1, 2, 3.

All: "Bare Feet"!

Mickela Mallozzi: I'm a dancer, and I'm a traveler, and wherever I go, I experience the world one dance at a time.

♪ I'm Mickela Mallozzi, and this is "Bare Feet."

♪ "Bare Feet" is supported in part by... Announcer: Bloomberg Connects gives you a way to experience the arts from your mobile phone.

You can explore hundreds of cultural organizations from around the world anytime, anywhere.

Learn more at bloombergconnects.org or wherever you find your apps.

Announcer: Road Scholar, offering educational travel adventures for adults since 1975.

Announcer: Additional funding was provided by Koo and Patricia Yuen through the Yuen Foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities.

Mallozzi: These generous supporters.... Announcer: And by the Ann H. Symington Foundation.

[Drums playing] Mallozzi: Welcome to the Bronx, home to over 250,000 people claiming Garifuna heritage, the largest concentration of Garifuna Americans in the United States, but who are the Garifuna people?

A mixed tribe of West Africans and Indigenous Arawaks from the island of St. Vincent, the Garifuna, known then as the Black Carabs, were exiled by the British colonial government to Roatan, Honduras, in 1797, then emigrating to neighboring Central American countries, including Belize, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

For more than two centuries, this little-known but thriving culture of Garifuna have been making their mark on the world, especially here in the Bronx.

[Drums continue] My first stop is to the Bronx Commons in the Melrose neighborhood on 162nd Street across from O'Neill Triangle.

I'm here to meet with Luz Soliz and her daughter Catherine Soliz-Rey of the Wabafu Garifuna Dance Company.

Woman: [Sings in Garifuna] All: [Sing in Garifuna] Woman: [Sings in Garifuna] All: [Singing in Garifuna] [Drums and percussion playing] Soliz-Rey: Wabafu means our power, our strength, and, you know, we chose that name because everything that we do as a company is all about showcasing the strength and the power of the Garifuna people.

Soliz-Rey: [Singing in Garifuna] Women: [Singing in Garifuna] Mallozzi, voice-over: Luz and Catherine outfit me in the traditional dress and give me my first taste of punta, the most popular dance in the Garifuna culture, based on Indigenous Arawak and West African influences.

Soliz: So punta is a ceremonial dance.

In the old time, it was only done during wakes.

You're sliding, and, because you're doing this with your toes, it creates a circular movement in your hips.

♪ Doo-ga doo-ga doo-ga ♪ And then you go circular... Circle.

and that means life.

Life is a circle of life, and in the Garifuna, our soul never dies, only the physical body, so the punta is danced during that time for the dead.

Now you got it, girl, great.

[Conch and drums playing] You got it, girl.

♪ Soliz-Rey: The way you communicate with the drummer, you got to give him a little eye contact so he knows that you're about to give him a break.

OK. ♪ We're going to him ♪ ♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ He has to be intuitive ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ♪ Mallozzi, voice-over: Of course, I had to try having that conversation with the drummer myself.

Women: [Cheering] ♪ Mallozzi, voice-over: Garifuna drums are known as the heartbeat of the culture, and traditional drums are made from hollowed-out cedar, mahogany, or yemeri logs topped with deer skin held in place by vines.

Then a wire or string snare is added to the drum head to intensify the sound, similar to the mechanism of a banjo head.

♪ Soliz: Originally, we are from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The people are mixed with the African that came from the kingdom of Mali many, many years ago, and that's why we speak that language, which is the Arawak language of the Indigenous people in the Caribbean before Columbus.

St. Vincent was one of the last island to be colonized in the Caribbean because the people fought to keep the island, and we were exiled, and to this day, we still keep the tradition, the language, the food, the drumming, everything.

Mallozzi, voice-over: The Garifuna culture survives because these dances, music, and oral traditions are passed down within families from generation to generation.

Soliz-Rey, voice-over: In a place like New York City, you have different influences, so it is a bit of a challenge to always come back to the traditional way, which my mother always tries to keep me on track with that.

Soliz, voice-over: We kept singing the songs.

We kept people dancing the dances.

The youth realized, "Wait a minute.

I have something.

This is also mine," and they just do it, and I feel so happy to see the legacy of Garifuna people here in New York not forgotten.

It's alive.

