Afro-Cuban singer of jazz and neo-soul meets celebrated Cuban contemporary dance troupe
featuring 6pm pre-show panel on Cuban culture in America. RSVP for the panel is required, [email protected].
Filled with the zesty cadences of the authentic Cuban experience, Malpaso Dance Company, led by the inspired, award-winning artistic director Osnel Delgado (graduate and professor of the dance-domain-revered National Dance School), brings modern Havana-based takes on rumba & salsa-influenced movement to the awaiting world. Proudly founded in 2012 by Delgado, Daileidys Carrazana and Fernando Sáez, Malpaso provides a visually stimulating, emotion-stirring outlet for both international and Cuban choreographers. The troupe tours with eleven of the country’s most capable and dedicated performers. Acclaimed repertory standouts include 24 Hours and a Dog, a bright and jazzy modern medley bursting with alacrity (the select piece being performed this summer), and the unforgettable Farewell, choreographed and presented by Delgado, both set to compositions by Grammy Award-winning Cuban-American composer Arturo O’Farrill (with 24 Hours featuring an original overture crafted for the piece). Other, externally choreographed works include Why You Follow by Ronald K. Brown and Under Fire by Trey McInytre, along with an assorted cornucopia of fresh Cuban cuts.
Featured photo courtesy of Nir Arieli.
Daymé Arocena is a musically magnanimous ambassador of Afro-Cuban culture, ebulliently bestowing her bravura onto the rest of the globe. At only 23 years old, Arocena has already made an indelible mark on the Cuban music landscape with her dynamic blend of jazz and Cuban neo-soul. Applauded by The New York Times for her ability to unite “cosmopolitan musicianship with deep roots,” she splices complex phrasing with expressly Cuban elements, such as Santerian chanting. Her first album as a soloist, 2015’s Nueva Era, was named one of the year’s best by NPR, and her latest release of reimagined covers, One Takes, hits transcendental levels of sonorous heights, uniquely capturing the mood and zeitgeist of each original song (including the Horace Silver classic “Gods of Yoruba”).