MasFX Dance
CARIBBEAN, BRAZILIAN, AFRICAN-AMERICAN
CARNIVAL DANCE EXPERIENCE
Our Story
MasFX Dance is a Bay Area–based African Diasporic dance collective curating dance classes, Carnival programs, and social-cultural events rooted in joy, wellness, and liberation. Through movement, music, and community celebration, we honor the traditions of Carnival across the Caribbean, North America, and South America while creating accessible spaces for people to reconnect with their bodies and cultural memory.
Founded in 2020 by Ezra Myles, MasFX emerged from a desire to expand Caribbean representation within the Bay Area Carnival community and to welcome dancers of all backgrounds—especially those without formal training—into the joy and power of movement. Our work centers inclusivity, cultural integrity, and the belief that dance is both a personal and collective act of freedom.
MasFX blends social and cultural dances from three of the largest Carnival traditions in the Western Hemisphere—Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, and New Orleans—with Black American dance styles such as hip-hop and house. Together, these forms trace how descendants of the Middle Passage encoded resilience, resistance, and joy into rhythm and movement.
What “MasFX” Means
“Mas”, short for masquerade, reflects the Trinidadian Carnival practice of transformation through costume and embodied performance—an act of remembrance, subversion, and collective emancipation.
“FX” (Effects) draws from the language of entertainment and production, signaling our multidisciplinary approach to dance, spectacle, as an immersive cultural experience.
At MasFX, Carnival isn’t just something you watch—it’s something you step into.
Our STYLE
The MasFX Dance Approach is three-fold:
CLASS INSTRUCTION: Our open classes share the music, dances, cultural empowerment and sociopolitical significance of Brazilian, Caribbean, and African American Carnival traditions to foster community wellness through movement and highlight the parallel journeys and interconnected histories of these African Diasporic communities.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Our performance team showcases these interwoven art forms through costumed performances at community festivals, school assemblies, and private events that expand the Bay Area's understanding and appreciation of the Carnival experience.
CULTURAL IMMERSION: We support local events, uplift regional culture bearers and artists, and host small cohorts to participate in Carnival experiences that build a strong social network and support system for community members connected to and invested in preserving Carnival culture in California.
Performance Videos