♪ [Applause] Mallozzi, voice-over: To learn more about the Garifuna people, their history, and their presence here in the Bronx, I meet with Jose Francisco Avila, Garifuna historian and pillar in the Garifuna American community.

We meet at Bill Rainey Park in the Longwood neighborhood.

Avila: The Garifuna people are an Afro-Indigenous group.

We battled the British Empire for over 30 years in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Wow.

Right.

Our ancestors did.

We lost it, and 5,000 of our ancestors were imprisoned and sent to an island outside of St. Vincent called Balliceaux.

Half the population perished there, but eventually, our ancestors negotiated with the Spaniards, who allowed them to cross over to the mainland, and once we settled there, we ended up in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Garifunas' community is a community that went from being forcibly deported from its homeland to a thriving community.

Garifunas have been migrating to New York for the past 80 years.

Wow.

There are 250,000 Garifunas here in New York City.

Half of that population lives here in the Bronx.

Bill Rainey Park is significant for the local Garifuna community because this was a meeting place back in the seventies and the early eighties.

Most of the people who came here were new immigrants, and so the directions would be, "Once you get off the train station, "turn left, keep walking, "and you're gonna see a building "that looks like a ship, and that's where the park is."

[Drums and percussion playing] The building became known as Waporu.

Waporu.

"Waporu" is Garifuna for ship, so among Garifunas, this park is not known as Bill Rainey Park.

It's known as Waporu Park.

My participation in the Garifuna community started over 32 years ago.

When I got involved, I decided that-- you know what?-- we need to become part of New York City.

Yeah.

That was the beginning of the modern Garifuna movement, and for the past 12 years, we have celebrated Garifuna American Heritage Month.

Man: Uno, dos, tres.

All: Garifuna power.

Mallozzi: That is a true powerful story of resiliency...

Absolutely.

of perseverance, of maintaining your culture.

Exactly.

It's quite astonishing that you got-- I mean, I'm really gonna get very emotional right now because that's a really powerful story right there.

Yes.

Our ancestors are gone, and, thanks to their resilience in maintaining our identity and our culture, 224 years later, it survives, so that is the biggest honor to our ancestors, and I think they're smiling.

Agreed.

[Drums playing] Mallozzi, voice-over: From Waporu Park, Jose takes me to one of his favorite restaurants in the neighborhood-- Seis Vecinos, which means 6 neighbors, representing the food from the 6 neighboring countries in Central America-- Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico.

This is one of the only restaurants in New York that offers traditional Garifuna dishes.

We meet with Omar Canales, owner and chef of this family-owned restaurant.

I'm Bronx-born-and-raised.

Yeah.

My dad is from Honduras, and my mother's from Ecuador, which is why the emphasis in the mixing of cultures because that runs in my blood.

Mallozzi: Mm-hmm.

Mallozzi, voice-over: As soon as we arrive, Omar welcomes us with delicious food, including one of their more famous dishes-- pollo chuco, a staple from Honduras of fried chicken on a bed of fried green bananas.

So this is Honduran food, or is this Garifuna food?

These are known as Honduran dishes.

Mm-hmm.

We have some traditional Garifuna dishes-- for example, machuca, which is also on the way.

It's a scoop of the plantain mash.

More food's on the way.

Oh, yeah.

Ha!

[Drums continue] ♪ This right here, which is the rice and beans, we call it casamiento.

It's part of our diet.

We have the fried plantains.

It's just like being in a Garifuna village or a Garifuna restaurant in Central America, and over here, we have a sopa marinera... Sopa marinera.

seafood... Stew.

Yes.

Exactly.

Look at these legs.

Look at those legs.

Now, this, we call it machuca in Spanish.

Machuca.

In Garifuna, we call it hudutu.

That's basically, it's plantain-based, which is mashed.

Mashed.

Exactly.

♪ Dip it in.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah.

Coconut, milky, seafood, fresh seafood.

Oh, my gosh, I've never tasted anything like this before.

Really?

Well-- It is so smooth and delicious and creamy.

Oh, my gosh.

Fishing is basically how we feed ourselves and agriculture, so that's what you see here exactly.

What is that seasoning, though, on it?

Well, maybe the family secret.

Secret, family secret.

Exactly.

Wow.

