Loco Bloco Drum and Dance Ensemble

Each year, Loco Bloco Dance and Drumming Ensemble provides free after-school drumming, dance, theater, and circus arts classes to 500 low-income, minority, and immigrant youth aged five to eighteen. By integrating traditional African and Latino music and dance with contemporary art forms such as reggae and hip-hop, the organization draws a diverse group of young people who are primarily youth of color; half the audience for Loco Bloco’s public performances is under the age of twenty-five. The company produces and performs at concerts and community events throughout the year, reaching thousands at San Francisco’s most prominent parades, Carnaval and Pride.

For more than 20 years, Loco Bloco Drum and Dance Ensemble has served low-income children and youth of color in and around San Francisco's historic Mission District. With pedagogy based in the creation and performance of music, theater, and dance rooted in Afro-Latino traditions, the organization annually engages more than 700 youth in arts education programs at neighborhood schools and community centers. Carnaval parade and staged performances reach an additional 30,000 audience members each year. Funding for this organization will support ongoing curriculum and program development to promote youths' healthy transition into adulthood.