LADAMA

Ladama smile effortlessly almost the entire time they are performing. It’s hard not to join them, clapping and grinning as you’re carried away by the bubbling sound of the Venezuelan guitar of the plains (bandola llanera) or the Brazilian hand drum (pandeiro). This band of four women musicians and activists originating from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and the US have garnered ample praise for bucking “conventions of genre with confidence and vigor” (NPR), and for their women- and youth-empowerment workshops held in English, Spanish and Portuguese.