In-School Performances

LUNA NEGRA DANCE THEATER

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“UNALLOYED ENTHUSIASM”
The New York Times
“THE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING COMPANY IS COMPOSED OF SENSATIONAL DANCERS CAPABLE OF SHIFTING FROM ONE STYLE TO ANOTHER WITH BREATHTAKING FACILITY.”
Chicago Sun Times
“THE ENSEMBLE CHOREOGRAPHY WAS BREATHTAKING, WITH ONE SWEEPING, DAREDEVIL MOVEMENT AFTER ANOTHER”
Cleveland Plain Dealer
News and Events

09.01.10
The American Evolution: Turtle Island Quartet marks 25 years on the cutting edge of chamber jazz

08.02.10
Baylin Artists Selected to Showcase at Fall 2010 Conferences
Turtle Island, Luna Negra and Viver Brasil were selected to showcase at fall conferences

Performance Highlights

09.02.10
The Cashore Marionettes
Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar, VA

09.04.10
Hot 8 Brass Band
Arts Festival Oklahoma Arts Stage
Oklahoma City Community College
Oklahoma City, OK

09.05.10
ETHEL
Moab Music Festival
Moab, UT

Tours & Projects

Danzón - Touring 10-11-12

With Turtle Island Quartet 

After working with artists from all over the Latino world, and investigating the myriad of cultural influences that make up Latino culture, former artistic director Eduardo Vilaro has returned to his own roots with the creation of Danzón. The Danzón has been called the official dance of Cuba, and it initially evolved from Haitian contradance. Its current form was created by Miguel Faílde Pérez in 1879, and although the Danzón has evolved in many respects, much of the original structure remains. As traditional Cuban dance music, Danzón has never ceased to influence Cuban musicians, and its influences can be heard in virtually all popular Cuban music genres. It is this continuity that defines Danzón as a truly unique, living art form.

For this work, Luna Negra Dance Theater collaborates with the bold and ingenious, two-time GRAMMY® Award winning Turtle Island Quartet. Following the world premiere in Chicago at the Harris Theater, Luna Negra Dance Theater and the musicians embarked on a national tour- bringing this fabulous music and dance experience to audiences across the country. Danzón is a commission of the University of NotreDame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and the Music Center at Strathmore. In partnering with Turtle Island Quartet, Vilaro has taken this traditional and quintessentially Cuban dance form and reinventied and reinvigorated it as a modern work of art. In doing so, he has introduced mainstream American audiences to a thriving Latino tradition, and created a milestone moment in the continuity of Latino artistic expression.