Afro-Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble
-
At 13, she was asked to join the renowned national folkloric ballet company, Cutumba,
and toured internationally with the company for 18 years. In 1994, she was evaluated
and granted the designation of primera bailarina and primera profesora by the
National Dance Commission in Cuba, and has taught outside of Cuba - in Italy, Spain,
France, Canada, and the United States.
In addition, while she was still dancing with Cutumba, she founded her own dance
company, Adiro Omode, for Children ages 4 to 15 in Santiago de Cuba. Adiro Omode
has trained some of the internationally acclaimed professional dancers currently
working with Cutumba and Folklorico National de Oriente. In 1998, La Mora was the
founder of another dance company, the original Oyu Oro, with professional and
amateur dancers which was also based in Santiago de Cuba.
Since her first visit to the States in 1996, she has taught at several universities such as
Brown University, Cornell University, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Williams
College, University of New Mexico, Wayne State University in Detroit, University of
Michigan. She was invited by the legendary Katherine Dunham to participate in her
East Saint Louis seminars and the icon’s invitation to Wayne State University led to the
inaugural performance at the African-American Museum in Detroit.
For the past four years, she has been teaching weekly Afro Cuban dance classes at
The Alvin Ailey Extension program. She has also attended in several dance programs
and workshops outside New York, as a guest instructor and choreographer, including
the annual participation to the summer intensive dance program at Tulane University
in New Orleans and Humboldt University in California.
She is the founder and artistic director of Oyu Oro, an Afro-Cuban Experimental Dance
Ensemble in New York City. Danys "La Mora" Pérez is an international artist who offers
a profound contribution not only to the dance world, but to the world of cultural study as
a whole.
CHOREOGRAPHY:
Oyu Oro Afro-Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble:
Fiesta Cubana, the Chase Latino Cultural Festival Opening Night at Queens Theater
in the Park on July 20th
Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out stage on July 13th
New Orleans Dance Festival on July 2nd
Identidad, Flint Hills International Children's Festival at the Ordway Theater, Minnesota
June 2011
Identidad, Seventh Annual CubaCaribe Dance and Music Festival, San Francisco May
2011
El Poder de Mi Folklore, WOFABE African Dance & Drum Festival, New Jersey
Symphony Hall, Oct 2010
Fusion Afro Caribe, "World City" Series at Music Center of LA, Los Angeles Oct 2010
Fusion Caribe, Houston International Festival, Houston TX April 2010
LUCHA Gala, NYU, NY April 2010
Elogio, APAP Showcase, The Ailey Studios, New York, NY, Jan 2010
Tributo, Heritage Sunday at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors, NY Aug 2009
Ceremonial de la Danza, Chase Latino Cultural Festival, Queens Theatre, NY July
2009
Danzas Afro-Cubanas, Brown University, MA 2009
Maferefun, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York, NY November 2008
Raices y Estampas Cubanas, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, NY October 2008
Cubaila, The Ailey Studio, NY, NY August 2008
Cubaila, The Ailey Studio, NY, NY June 2008
Merengue Haitiano, BRIC Studio, Brooklyn, NY May 2008
Cubaila, the Fourth Annual CubaCaribe Dance and Music Festival, San Francisco 2008
Vodu, The Academy of Urban Planning, Brooklyn, NY 2008
Mayombes & Kimbisas,10th Annual Circle of Art Awards, Nubian Women’s Art Circle,
Inc., NY 2007
Mayomberos, BRIC (Brooklyn Information & Culture) studio, Brooklyn, NY 2007
Palenque, La Mama Experimental Dance Theatre, NY, NY 2007
Pinceladas Franco-Haitianas-Cubanas, La Mama Moves Dance Festival, La Mama
Experimental Dance Theatre, NY, NY 2006
Dahomeyan Dance, Martin Luther King High School, NY, NY 2006
Mosaicos Afro-Cubanos, SOBs (Sounds of Brazil), NY, NY 2006
La Fami Samble’, Djoniba Dance & Drum Center Annual Dance Festival, NY, NY 2005,
2006
Mayor Mache' y Palo Monte, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada
1999
Fiesta en el Batey, Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI 1996, 1997
National Folkloric Ballet Cutumba:
Sex Erotica, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1995
Macumene, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1995
Adiro Omode:
Raiz y Tradicion, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1994
