master
dance
classes
April 1 - 10, 2023
These classes are part of the 17th Annual Festival of Dance & Music. Join us at various Bay Area Locations!
$25/advance $30/door
Dates/times subject to change
Emilio Hernandez Gonzalez is a master dancer, choreographer and teacher born in Cuba. He was a dancer with Ibeyis de Merceditas Valdés, Bailarín de la Compañia Pinos Nuevos, a soloist with Ballet Folklorico Orisha Oko and dancer and choreographer with the famous Havana Folkloric dance company,Raices Profundas. He received the Ramiro Guerra 2016 prize for the best interpretacion of Folkoric dance and the prize of the Nacional de Coreografía de la Union Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) 2019. He has also been a judge and teacher in International festivals in Ecuador, Chile, México, France and the United States. He recently immigtated to Miami from Havana Cuba and is teaching Afro-Cuban Folklore.
Marco Palomino A performer, choreographer, director, and movement educator, Marco dedicated 18 years of his life to versatile dance, focused in modern dance, training at International Dance School of Havana. Marco received a BFA from The University of Arts of Cuba in 2021. He has created his own dance academy, LaCueva, based in Havana, Cuba, centered in development the natural and authentic expression. He became a political refugee and relocated to Los Angeles, where he is focused on creating, teaching, producing multimedia projects, and choreographing. Marco is enthusiastic about exploring the profound connections between the mind, body and soul, especially within the realms of spirituality, emotions, feelings and authentic expression.
Ramón Ramos Alayo was a principal dancer with several prominent Cuban dance companies, including Danza del Caribe and Narcisco Medina Contemporary Dance Company, touring throughout Europe, Belize, and Canada. Since relocating to the U.S. in 1997 he has performed with Robert Henry Johnson, Kim Epifano, Sara Shelton Mann, Zaccho Dance Theatre and Robert Moses’ Kin. He founded Alayo Dance Company in 2002 and CubaCaribe in 2003. His work is an innovative fusion of Afro-Cuban modern, folkloric and popular Cuban Dance, having choreographed and produced twelve full length dance performances. He has been featured in National Geographic Magazine, received the prestigious Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Emerging Choreographer’s Award, was recognized as “Best Dance Dynamo” by the SF Bay Guardian, was the recipient of a SF Bay Guardian Goldie Award, and has been hailed by dance critic Rita Felciano as “the best Afro-Cuban dancer whose choreography stands well beyond traditional modes.” His piece Goodbye was named one of the best premier’s in 2016 in Dance Europe Magazine.