Sea, but with a special flair that captivates the ear and the eye: uniquely accented 7/8 dance rhythms and polymetric songs, deft interweaving of Eastern and Western modes, and precise, athletic dance steps that bring energy to any performance.

Tribu Baharú

Tribu Baharú

Afro-Colombian champeta
Bogotá, Colombia

Hailing from Bogotá, Colombia, Tribu Baharú is a champeta crew whose sound is rooted in the musical ethos of Colombia’s Caribbean coast, influenced in particular by the “pico” (sound system) culture of Barranquilla and Cartagena. The heart of champeta culture first beat in these two coastal cities, finding expression in communities at the margins of Colombian society. The sensual champeta dance has faced sharp resistance from cultural elites and politicians who claim it is to blame for teenage pregnancy and violence. But that hasn’t stopped the music (and dance) from becoming wildly popular across Colombia.

Vishtèn

Vishtèn

Acadian
Prince Edward Island and Magdalen Islands, Québec

Vishtèn’s music is a hardy mixture of Acadian, Irish, and Scottish styles, with fiery fiddling and powerful step dancing taking front and center. Formed in 2000 on their native Prince Edward Island, Vishtèn is a trio of young musicians and dancers founded by twin sisters Pastelle LeBlanc (piano accordion, piano, dance, vocals) and Emmanuelle LeBlanc (bodhrán, whistles, mandolin, piano, dance, vocals). Rounding out the trio is Pascal Miousse—from the nearby Magdalen Islands—on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and vocals.

Zhou Family Band

Zhou Family Band

traditional wind and percussion music from central-eastern China
​​​​​​​Anhui Province, China

The Zhou Family Band plays traditional music that joyfully upends Western expectations of Chinese music—and Chinese musicians. As the band has begun to tour internationally, they invariably surprise and impress; they were universally acclaimed as a highlight of 2017’s WOMAD festival, where one delighted reviewer declared them “musically impressive and ridiculously slapstick in nature, often simultaneously.”

Zuni Olla Maidens

Zuni Olla Maidens

Zuni dance and song
Zuni, New Mexico

When the dancers of the Zuni Olla Maidens enter a performance space, balancing intricately decorated ceramic vessels called olla on their heads, they transform their foremothers’ essential, life-giving work of carrying water from the river into an eloquent dance tradition. Each olla is a smaller replica of the water jars their ancestors carried; the cultural weight they hold, however, is greater. Before performing, each dancer breathes into her pot, ceremonially taking in a blessing, and expressing thanks to the ancestors.