[Drums and conch playing] Mallozzi, voice-over: My next stop brings me to the corner of Vyse Avenue and Home Street.

I'm at El Fogon to meet its co-founder Samuel Brooks.

He invited me here today to get a firsthand look on the arts and culture that are supported through this community space.

Brooks: El Fogon Center for the Arts, which is the full name of the space, is what we call an alternative arts space that we created in the Bronx, and for the last 8 years, it's been community-driven.

Man: [Singing in Garifuna] Brooks: If you look around, all you see is residential buildings, and what we wanted to do is provide a center for the people within the Vyse/Home-area community but also for the people in the South Bronx overall.

[Sings in Garifuna] Oh!

Hey!

Mallozzi, voice-over: I came to El Fogon today to meet with Bodoma, prominent musician and teacher of Garifuna's musical heritage.

Together with musicians who represent the next generation of Garifuna Americans, including his son, Bodoma is giving me a lesson on some of the iconic Garifuna rhythms.

[Singing in Garifuna] Mallozzi: This is the bass drum.

Bodoma: It's the bass drum.

This is like the heartbeat of the Garifuna music.

Yes.

Yeah.

OK, so-- You want to try it?

Yeah.

I want to try.

OK.

This one is very easy.

It's a paranda.

Now the second level, this.

Do a level one.

Now level two.

Yes.

She's a good learner.

Ha ha!

[Singing in Garifuna] This music start in Africa.

Africans mix with the Arawak Indian to become Garifuna.

Mallozzi, voice-over: Each Garifuna rhythm is used to express a specific emotion and mood.

Bodoma: Using paranda, like, to express or-- It's like a storyteller.

A storyteller.

You want to try another rhythm--gunjei.

Gunjei, yeah.

The gunjei is, like, for elegant dance.

OK. Whoo!

[Singing in Garifuna] Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Ha!

Let's get one hit.

Ha ha!

Zero to 60.

OK.

Hold on.

Uh-huh, yeah.

Yes.

♪ Uh uh uh ♪ Aha.

Now the second level, huh?

Ah, very good.

[Singing in Garifuna] Bodoma, voice-over: The Garifunas, they used to, like, get together with the French and dance, celebration dance.

[Singing continues] Bodoma: voice-over: Now we dance punta for everything, but the punta is not the celebration dance.

Punta is the funeral ceremony dance.

Right, right.

How did it evolve from a dance that you did at funerals into this very popular dance?

How did that happen?

Because, I think, it's the way the rhythm is very contagious and very sweet rhythm.

Aha.

That's the, feel the movement.

Aha.

Bodoma, voice-over: That means fertility dance.

When a Garifuna person passed, we need another one to come.

It was so hard for the Garifuna people to survive that losing someone was such a big loss-- that makes sense-- and then asking for more, yeah... More and more, more Garifuna.

more children, more Garifuna.

Yeah, more Garifuna.

This one, do-- follow the rhythm, also, the rhythm, but mostly is to read what she's doing.

Oh, right, right, so whatever movement she's doing, I have to-- Do it, yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

OK. All right.

We have to follow it.

No pressure.

Something easy.

Easy.

♪ Ha ha ha!

Play.

Get faster.

Yeah.

Let's get that, man.

Come on.

Mallozzi, voice-over: How long have you guys been playing music?

How old were you when you started?

What, well, joining the band?

8 years old.

You were 8 when you joined the band.

Yeah, with my dad.

And how old were you when you joined the band?

Age 7.

Wow.

Yo tenia 7 anos.

7 years old.

[Vocalizing] Ha ha!

Mallozzi, voice-over: And what are you feeling when you're dancing and when you're making music and doing these rhythms that have survived for so long?

How do you feel?

I'm one of the children in the Garifuna tribe to continue this legacy, so I'm one of the heroes.

That's what I'm feeling.

¿Como se siente cuando bailar?

[Speaking Spanish] Si.

Man, voice-over: Garifuna is for me to just focus on music and not being on the streets-- you feel me?-- Mm-hmm.

and, like he said, well-- What'd you say?

Hee hee hee!

Are you a hero, too?

Yeah, like he said.

Yeah.

Like he said, he a hero, so that makes me want to be a hero, too.

