Fest Fast Facts

1. Charles Vincent Burwell is a practitioner of the Ifa/Orisha tradition in Brooklyn. Burwell & Sasser went to Cuba for the first time as a team in 2010 to study authentic Orisha music and culture. The rhythms used throughout the show are based on actual Afro-Cuban and Orisha traditional ceremonial music. We’d be very interested in partnering theatres and producers with colleges or cultural institutions for discussions, talkbacks and support programming with a run of the show.
2. We want to explore with a creative team a theatrical way of grounding the folkloric/mythological elements of the story in a tangible reality. That said, it is not our intention to exoticize it, but rather to respectfully show its practical reality within the everyday lives of Cubans. This includes all aspects of production–dance, music, design, etc., and we would prefer a more authentic, almost ‘cinema verite’ approach to the aesthetic of the piece.
3. Since movement is such an important part of our story, the next incarnation in development ideally should be a fully staged version with a choreographer who is versed in traditional Afro-Cuban movement as well as ballet and hip-hop (such as Millicent Marie Johnnie, Ron Brown, etc.)
4. In addition to the musical being seen around the country, an ultimate goal would be to produce the show in Cuba and document the experience.
5. We are excited to talk with producers about the possibilities of advocacy from the Latin and African-American communities as investors, supporters, social media campaigners, for further development and full-scale production of the show with the goal of reaching as wide an audience as possible.