Dash Harris Machado is a multi-media producer, filmmaker and facilitator. She is the co-founder of AfroLatinx Travel, and facilitates classes on Black Latin American History & Contemporary topics with Javier Wallace. Dash is the producer of NEGRO: A docu-series about Latino Identity and part of the collective Radio Caña Negra, a podcast and training series addressing AntiBlackness in Latine communities.

www.afrolatinxtravel.com

Eduardo Vilaro is the Artistic Director & CEO of Ballet Hispánico (BH). He was named BH's Artistic Director in 2009, becoming only the second person to head the company since its founding in 1970, and in 2015 was also named Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Vilaro has infused Ballet Hispánico’s legacy with a bold brand of contemporary dance that reflects America’s changing cultural landscape.
Mr. Vilaro’s philosophy of dance stems from a basic belief in the power of the arts to change lives, reflect and impact culture, and strengthen community. He considers dance to be a liberating, non-verbal language through which students, dancers and audiences of all walks of life and diverse backgrounds, can initiate ongoing conversations about the arts, expression, identity and the meaning of community.

Born in Cuba and raised in New York from the age of six, Mr. Vilaro’s own choreography is devoted to capturing the Latin American experience in its totality and diversity, and through its intersectionality with other diasporas. His works are catalysts for new dialogues about what it means to be an American. He has created more than 40 ballets with commissions that include the Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Grant Park Festival, the Lexington Ballet and the Chicago Symphony.

A Ballet Hispánico dancer and educator from 1988 to 1996, he left New York, earned a master’s in interdisciplinary arts at Columbia College Chicago and then embarked on his own act of advocacy with a ten-year record of achievement as Founder and Artistic Director of Luna Negra Dance Theater in Chicago.

https://www.ballethispanico.org/

Dr. Luis F. Paredes earned his Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from the University at Albany, State University of New York. He is a cultural anthropologist researching how marginalized, and oppressed bodies convey identity, embodied memory, and cultural history. His holistic development created a world-minded individual who challenges cultural labels, social privileges, and racial imbalances. In addition to leading Institutional Diversity at Bridgewater State University, Dr. Luis F. Paredes serves as a Visiting Associate Professor of Anthropology and teaches courses focusing on diversity, race, ethnicity, sexism, immigration, dance theory, Spanish, and Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies. His book Perú Negro: Bailando Muchas Memorias (Perú Negro: Dancing Many Memories), offers urgent strategies to both define, and problematize, a choreography of blackness by an important company with huge influence in Peru and beyond.

He served as a member of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate Design Team and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA); he was a fellow at The National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy; he studied at the Intercultural Communication Institute, and he was a Visiting Residency Artist at the Duke University Dance Program. Dr. Paredes stands as Historian and Archivist of the four-time Grammy Awards and Latin Grammy Awards music and dance company, Perú Negro.

He resides in Providence, Rhode Island, with his dogs, Pisko and Panka, and spends time between Providence and Lima.

www.drluisfparedes.com

Luz F. Soliz-Ramos is the founder of Garifuna Heritage Center for the Arts and Culture Inc. and artistic director of Wabafu Garifuna Dance Theatre (previously known as Hamalali Wayunagu Garifuna Dance Company). The dance company was established in 1992 in the Bronx, NY to preserve the Garifuna culture through dance, music, song, drama, poetry and writing. She teaches the different traditional Garifuna dances to members of the dance company and other members of the community. Along with her talented daughter, Catherine Ochún Soliz-Rey, they choreograph traditional and engaging dance numbers that captivate the eyes of the audience.

Luz Soliz-Ramos taught dance for many years in the public schools. She is presently a Full-Time Faculty Facilitator in Boricua College, Manhattan Campus. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Dance from Bard College and a master’s degree in Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also the author of "Learn Garifuna Now!" and soon she will publish her second book for children, "Garifuna Picture dictionary". Her mission is to continue preserving the Garifuna Culture through performance presentations. Sharing elements of her culture and learning from other nations the beauty that their culture holds, is very important to Luz F. Soliz Ramos.

www.garifunadancecompany.com

Melody Capote was named Executive Director in 2018 following 35 years with the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI). She joined the staff in 1984 as development associate having successfully developed and implemented a capital campaign for the completion of the organization's brownstone on West 58th Street in Manhattan. She was soon promoted to director of development and eventually as deputy director fostering relationships with artists, community workers, allies and partners representing communities of the African Diaspora as well as the public and private sectors. She also was the lead person on program collaborations with organizations like the Loiza Festival of East Harlem, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Julia de Burgos Performance Arts Center, the Apollo, Summer Stage and others. Melody is a graduate of the City College of New York and is a fellow of the Tennenbaum Leadership Institute at the New School, and received her certification from the Not-for-Profit Executive Management Program at Colombia University. She is also a priestess of the Orisha Lucumi sacred tradition.

https://cccadi.org/

An accomplished multidisciplinary artist, holistic yoga coach, and management professional with credits in cross-cultural and commercial dance styles, Shari integrates her passions for the art of movement, rhythm, and self-awareness as catalysts for transformation into her work. A professional Salsa, Afro, and Hip Hop dancer of over 15 years with training in various styles of movement, she has directed several Latin and fusion dance teams in NYC and Atlanta, GA. She actively teaches and performs at concerts, festivals, and events, with regular classes in Brooklyn/NYC. Shari provides continuing education and coaching to yoga instructors and practitioners across the States. She uses these platforms as a means to educate others on the African and Diaspora heritages that are integral to the movement and healing practices we so often borrow from while furthering the conversation surrounding Black and Indigenous representation across spaces. In addition to her achievements as a professional movement and teaching artist, Shari has worked in higher education and with numerous startups, wellness practices, and nonprofit organizations. She specializes and facilitates success in strategic planning, personal/professional development, programming, and community care. She has spoken at national conferences and events highlighting her work in service-based interfaith and racial justice community initiatives. Shari is a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) and Yoga Alliance E-RYT® 200 and continuing education provider (YACEP®) with a dual B.A. in International Affairs and Cultural Anthropology.

Yasmar was born in Puerto Rico and began her artistic training early in life. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, with a degree in Performing Arts and Public Relations. She trained in multiple West African dance styles and became a member of the Delou African Dance Ensemble while an exchange student at Florida International University. This experience inspired her to create Danzartes, an arts organization dedicated to promoting Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean dance and cultures.

She has trained in Cuba with companies such as Ballet Folklorico de Oriente, Teatro de la Danza del Caribe y Ballet Folklórico Cutumba, as part of a Cultural Exchange Program with Oyu Oro, an Afro-Cuban collective.
In 2011, Yasmar moved to NYC and became the Cultural Dance Program coordinator for the Brooklyn Music School. While teaching dance for the Department of Education.
She has written and directed musical plays including: “I Love Salsa” and “El Espejo” with official selections at International Theater Festivals in New York, Frenzy Festival, Festival de Teatro de Otono (Cuba), and Festival Casa Navarrette (Dominican Republic).
Her first book, “Rios de Sol” was published in New York by La Ovejita de Papel in 2015.

Yasmar holds a Master’s degree in Dance Education from Hunter College at the City University of New York.

In 2021, she received the Communitas Community Impact Award for her wellness initiative incorporating dance and yoga with BIPOC women during the pandemic.
 

https://hunter-soe.digication.com/yasmar-cruz/home-1