Ciclo de Rumba, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1994
Cutaras, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1995
Pincelada Haitiana, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1995
ON-GOING WEEKLY CLASSES:
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (The Ailey Extension), NY, NY 2006 – Current
WORKSHOPS/RESIDENCY:
Exploration in Afro-Cuban Dance and Drum at Humboldt University, July 2011
Salsa Rueda Festival, San Francisco, July 2011
Flint Hills International Children's Festival, at Ordway Theater, MN June 2011
Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dance Africa Program, NY May 2011
Seventh Annual CubaCaribe Dance and Music Festival, San Francisco May 2011
African Diaspora Percussion Dance Ensemble, TX April 2011
South Dallas Cultural Center, Exhibit Dance Collective, TX April 2011
3rd Annual Salsa Rueda Festival, San Francisco Bay Area, CA Feb 2011
Universal Dance Studio, LA 2010
Brown University, MA 2009
New Orleans Dance Festival, Elleonora P. McWilliams Hall, Tulane University, LA
2008-2011
Williams College, MA Spring 2008
Reebok Sports Club, NY, NY 2007
Bread and Rose Integrating Art High School, NY, NY 2007
Dance Theater Workshop, NY, NY 2006
Djoniba Dance & Drum Center, NY, NY 2004 - 2006
Harriet Tubman Charter School, Bronx, NY 2006
Learning Tree Elementary School, Bronx, NY 2006
Caribbean Cultural Center, Bronx Public Schools, Bronx, NY 2005 – 2006
Dance Forum, NY, NY 2005
Williams College, Center for Theatre and Dance, Williamstown, MA 2005
Detroit Public Schools, Detroit, MI 2004
Casa De Unidad, Cultural Arts & Media Center, Detroit, MI 1996 -2000, 2004
Marygrove College, Detroit, MI 2000
Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, East St. Louis, IL 1997-1999
Montreal International Jazz Festival University, College of Arts & Sciences, 1999
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 1999
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 1999
University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI 1999
Wayne State University, College of Performing & Communication Arts, Detroit, MI 1997,
1999
University of Michigan, Dance Department, School of Music, Ann Arbor, MI 1996, 1998
Center for Creative Studies, College of Art & Design, Music & Dance, Detroit, MI 1998
City of Southfield, Cultural Arts Division, Southfield, MI 1998
University of Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada 1996
Detroit Public Schools, Northwestern High School, Detroit, MI 1996
EDUCATION:
Ballet Folklorico de CUTUMBA
Centro de Superacion Arts School
Cabildo Teatral Santiago de Cuba
Guilermon Moncada
Afro-Cuban Movements
and toured internationally with the company for 18 years. In 1994, she was evaluated
and granted the designation of primera bailarina and primera profesora by the
National Dance Commission in Cuba, and has taught outside of Cuba - in Italy, Spain,
France, Canada, and the United States.
In addition, while she was still dancing with Cutumba, she founded her own dance
company, Adiro Omode, for Children ages 4 to 15 in Santiago de Cuba. Adiro Omode
has trained some of the internationally acclaimed professional dancers currently
working with Cutumba and Folklorico National de Oriente. In 1998, La Mora was the
founder of another dance company, the original Oyu Oro, with professional and
amateur dancers which was also based in Santiago de Cuba.
Since her first visit to the States in 1996, she has taught at several universities such as
Brown University, Cornell University, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Williams
College, University of New Mexico, Wayne State University in Detroit, University of
Michigan. She was invited by the legendary Katherine Dunham to participate in her
East Saint Louis seminars and the icon’s invitation to Wayne State University led to the
inaugural performance at the African-American Museum in Detroit.
For the past four years, she has been teaching weekly Afro Cuban dance classes at
The Alvin Ailey Extension program. She has also attended in several dance programs
and workshops outside New York, as a guest instructor and choreographer, including
the annual participation to the summer intensive dance program at Tulane University
in New Orleans and Humboldt University in California.
She is the founder and artistic director of Oyu Oro, an Afro-Cuban Experimental Dance
Ensemble in New York City. Danys "La Mora" Pérez is an international artist who offers
a profound contribution not only to the dance world, but to the world of cultural study as
a whole.
