Semba & Kizomba Masquerade Party

Welcome to Houston's first ever kizomba/semba legend dinner and masquerade social. We are honored to annouce three of the biggest names from Angola.  Laury Esmeralda, Mario Jordao, and Dino Da Cruz. We are also excited to welcome one of the biggest DJ's from Angola; DJ Nando. This evening will be full of surprises and a jam packed agenda spreading throughout the weekend. Are you ready to come dance with a few of the most experienced award winning artist Angola and the rest of the world has to offer? I know I am!!!

Our venuus are all located in Spring Texas. Invite your friends, come to our dinner and socialize, learn a few new tricks, and dance for 36 plus hours. There is a private parking lot and overflow parking available through-out the neighborhood. **Reminder- please do not leave valuables inside your car.  Security will be onsite.

Friday evening starts out with a few classes and/or privates following a family style dinner (think European/African dining options).  This VIP dinner can be purchased seperately or is included in the full pass.  The full pass includes 2  Classes (beg), 4 more hours of (inter/adv) night-social, and access to the after party/private social dance throughout the weekend (information given upon RSVP).

Indoor soccer will be played at the uScore field in Spring. . 

(1) Advanced classes are being offered; this will be INVITE only however there will be a chance to win your way into the advance class at Friday noghts social. The advanced tickets are being offered on a seperate ticket (Please do not purchase this ticket unless INVITED, minimum of 4 people to have class, students and teachers must pay). 

All privates are seperate and can be purchased online under the respective ticket name for either Friday or Saturday. (Contact me for scheduling)

The masquerade social is just that; a dance party with masks! We ask you to keep your mask on until asked. . (We have a surprise). Dress to impress; either black, white, silver, or all three. If you have a mask bring it and if not we will have some inexpensive ones for sale at the entry. 

The dance party starts at 10:00PM and is going into the morning until 6:00AM!!!! Thats correct and not a mistake, 6:00AM!!!!!  Kizomba, Semba, Kuduro, Afro, and more! 

The social is BYOB or BYOA... bring your favorite drink but please buy your mixers and water at the bar and appetizers will be served periodically throughout the night. 

If you are coming from out of town please contact me directly, housing accomodations are available with local kizomba/semba host families. Discounted hotels are available near by and flight discounts are available if coming from outside of driving distance.

Now for the introduction to the artists that will be instructing, dancing, and educating us on this great dance and culture:

****World Kizomba Award Winner 2018*****Goes to Laury Esmeralda and Mario Jordao, currently residing in Paris, France.  They are also the organizers of the "Angolan Tour" and the event directors of Space Applause and the Emerald Company. They are preparing the 2nd edition of diving at the root of Kizomba in July 2019. We are happy to welcome them to Houston and grateful for their support in helping us come together to learn Semba, here in Houston.  

Mario jordão and Laury Esmeralda have won various kizomba/semba competitions. Mario was the 2015 National Champion of Kizomba & Semba dances in Angola. Laury Esmeralda won 3rd place at the Africadançar 2013 competition and was winner of the 2013 Semba Show Competition in France. They started working together at the end of 2015, the public started to love them with their videos on social media and they started to get invitations to teach all over the world. In 2018, they decides to represent Kizomba and Semba, in the France National Competition recognized by France Dance Federation, and they became France Kizomba Champions in May 2018. More recently, the couple received the prize of "BEST SEMBA DANCERS", in the new event named "World Kizomba Award" based in Lyon, France.

Laury is the founder of the Esmeralda Company Kizomba School in Paris, France. Working alongside Mario, the two have traveled across the world sharing their passion for kizomba, Semba and dancing in general with all the dancers who wants to learn the dances from their Angolan origin. Laury and Mario have been organizing trips to Angola since 2016, in an effort to educate visitors and to help them understand why Kizomba is part of a culture and not just a dance and to discover the country and understand the culture.

We are happy to welcome them to Houston and grateful for their support in helping us come together to learn Semba, here in Houston.

 ****Dino Da Cruz, started dancing when he was a young child. He is one of the most versatile dancers and one of the most sought after international instructors in Europe and around the world.  Dino currently lives in Amsterdam and loves traveling to share his knowledge, history, and culture of his country and the dances he teaches. We are extremely excited to have him here in Houston for the first time. 

****Dj Nando (Boston) and Dj Adrenalina(Houston); both Angolan and both have been playing for the biggest events and for the biggest organizers in the industry and across the world. We are excited to have them play for our event!  

**Our hosts/organizers, Jen, Ray, and Rosario are kizomba/semba enthusiasts with a passion for learning, growing, and sharing this lovely dance with the community.  

*Our MC will be Pedro Quissanga from Boston, soooo excited!

*We will have Celma Ribas performing on Saturday night @Cielos Latin Night bar. 

*The Kiztonian Crew is a non profit organization that represents all of the kizomba dancers here in Houston that help donate their time and effort to making these events possible.