Raíces Cultural Arts Collective
Artist Profiles

Jana M. Burton (Contramestra Amazonas), World Karate Union and United Martial Artists Fellowship Hall of Famer, serves as the Curriculum Developer for the Afro Brazilian Arts & Education Academy as well as the Artistic Director for Grupo Liberdade de Capoeira. It is the first capoeira group formed in New Jersey by her teacher, Mestre Cigano. Amazonas, Lady Sensei’s Women’s Martial Arts Network and Society of Black Belts of America member, has been a featured artist teaching Capoeira philosophy, movement and song across the US as well as 9 different countries internationally in the Caribbean, South America and Africa. Concurrently, she teaches mathematics in the Newark Public Schools system, and is a dedicated freelance teaching artist and performer in several prominent West African dance and drum companies.