Mallozzi, voice-over: What I've learned from meeting all the incredible Garifuna people so far is, everybody knows so much about your own history, and that is something that you don't see every day in any culture.

History and love-- that's the first, first, first in the Garifuna culture.

Ah!

Ha ha ha!

Hey!

Mallozzi, voice-over: My next stop takes me to Macombs Dam Park right by Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

♪ I'm here to take my very first GarifunaRobics class with its creator and founder-- Arnol Guity Martinez.

[Singing in Garifuna] Martinez, voice-over: I took elements of the Garifuna culture and infused it into a fun, full-body cardio workout.

So what can we expect in today's GarifunaRobics class?

Ooh, a lot of movement, a lot of sweating, a lot of hip movements.

We gonna get a lot of sweating, again, all right, yep.

And I want you to grab your right foot.

This is the pace, all right?

That's the pace.

♪ 5, 6, 5, 6, step to the right ♪ ♪ Martinez, voice-over: It all starts with the feet.

The feet goes with the pace of the rhythm.

Once you have that, you're pretty much golden.

♪ Mallozzi, voice-over: You're, like, the next generation of the Garifuna community, and this is what you're doing for the culture.

You are really pushing it forward for people who want to get a workout and may not have ever heard of Garifuna people or the Garifuna community.

Yes, yes.

That is actually the whole purpose of it, to promote the Garifuna community not just for my people, but for outside, for them to see what our culture is about and how rich our culture is.

It's a dream that has came to reality.

♪ Whoo!

Whoo!

♪ Take it back.

Woman, voice-over: Doing GarifunaRobics is a rarity for me here in New York City, and I'm known as the only one that offers this class.

♪ It's about fun.

It's about embracing your natural beauty, honoring your body where you're at, and just moving it, moving everything.

♪ What?

♪ Martinez: Come on.

Hey.

♪ Ready?

Work.

[Cheering] Mallozzi, voice-over: My next stop takes me to Starlight Park in the Bronx.

Every weekend in the summer months, families get together here to spend the day outside and to eat some incredible Garifuna food.

I meet with Arnold Avila, owner of Empanadas and Comida Avila Catering.

In the park, people always want, like, that barbecue, you know, taste and that smell... Mm-hmm.

so what I do is, I sell the different kinds of steaks that I serve, and I also make oxtail that I got famous for since I started selling during the pandemic.

[Drums playing] In 1992, my parents decided to make a living by selling food in different parks.

Our first park that we started selling food at was near Prospect Avenue.

It's called Waporu Park.

Mallozzi: Yeah.

We were there.

So Mom is still part of this business.

Avila: Mom is still part.

She gets up every Sunday at 5:00 in the morning to start making this rice.

[Drums continue] My mom's steak has been around for over 25 years, and I'm the only person that has that recipe.

[Drums and conch playing] ♪ Oh, Mom.

Mallozzi, voice-over: Arnold's goal is to open his own restaurant one day, but he's not the only Garifuna cook here with big dreams.

Garifuna chef Gisela serves a popular Honduran dish called a baleada.

[Drums playing] ♪ Mm!

Gisela: People usually eat the baleadas at breakfast, but throughout the day, anybody could eat a baleada.

And then you have cauldrons frying chicken, frying plantains.

The park is full.

People need to eat because they're getting hungry.

They're playing soccer.

The kids are playing.

Families are here on a Sunday.

Who wants to cook?

They'd rather come here and have your delicious cooking.

That's why we're here.

[Laughter] And what I love is, you know, Arnold brought us over to you, and it's not competitive.

No.

It's not at all, not at all.

We're a team.

We're a team together.

We sell different stuff, but we sold out.

At the end of the day, we sold out.

Yeah.

I feel honored to be in this tent with you eating your food because it is so delicious but also it's such a big part of the Garifuna people.

Right.

What does it mean for you to be Garifuna and to be able to share your Garifuna food not only to the Garifuna people and the Garifuna community in the Bronx, but to everybody in the Bronx?

For them, they always tell me, "It's an honor "because at least you know where you come from.

I wish I knew where I come from," so to be Garifuna, it's an amazing thing and just by being Garifuna.

Yes.

Hey.

It's started, baby.

It's started.

Oh, my God.

Mallozzi, voice-over: My last stop brings me to Albee Square in Downtown Brooklyn.

