Beat Ya Feet Academy

Beat Ya Feet Academy

beat ya feet dance
Washington, D.C. 

Beat Ya Feet Academy (BYFA) is a powerhouse organization that focuses on “Engaging, Educating, and Empowering” youth and adults through “beat ya feet,” D.C.’s distinctive street dance culture. Under the direction of John “Crazy Legz” Pearson III and Porche’ “Queen P” Anthony, BYFA brings an intergenerational team of youth and community dancers to represent this dance that Queen P describes as “an expression of freedom with a lot of bounce.” Like go-go, beat ya feet tends to evolve every decade, and BYFA’s presentations in Richmond will bring the audience on a journey through the vibrant history of the form, which is now on the cusp of a new era. 

Cécilia

Cécilia

Québécois 
Montréal, Québec, Canada 

Cécilia brings joy and virtuosity to the rich strands of Eastern Canada’s Québécois tradition. Each member of the trio—accordionist Timi Turmel, pianist Erin Leahy, and fiddler Louis Schryer—grew up in a musical family and brings a deep passion for the tradition to the stage. Though just three players, they create a big band sound through clever arrangements, shifting harmonies and textures, and propulsive playing. Cécilia’s music has an undeniably fresh and high-spirited sound, while honoring their roots, creating a unique and infectiously energetic musical experience. 

Dogo du Togo & the Alagaa Beat Band

Dogo du Togo & the Alagaa Beat Band

Togolese 
Lomé, Togo, by way of Washington, D.C. 

The West African nation of Togo is a bit of a musical black box, long overshadowed by nearby musical powerhouses like Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire. But Togo has an untapped wealth of music traditions, as well as a few breakout artists. Singer and guitarist Serge Massama Dogo, aka Dogo du Togo, is the latest Togolese artist to bring his country’s musical traditions to international stages, mixing alagaa trance music with contemporary African pop sounds to fashion a distinctive sound rooted in Togolese music and ritual. The driving alagaa rhythm, a dizzying dance between snare drum and rhythm guitar, forms the bedrock of the band’s sound. “The alagaa beat brings the energy right away,” Dogo explains. “As soon as you bring it in, it just feels different; it takes you somewhere else.” 

Elizabeth King

Elizabeth King

sacred soul and gospel
Memphis, Tennessee 

Elizabeth King is a sacred soul and gospel singer from Memphis, Tennessee, known for her powerful voice, decades of ministry through music, and a life story rivaled by few others. Born in the Mississippi Delta and raised in a family of singers and preachers, King began singing in church at the age of three, using her voice both to battle chronic illness and to express her deep faith. Now in her 70s, she has recently returned to performing professionally; listening to her music, you would never know she took a decades-long break. With Memphis as her long-time home, King combines classic gospel lyrics with electric guitars and sparse percussion on songs that exemplify the city’s blues-inflected sacred soul and gospel sound. 

Melissa Carper

Melissa Carper

classic country 
Austin, Texas

Celebrated for her profoundly observational lyrics, her “homespun sensibility,” and a voice that curls like a croon from a gramophone, Melissa Carper plays old school country music that resonates across time and place. Carper’s repertoire weaves together the threads of old-time, bluegrass, western swing, jazz, and blues that all intertwined in country music before the recording industry drew artificial lines and slapped on race-based genre labels. Veteran Nashville musician Chris Scruggs highlighted Carper’s versatile traditionalism when he dubbed her “Hill Billie Holiday,” declaring, “She’s as good as it gets. She has a quality that really transcends time and fashion.” 

The Blackbyrds

The Blackbyrds

jazz, R&B, and funk 
Washington, D.C. 

The Blackbyrds were at the cutting edge of jazz fusion, R&B, and funk in the 1970s, pushing the boundaries of Black popular music forward in one of the most musically fertile decades of the past century. Established in 1973 in Washington, D.C., the group was originally brought together by legendary jazz trumpeter Dr. Donald Byrd. Byrd recruited some of the most talented students from Howard University’s jazz studies program, which he had helped found a year earlier in response to demands for a shift away from a European-centric curriculum and more Black studies courses. As an academic with an active music career, Byrd wanted to “bridge the gap between academia and the real world” by exposing college students to the actual music business of touring and recording. Though the original group ended their recording career in 1980, their signature sound combining jazz techniques with R&B, polish, gritty funk, and even a little sanctified gospel became a bedrock of the emerging hip-hop movement. Keith Killgo reformed the Blackbyrds in 1999, and the band recorded Gotta Fly in 2012. Their appearance at the Richmond Folk Festival coincides with the 50th anniversary of the legendary “Rock Creek Park.” 

The Broussard Sisters

The Broussard Sisters

juré 
Opelousas, Louisiana 

The Broussard house in Opelousas, Louisiana, was always full of music. Every member of the family sang or played an instrument, and several are renowned zydeco musicians. During Lent, though, according to Millie Broussard, “You weren’t supposed to be going to the dancehalls,” or playing instrumental music—they sang juré instead. Most people outside of Louisiana have not heard of this a cappella tradition dating back to the antebellum era, and it is rarely performed outside the state, until recently. Growing up in the tradition, the Broussard Sisters—Sandra Broussard Davis, Virginia Ballard, Tavian Seraile, and sister-in-law Millie—have assumed the role of cultural stewards and ambassadors, keeping the music alive for the next generation and sharing it with audiences in Louisiana and beyond. 

The Sinquah Family

The Sinquah Family

Hopi hoop dance 
Phoenix, Arizona 

The story of how the Sinquah family became hoop dancing legends contains a unique twist: the father learned the dance from his sons. Moontee Sinquah, now a world champion hoop dancer at the Senior level, did not pick up the hoops until he was 40, inspired by his then-teenage sons, Sampson and Scott Sixkiller Sinquah, who learned from an early age. Now these three extraordinary dancers perform together, hoping to ignite that same passion for their tradition in a new generation. Individually and together, Moontee, Sampson, and Scott have performed around the world at powwows, festivals, and even the Olympics. Now the tradition extends to a third generation as Scott’s four-year-old, Sonny, follows his relatives’ footsteps. As Sampson Sinquah says, “The hoop is a representation of the cycle of life ... there is no beginning and no ending, always ongoing.” 

Villa 5

Villa 5

música norteña 
Los Angeles, California

Villa 5 brings youthful energy, flair, and style to música norteña, the music of their parents’ native northern Mexico. Their name is simple and direct—the band features five Villa siblings, Lizbeth, Joel, Vanessa, Iliana, and Jasmeen—but their story contains multitudes. Raised by working-class immigrant parents on a ranch in Southern California, the Villa siblings found inspiration in their cultural roots and embraced the possibility of creating their own legacy in a new home. Mostly in their early 30s, Villa 5 has built their name and reputation by imbuing deeply traditional music with the savvy visual and media sensibilities of their generation.