Miami, March 8, 2017 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Koubek Center, su casa de cultura, continues its popular bilingual family series with PLAYTIME: ¡Plena Para Niños!, a free celebration of Puerto Rican culture from noon – 4 p.m., Saturday, March 25. In the evening, the Koubek Center’s starlit social dance series, the Little Havana Social Club, presents Puerto Rican bomba and plena music by Plena Es at 8 p.m. Tickets for the concert are $15 in advance/$20 at the door/$10 for MDC students.
The Playtime series provides parents an engaging (and free!) way for children to learn and practice Spanish. The fun and interactive family days highlight diverse arts, crafts, literary histories, and music and dance of cities with Hispanic cultures. Children are invited to sing, dance, create, and speak together en español.
Plena Para Niños activities will include music and dance performances and workshops by members of the esteemed folkloric group Plena Es, leading purveyors of the Afro-Puerto Rican bomba plena traditions. There will also be a storytime, craft-making, and traditional Puerto Rican cuisine available for purchase.
The Little Havana Social Club is a series dedicated to celebrating Latin American heritage through music and dance. The concerts and dance parties promote community and engagement—from the dance floor to the domino tables, each evening featuring vibrant live bands, pre-concert dance lessons, and community vendors. Situated in the lush gardens of the historic Koubek Center mansion, the performances are preceded by a complimentary dance lessons and followed by an afterparty with a DJ. Specialty food and cocktails are available for purchase.
Founded by Pierre Ramos in 2004, Plena Es plays the high-energy Caribbean dance music that is a touchstone for Puerto Rican identity. Bomba is the music created by West African slaves on Puerto Rico’s sugar plantations, and Plena-mixed bomba with indigenous Taíno music and jibaro music of the island’s mountain farmers. Plena focuses on the story sung by a lead singer and chorus, backed by the rhythm of hand drums. Plena Es offers up both styles with its own Miami twist. Click HERE for photos.
Next in the series: the Afro-Colombian Rhythms of Herencia de Timbiqui on Saturday, April 22.
ABOUT THE KOUBEK CENTER
The Koubek Center—su casa de cultura— is an intellectual, cultural, and community hub in the heart of Little Havana. A historic landmark in South Florida, the revitalized mansion remains true to its pioneering heritage—celebrating its multicultural community with workshops, art exhibitions, theater performances, literary readings, concerts and more. In addition to the mansion, the iconic space includes glorious gardens, the Koubek theater, the ArtSpace gallery, classrooms, and mini performance spaces. For more information, please visit www.koubekcenter.org.
The programs of Koubek Center are made possible with the generous support of: Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council; the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissionaires; the State of Florida, Department of State , Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts; and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation..
MDC’s Koubek Center is located at 2705 S.W. Third St.
For more information, please visit www.koubekcenter.org.
MDC Live Arts Contact: Alexa Burneikis, 305-237-7733, aburneik@mdc.edu; and Jose Boza, Boza Agency, 786-326-7988; jboza@boza-agency.com.