Every year, I host the "Bare Feet" Downtown Brooklyn free summer dance series, where we get to bring this TV show to life to our fans, and for tonight's event, I decided to celebrate the Garifuna culture with Felix Gamboa of Chief Joseph Chatoyer Garifuna Folkloric Ballet of New York.

[Singing in Garifuna] ♪ Gamboa, voice-over: Our mission is to create visibility and awareness of the Garifuna culture here in New York and all over the world if we could, you see, so this, for me, ah, seventh heaven.

♪ Mallozzi, voice-over: Felix named his dance group after Chief Joseph Chatoyer, a hero who led the revolt of the Garifuna people against the British colonial government of St. Vincent in 1795.

Gamboa, voice-over: Our music is our life.

It's what we do, especially what we call paranda, which is one of my fortes.

Gamboa: [Singing in Garifuna] ♪ Gamboa, voice-over: Paranda is that song that you sing to express your anger or express anything that bothers.

It could be emotional pain, emotional state of mind.

Paranda is telling your story.

[Drums and percussion playing] ♪ Gamboa: This is what I love.

This man is born and raised in New York, and he danced like he just came from home.

Yes!

Gamboa, voice-over: What drove me to do this is because when I left our country, Honduras, I had a little fear of losing the drums, of losing the sound of my culture because this was a whole different ballgame... Mallozzi: Yeah.

♪ and I started looking for those young kids that are born here in the States.

They will say, "Yes, I'm Garifuna," but what is being a Garifuna?

You have to know at least the language, the culture, the dances.

They were eager to learn, and also that's what was pushing me back to do more and more and more and more, so--and here we are...

Here we are.

12 years later.

Gamboa: [Singing in Garifuna] [Singing in Garifuna] ♪ Martinez: All right.

♪ 5, 6, 7, go ♪ To the right.

[Vocalizing] Cross and... cross and... cross and... cross and... Mallozzi, voice-over: You may recognize some familiar faces.

Arnol Guity Martinez of GarifunaRobics and Arnold Avila of Empanadas and Comida Avila Catering are both members of Felix's group.

Everyone we've met is like, "Oh, I dance with Felix.

I dance with Felix."

You seem to be this glue that keeps people together, but also, you're really-- you touch so many wonderful people.

First of all, what I want people to know about me, I am one of the most proud Garifuna men for my culture.

And that means a lot.

That means a lot because the Garifuna people are very proud, rightfully so.

Yes, but I think I am the proudest one... Ha ha ha!

[Singing in Garifuna] Gamboa, voice-over: and this is why I do what I do-- the pride of Garifuna.

I hope I stay here in this planet for a long time so I can see, you know, more of what I've done.

I think I've created a legacy here.

♪ Mallozzi, voice-over: The perseverance of the Garifuna people from the very beginning to not only survive, but thrive, including here in the Bronx, is that legacy.

The knowledge of one's culture through history, music, dance, language, and cuisine is something that every proud Garifuna American here that I met is passing down to the next generation of Garifuna heroes.

It is all of our responsibility to learn about these incredibly powerful people, and I'll see you on my next "Bare Feet" adventure, wherever it may take me.

♪ Mallozzi: You can stay connected with us at travelbarefeet.com, where you'll find extra bonus videos, join our "Bare Feet" series conversations through social media, and stay updated with our newsletter.

♪ Sulma represents the now generation who is taking us into the future as a Garifuna community which represent the evolution of our people from being forcibly deported to now a thriving community represented by Sulma Arzu-Brown.

Oh, my gosh, that's a lot.

He's my mentor-- ha ha ha!-- and I love this man.

♪ Mallozzi: "Bare Feet" is supported in part by... Announcer: Bloomberg Connects gives you a way to experience the arts from your mobile phone.

You can explore hundreds of cultural organizations from around the world anytime, anywhere.

Learn more at bloombergconnects.org or wherever you find your apps.

Announcer: Road Scholar, offering educational travel adventures for adults since 1975.

Announcer: Additional funding was provided by Koo and Patricia Yuen through the Yuen Foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities.

Mallozzi: These generous supporters.... Announcer: And by the Ann H. Symington Foundation.

[Baby babbles] ♪ ♪