June 8, 2025 • 12pm – 4pm | Global Rhythms: Music, Dance & Storytelling from Around the World

The Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture presents a FREE showcase of music, dance, and storytelling from around the world. This event features performances by artists sharing traditions from a variety of cultures, including The Elena Trio, Nyame Nti Cultural Healing Arts Therapy (N-CHAT), Coyaba Dance Theater, Story Tapestries, Chao Tian, DC Casineros, and Lạc Long Quân Lion Dance Team!

 Food options include Praline Cafe and Saté food truck, as well as ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. 

RSVP (Preferred, not required)

View or Download the Event Schedule & Map 

We are thrilled to present these performers:

Lạc Long Quân Lion Dance Team | 12:00pm - 12:30pm | Spanish Ballroom

To kick off the Global Rhythms festival, Lạc Long Quân Lion Dance Team presents a Lion Dance parade at 11:45am leading into a performance in the Spanish Ballroom. 

Nyame Nti Cultural Healing Arts Therapy (N-CHAT) | 12:00pm - 1:00pm | Bumper Car Pavilion

Nyame Nti Cultural Healing Arts Therapy (N-CHAT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that integrates mental health and the arts. N-CHAT delivers high-energy, uplifting, and engaging African drumming performances that impart wisdom and knowledge about Africa’s rich history and culture. N-CHAT performances include Drumetry, a healing art form that integrates drumming and poetry. N-CHAT also engages the audience in movement by teaching a fun African dance choreography and performing the dance with the audience using live drumming.   

Story Tapestries | 1:00pm - 1:30pm | Cuddle Up Pavilion

Long-time Glen Echo Park program partner Story Tapestries will share storytelling performances in the Cuddle Up Pavilion. Story Tapestries presents educational and unique performances, weaving together the power of dance, storytelling, theatre, music, and visual arts.

Coyaba Dance Theater | 1:00pm - 1:45pm | Spanish Ballroom

Coyaba Dance Theater, celebrating over 25 years of outstanding performances in Traditional West African dance and drumming. Coyaba Dance Theater is returning to the Spanish Ballroom Stage after a dynamic performance at Carousel Day in 2024.

Chao Tian | 1:30pm - 2:15pm | Bumper Car Pavilion

The Partnership is pleased to feature a Chinese Hammer Dulcimer performance by Chao Tian, exploring the distinct sounds and techniques of the instrument in order to create a multidimensional sensation of improvisation. Chao Tian’s creative interests manifest in intercultural improvisation, applications of Chinese musical aesthetics and vocabulary, cross-disciplinary exploration of music, dance, and visual art, and improvisation in folk music.

DC Casineros | 2:00pm - 2:45pm | Spanish Ballroom

DC Casineros Dance Company will present a Cuban Salsa performance. The Company’s co-directors, Amanda Gill and Adrian Valdivia, have performed and taught at local venues and have experience with dance-as-therapy and presenting research on the development of Cuban music and dance in the 20th century.

 

Story Tapestries | 2:15 - 2:45pm | Cuddle Up Pavilion

Long-time Glen Echo Park program partner Story Tapestries will share storytelling performances in the Cuddle Up Pavilion. Story Tapestries presents educational and unique performances, weaving together the power of dance, storytelling, theatre, music, and visual arts.

 

The Elena Trio | 3:00pm - 4:00pm | Bumper Car Pavilion

The Elena Trio is a Wammy-nominated bilingual Latin-folk project out of Washington, DC. Led by Latin Grammy-nominated,Nicaraguan-American instrumentalist Elena La Fulana, the band spans a broad range of sounds from twangy, heartbreak-themed folk Americana, to soothing, introspective, Latin cumbia. Along with her bandmates Andrew Northcutt on drums and Kevin de Souza on bass, the project has twice been nominated for a Wammie-award, and their most recent album, Volcán, was hailed as "a bilingual folk album for the resistance" by the Washington City Paper. Together they have played in renowned venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Lincoln Theatre, The Library of Congress, and The Smithsonian American Art Museum. This summer, the trio will perform as part of the Elena La Fulana band at the Todo Sonido Festival at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.
 

Directions and Parking >> | Park Map >>  

FREE parking in our main parking lot at 5801 Oxford Road. Search "Glen Echo Park Parking" in Google Maps.

Suggested Donation: $10

Every contribution helps us present free festivals and concerts, preserve and maintain the Park's historic buildings, and more.