What We Do

Five Ways Africa Lives Here

Each program is a doorway. Some enter through music. Some through dance. Some through story. All arrive at the same destination — genuine, living connection to African cultural heritage.

01
Program One

Live Performance Series

Curated concerts and performances featuring African musicians, dancers, and theater companies from across the continent and diaspora. Presented in accessible venues throughout Los Angeles — from intimate cultural spaces to major performing arts centers.

Every performance is an event. Not background entertainment — a focused, intentional encounter with African performing arts at its finest, presented with the production quality the art deserves.

  • Minimum six performances per year in Year 1, scaling to twelve or more
  • Curated from across all 54 African nations and the global diaspora
  • Reduced and complimentary ticket program for low-income community members
  • Pre-performance cultural education for audiences
  • Artist meet-and-greet events for NACAPA donors and community
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African live performance — NACAPA Los Angeles
02
Program Two

Artist Residency Program

Multi-week residency programs bringing African performing artists to Los Angeles for intensive creative work, community engagement, and knowledge exchange with local artists, students, and community members.

Each residency is not just about the final performance — it is about the weeks of contact between an African artist and a Los Angeles community. The workshops. The school visits. The informal encounters that leave lasting impressions.

  • Minimum two residencies per year in Year 2, scaling to four or more
  • Open application process reviewed by curatorial committee
  • Public performances included in every residency
  • School and community center engagement required
  • Documentation and archiving of each residency
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NACAPA artist residency — African performing artists in Los Angeles
03
Program Three

Cultural Education Workshops

Hands-on workshops in African music, dance, language, food, and fashion for youth and adults. We do not teach about African culture — we invite participants to live inside it.

Designed for schools, community centers, after-school programs, and weekend intensives. Facilitated by credentialed African cultural artists and educators with both artistic and pedagogical qualifications.

  • School-based programs in partnership with LAUSD and community schools
  • Sliding scale fees with full scholarship availability
  • Youth ages 8–18 as primary audience; adults as secondary
  • Covers music, dance, language, food traditions, and fashion
  • LAUSD-aligned curriculum connecting African arts to academic standards
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African cultural education workshop — youth drumming Los Angeles
04
Program Four

Cultural Immersion Experiences

Full-sensory events combining live performance, food, fashion, interactive demonstrations, and cultural programming. Not an exhibition. Not a lecture. An experience — Africa, fully present in the room.

Designed for families and community groups, these events create low-barrier entry points to African cultural engagement — accessible to people who may not typically attend traditional performing arts venues.

  • Minimum four events per year in Year 1
  • Cultural festivals, themed dinner-and-performance events
  • Fashion and arts showcases featuring diaspora designers
  • Heritage celebrations tied to African national holidays and traditions
  • Food vendor participation featuring African culinary traditions
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Cross-cultural exchange — African and world arts in dialogue
05
Program Five

Cross-Cultural Exchange Programs

Africa does not exist in isolation — it has always been in conversation with the world. NACAPA’s Cross-Cultural Exchange programs create intentional artistic dialogue between African performing traditions and the other living cultural communities that share North America: Latin American, Indigenous, Asian, European, and Caribbean artistic traditions.

These are not fusion programs. They are encounters — structured, respectful, and generative — between distinct artistic traditions that have much to teach each other. The result is new work, new relationships, and a deeper understanding of what each tradition actually is.

  • Co-productions pairing African and non-African performing artists
  • Joint residencies with cultural organizations across Los Angeles
  • Public performances and documented outcomes from every exchange
  • Academic partnerships for research and documentation
  • Annual Cross-Cultural Symposium bringing artists and scholars together
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Cross-cultural exchange — African and world arts in dialogue
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NACAPA · Los Angeles, California · Founded 2026 · 501(c)(3) · EIN: 41-5043697