Chief Joseph Chatoyer Garifuna Folkloric Ballet Company
The Chief Joseph Chatoyer Garifuna Folkloric Ballet of New York honors the legacy of Chief Joseph Chatoyer, a brave Garifuna man who fought fiercely in defense of his people’s territories.
The Garifuna are descendants of West African and Arawak and Carib natives who were exiled from their motherland of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on March 11, 1797, to the Island of Roatan, Honduras, where they arrived on April 12 of the same year.
Despite the experience of intense physical hardship and strong acculturation pressures, the Garifuna maintain a distinct identity embodied in their unique language, religion, and tradition. They have been able to maintain their language, their identity as Garinagu (plural for Garifuna), and, most of all, their infectious and mesmerizing music.
Los Hacheros
Since joining forces in 2011, Los Hacheros have been setting dance floors aflame with their astounding live shows. Combining the raw emotion of Papote Jiménez's vocals, Eddie Venegas' and Itai Kriss' powerful mambos, and Jacob Plasse's psychedelic tres guitar, Los Hacheros have created a sound that is both unique and timeless. One hears echoes of legends such as Ray Barretto, Fania, and Arsenio Rodriguez, but with an immediacy and power that is unmistakably New York now.