CHOREOGRAPHY:
Oyu Oro Afro-Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble:
Fiesta Cubana, the Chase Latino Cultural Festival Opening Night at Queens Theater
in the Park on July 20th
Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out stage on July 13th
New Orleans Dance Festival on July 2nd
Identidad, Flint Hills International Children's Festival at the Ordway Theater, Minnesota
June 2011
Identidad, Seventh Annual CubaCaribe Dance and Music Festival, San Francisco May
2011
El Poder de Mi Folklore, WOFABE African Dance & Drum Festival, New Jersey
Symphony Hall, Oct 2010
Fusion Afro Caribe, "World City" Series at Music Center of LA, Los Angeles Oct 2010
Fusion Caribe, Houston International Festival, Houston TX April 2010
LUCHA Gala, NYU, NY April 2010
Elogio, APAP Showcase, The Ailey Studios, New York, NY, Jan 2010
Tributo, Heritage Sunday at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors, NY Aug 2009
Ceremonial de la Danza, Chase Latino Cultural Festival, Queens Theatre, NY July
2009
Danzas Afro-Cubanas, Brown University, MA 2009
Maferefun, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York, NY November 2008
Raices y Estampas Cubanas, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, NY October 2008
Cubaila, The Ailey Studio, NY, NY August 2008
Cubaila, The Ailey Studio, NY, NY June 2008
Merengue Haitiano, BRIC Studio, Brooklyn, NY May 2008
Cubaila, the Fourth Annual CubaCaribe Dance and Music Festival, San Francisco 2008
Vodu, The Academy of Urban Planning, Brooklyn, NY 2008
Mayombes & Kimbisas,10th Annual Circle of Art Awards, Nubian Women’s Art Circle,
Inc., NY 2007
Mayomberos, BRIC (Brooklyn Information & Culture) studio, Brooklyn, NY 2007
Palenque, La Mama Experimental Dance Theatre, NY, NY 2007
Pinceladas Franco-Haitianas-Cubanas, La Mama Moves Dance Festival, La Mama
Experimental Dance Theatre, NY, NY 2006
Dahomeyan Dance, Martin Luther King High School, NY, NY 2006
Mosaicos Afro-Cubanos, SOBs (Sounds of Brazil), NY, NY 2006
La Fami Samble’, Djoniba Dance & Drum Center Annual Dance Festival, NY, NY 2005,
2006
Mayor Mache' y Palo Monte, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada
1999
Fiesta en el Batey, Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI 1996, 1997
National Folkloric Ballet Cutumba:
Sex Erotica, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1995
Macumene, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1995
Adiro Omode:
Raiz y Tradicion, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1994
Ciclo de Rumba, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1994
Cutaras, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1995
Pincelada Haitiana, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 1995
ON-GOING WEEKLY CLASSES:
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (The Ailey Extension), NY, NY 2006 – Current
WORKSHOPS/RESIDENCY:
Exploration in Afro-Cuban Dance and Drum at Humboldt University, July 2011
Salsa Rueda Festival, San Francisco, July 2011
Flint Hills International Children's Festival, at Ordway Theater, MN June 2011
Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dance Africa Program, NY May 2011
Seventh Annual CubaCaribe Dance and Music Festival, San Francisco May 2011
African Diaspora Percussion Dance Ensemble, TX April 2011
South Dallas Cultural Center, Exhibit Dance Collective, TX April 2011
3rd Annual Salsa Rueda Festival, San Francisco Bay Area, CA Feb 2011
Universal Dance Studio, LA 2010
Brown University, MA 2009
New Orleans Dance Festival, Elleonora P. McWilliams Hall, Tulane University, LA
2008-2011
Williams College, MA Spring 2008
Reebok Sports Club, NY, NY 2007
Bread and Rose Integrating Art High School, NY, NY 2007
Dance Theater Workshop, NY, NY 2006
Djoniba Dance & Drum Center, NY, NY 2004 - 2006
Harriet Tubman Charter School, Bronx, NY 2006
Learning Tree Elementary School, Bronx, NY 2006
Caribbean Cultural Center, Bronx Public Schools, Bronx, NY 2005 – 2006
Dance Forum, NY, NY 2005
Williams College, Center for Theatre and Dance, Williamstown, MA 2005
Detroit Public Schools, Detroit, MI 2004
Casa De Unidad, Cultural Arts & Media Center, Detroit, MI 1996 -2000, 2004
Marygrove College, Detroit, MI 2000
Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, East St. Louis, IL 1997-1999
Montreal International Jazz Festival University, College of Arts & Sciences, 1999
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 1999
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 1999
University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI 1999
Wayne State University, College of Performing & Communication Arts, Detroit, MI 1997,
1999
University of Michigan, Dance Department, School of Music, Ann Arbor, MI 1996, 1998
Center for Creative Studies, College of Art & Design, Music & Dance, Detroit, MI 1998
City of Southfield, Cultural Arts Division, Southfield, MI 1998
University of Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada 1996
Detroit Public Schools, Northwestern High School, Detroit, MI 1996
EDUCATION:
Ballet Folklorico de CUTUMBA
Centro de Superacion Arts School
Cabildo Teatral Santiago de Cuba
Guilermon Moncada
Afro-Cuban Movements
Originally from Santiago de Cuba, Danys “La
Mora” Pérez is an internationally renowned
master of Afro-Cuban folkloric dance. Perez’s
special expertise as dancer, teacher, dance
ethnologist, and choreographer is in the unique
styles of her native region of the Oriente
province in Eastern Cuba. Oriente attributes its
rich cultural heritage to the infusion of Afro-
Haitian influences to an already vibrant Afro-
Cuban context.
Mora” Pérez is an internationally renowned
master of Afro-Cuban folkloric dance. Perez’s
special expertise as dancer, teacher, dance
ethnologist, and choreographer is in the unique
styles of her native region of the Oriente
province in Eastern Cuba. Oriente attributes its
rich cultural heritage to the infusion of Afro-
Haitian influences to an already vibrant Afro-
Cuban context.
Danys “La Mora” Pérez
