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Elaine Smith

@esholts

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Artistic Director | Cultural Educator | Director Bloco Oyá @phonk215
Percussion Teacher 🥁@jubileeschool4211
Musician @kulumele 🎶🪘

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To the ones who said, “But Why?”

The scene 🎬🎥
August 2023. I had just spent a week at a Brazilian immersion camp on the West Coast with my samba siblings from Boston and Austin. On the drive back to San Francisco, before flying home to Philly, I couldn’t stop thinking about my experience at camp and what it means to study these traditions as someone with skin in the game.

🗣️ In the US, money gives you access to these traditions.

🗣️ When do we start openly talking about the African roots of Brazilian music? We can’t assume everyone does their own research.

🗣️ Where are the Black people?

In that moment, I knew: I’m going to do my own thing.
I’m grateful to the tradition bearers who believed in my vision and my commitment to uplifting Black Philadelphians, giving us the opportunities to learn, play and participate together in a piece of our African & Brazilian musical history.

QUILOMBO DE PHILADELPHIA April 2027 taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @esholts

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18 days ago

QUILOMBO DE PHILADELPHIA: A Cultural Exchange

April 2027 | New Orleans • Washington, DC • New York • New Jersey • Philadelphia • Lafayette

Led by Elaine Smith @esholts, Artistic Director & Cultural Educator of PHonk!Philly, this cultural exchange traces quilombos across five cities—researching how Black communities across the diaspora build spaces of belonging today.

New Orleans — Congo Square, Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs, and Second Line traditions are living spaces of Black cultural memory, community, and collective celebration. Congo Square emerged in New Orleans, where enslaved Africans and free people of color gathered on Sundays to dance, sing, play drums, trade, and maintain cultural traditions despite the restrictions of slavery.
Black mutual-aid societies provided financial assistance and community care to Black residents. These organizations later became known as Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs. Together, Congo Square, Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs, and Second Lines reflect the continuity of African diasporic culture, collective survival, and Black community life in New Orleans.

Washington, D.C — The cultural dialogue between Washington, D.C. Go-Go music and Brazilian Funk/ Baile funk, alongside the role of U.S.-based samba schools like the VaVa United School of Samba as contemporary quilombos.

New York & New Jersey — serving as a hub for cultural exchange by connecting with the region’s large Afro-Latin communities and exploring how Haitian, Cuban, and Dominican communities have made these cities home while preserving, sharing, the traditions of their countries of origin.

Lafayette—zydeco’s precursor, la-la music, emerged alongside Black Creole communities and the house-party gatherings that sustained it. La-la brought together African, Indigenous, European, blues, and Creole traditions. Like quilombos, these house gatherings were community-centered spaces for preservation, celebration, and the transmission of Black Creole culture across generations.

From Brazil to Louisiana to Philadelphia, we’re exploring how African diasporic communities create spaces to preserve culture, build belonging, care for one another, and carry knowledge forward. taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @esholts

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a month ago

Let me introduce you to Bloco Afro Oyá — created to give our Jubilee graduates the opportunity to stay in community with us and always know they have a place to belong🥁✨

We are so incredibly proud of our K–6th grade Jubilee Sambistas for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to learning, growing, and building together through rhythm, culture, and community. Watching our Jubilee sambistas shine this year has been such a joy, and we can’t wait to continue the journey in 2026-2027

Also, Axé to our Jubilee moms & dads, moms-moms, pop-pops, uncles, aunties and community for supporting this beautiful work all year long! 👏🏾✨🎉

#daughtersandsonsofoya #blocosafros #intergenerationallearning #philadelphia #samba taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @esholts

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5 months ago

3rd year and counting! 🥁 💃🏾✨
Our Samba Foundation dancers return to the @philly_dance_fitness World Rhythm Showcase on Saturday, Nov 7 at @playsandplayers Theater. See you there!

#sambastroll #blocooya taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @esholts

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6 days ago

I really need to learn how to play this squeezebox of mine before Quilombo de Philadelphia April 2027 🪗🪗🪗

Heading to Lafayette for @festsacadiens to bask in the warm sun, consume as much boudin as humanly possible, and meet some zydeco musicians.

Quilombo de Philadelphia April 2027 where Zydeco + Forro = ✨ by @esholts

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12 days ago

Community Bloco Day September 19, 2026 celebrating the Kensington community 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤☀️🥁🪘@phonk215 taken in Philly! by @esholts

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13 days ago

PHONK PHILADELPHIA AFRICAN BRAZILIAN MUSIC. I do believe kindergarten and 1st grade are picking up what I’m putting down. 🥁🪘🖤♥️💚

C is a literal sponge and one heck of a clave player. This is his 2nd year playing in our bell & shekere PHamily.

His handwriting is better than mine ✍🏽📝 taken in Jubilee School by @esholts

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19 days ago

TOMORROW! Bring ya Mom-Moms & Pop-Pops to Center in the Park (@centerinthepark) Tuesday mornings for Samba Foundations! Samba Foundation classes will be taught by PHonk!Philly Artistic Director @esholts

We’re excited to bring our cultural arts programming to the Germantown community starting September 22nd- October 27. Suggested $1 donation goes to the folks at center in the park.

When PHonk!Philly moved from a pop-up festival at FDR Park to ongoing programming in 2023, we had one goal: sharing our love of Afro-diasporic carnival and street procession traditions with all of Philadelphia. Now it’s official — we can’t wait to uplift the Germantown community! 🥁💃🏽

Where to find us:

South Philly at Hawthorne Cultural Center

West Philly at Jubilee School

Northwest/Germantown at Center in the Park
5818 Germantown Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19144

“Center in the Park is all about Positive Aging: maintaining physical health, mental sharpness, and social connections as you grow older. Our resources help you stay active, engaged, and empowered to live a fulfilling, independent life at every stage of aging.
Our Center programs provide opportunities for adults age 55+ to get active, engage in the arts, develop new skills, connect with others, and have fun!” taken in Center in the Park by @esholts

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23 days ago

I looooove our community and they still put up with me after 6 years🖤🚲🥁 taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @esholts

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24 days ago

🗣️ “Que Bloco É Esse!”
My jubilee school sambistas @jubileeschool4211 completed their 1st samba stroll 🥁🥁🖤🖤🖤

#ontothenextone #blocoafro #communityblocoday taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @esholts

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24 days ago

Ready for tomorrow ☀️🥁🪘

🗣️Our people are fancy AF ✨🤍💚🤍💚

#sambastroll #philadelphia #blocoafro #phonkphilly taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @esholts

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a month ago

What a great community we have and Happy,Happy @zubayrade 🎂💜🎉👏🏾

See ya in the streets Saturday September 19. Step-off at 1pm. Come stroll with us! taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by @esholts

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a month ago