ABOUT THE ARTISTS

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Aguas de Bahia

Aguas de Bahia presents traditional and contemporary Afro Brazilian dance through performances, classes, cultural trips and SF Carnaaval since 1997. Artistic Director, Tania Santiago, a native of Salvador, Bahia, founded Aguas Dance Company in 1999 and has been teaching Afro Brazilian dance to all ages throughout the Bay Area since 1997. She leads annual dance intensives to Salvador each winter and for the past 10 years has had an award-winning contingent at the SF Carnaval Parade each spring. She is available for performances, collaborations, choreography consulting, workshops and Brazil trip consultation/leading. You can find her teaching at ODC/ Rhythm and Motion studios Tuesday's and Thursday at 8:15 pm and Saturday's at 10:00.

Alayo Dance Company

Alayo Dance Company was founded in 2001 by Ramón Ramos Alayo. Ramos Alayo articulates his creative vision through a synthesis of Afro-Cuban modern, folkloric and popular Cuban dance. Alayo is the resident company of CubaCaribe. Alayo has grown an audience far more diverse than most Bay Area modern dance circuits, attracting devotees of both contemporary and folkloric arts. It is known for tackling difficult issues such as slavery, racism and cancer, and since its inception has produced nine evening-length productions that have received both critical and popular acclaim. They have performed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area at venues such as Theater Artaud, ODC Theater, Dance Mission Theater, Herbst Theater, Laney Theater, Sonoma Country Wine Theater, and La Peña Cultural Center, and have presented work in the Black Choreographer's Festival, The CubaCaribe Festival, and Intersection's Culture and Flow. In 2010 Alayo was one of the first American companies to ever perform at the Annual Festival del Caribe at Teatro Martí. Alayo also performed at Teatro Mella in Havana, Cuba in July 2011. Alayo was featured in the article "Dance Across America" in National Geographic Magazine in 2006, and received the prestigious Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation's "Emerging Choreographer's Award" (2005) to develop his piece, Blood + Sugar. Ramos was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award nominee for the ensemble performance of Los Guedes, performed at CubaCaribe Festival (2006). Most recently, he was recognized as "Best Dance Dynamo" in the SF Bay Guardian's "Best of the Bay" (2009), and was the recipient of a SF Bay Guardian 2010 Goldie Award, hailed by dance critic Rita Felciano as "the best Afro-Cuban dancer whose choreography stands well beyond traditional modes."

Alafia Dance Ensemble

Valerie Watson founded Alafia Dance Ensemble (ADE) in 1995 because of a desire to showcase the intricate beauty of African Haitian Dance and Music. As a professor of Dance at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) since 1980 and a 3rd generation Dunham dancer and teacher, Ms. Watson began the company with students from African Haitian classes she taught at CCSF (a process that continues). Over the past 15 years Alafia Dance Ensemble has had the honor to perform in many venues which include: 30th San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Haitian Flay Day Celebration at Ashkenaz, La Pena Cultural Center, Great American Music Hall, Presidio’s Golden Gate Club, Konbit 2nd Annual Haitian Dance, Music and Arts Festival, Cuba Caribe, Fort Mason’s Cowell Theater, and CCSF Dance Concerts. Artistic Director: Valerie Watson. Assistant Artistic Director: Mariella Morale

Embodiment Project

Embodiment Project (EP) is a street dance theater company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our mission is to promote an appreciation and understanding of various street dance forms by presenting original, multi-media works to diverse audiences while challenging traditional approaches to concert dance. We use movement, live song, theater, and spoken word to humanize stories often silenced by mainstream culture. We create emotionally transparent and autobiographical narratives that serve as unifying political acts and vehicles for social change. Embodiment Project was founded in 2008 out of Artistic Director Nicole Klaymoon’s desire to create a bridge between contemporary concert dance and Afro-diasporic social dance forms. Klaymoon feels called to contribute to a legacy of female dance-makers who illuminate what dominant culture masks or buries. She identifies as an eco-feminist choreo-poet, someone who dynamically combines spoken word and dance to invoke an emotional response from audiences regarding the interconnectedness between the oppression of women and nature. In addition to live performances, Embodiment Project’s vision is share their passion and knowledge of street dance, culture, and history, as well as their innovative ‘choreo-poetic’ method with diverse communities.

Los Lupeños de San Jose

Founded in 1969 by visionaries Ramón Morones and Susan Cashion, Los Lupeños de San José is recognized as one of the earliest Mexican folk dance companies in California. Los Lupeños is known for its artistry, history, traditions, innovation, and endurance. Los Lupeños artists are passionate about learning and executing their art form, representing their culture, and being a positive force within the California dance community. As a program of the non-profit Cashion Cultural Legacy since 2014, Los Lupeños is re- establishing itself at the forefront of the folklórico dance genre. Award-winning choreographer, investigator, and workshop master instructor Samuel Cortez, originally from Guanajuanto, México, took the reins of Artistic Director in January, 2015. Since then, Samuel has upheld Los Lupeños’ traditional dance genre by adding new suites with nuanced choreographies.