about IFE-ILE

IFE-ILE is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the preservation, promotion and advancement of Afro-Cuban culture through dance.

Based in Miami, Florida, we seek to develop cross-cultural understanding and to educate community members and visitors through our traditional and contemporary dances, festivals, lectures, master classes and workshops

Since its creation in 1996, IFE-ILE has been a forerunner promoting Afro-Cuban culture in the US. Our organization continues to be a source of inspiration and a model for many locally and abroad. (See our Vision)

IFE-ILE Dance Company is the most renowned Afro-Cuban dance troupe in Miami. Famous for our traditional Afro-Cuban dances, Mambo, Rumba, Conga, Chancleta, Son, Salsa, and the ritual dances of the Orishas, our company also boasts a repertoire featuring contemporary resulting from the fusion of Modern dance and Afro-Cuban forms.

Our programs help strengthen the reputation of Miami-Dade County as a destination for cultural heritage tourism and the arts. We're a draw for the growing number of people - locally and worldwide - enchanted by Afro-Cuban culture and eager to learn about and experience it. We help:

• preserve and cultivate the heritage of Miami's Afro-Cubans;
• build bonds and cultural understanding between different communities, organizations and residents;
• and enhance cultural awareness, pride and opportunities for residents of low-income neighborhoods.

Through our collaboration with government agencies, educational institutions, and local/national organizations, we offer our programs in schools and universities, tourist destinations and low-income neighborhoods of South Florida. Our partners have included, for example, Florida International University, the City of Homestead, The Non-Violence Project USA and Viernes Culturales.

In addition to representing Cuba and its vibrant color and tradition, IFE-ILE represents the diversity of Miami itself. We regularly collaborate with other arts, educational and social service organizations that serve the needs of Miami's various cultural communities (Brazilian, Haitian, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, African-American, etc.). And we reach people from throughout the U.S. through the workshops and events offered during our annual Afro-Cuban Dance Festival.

We offer many kinds of events and programs, from our annual festival, workshops and master classes, corporate and private events, lectures, music tours, musicals, and products such as nstructional videos and music CDs. Learn about our shows, workshops, lectures/seminars and store.

The company's most outstanding performances include the Latin Grammy Awards and the Billboard Awards as part of famous Cuban singer Gloria Estefan's production, Super Bowl Sunday, festivals such as the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival and the Emancipation Celebration in Trinidad-Tobago. IFE-ILE has also performed in several videos. Commercials and documentaries include "Celia, The Queen", as well as Andy Garcia's directorial debut film, The Lost City.

Our dancers are accompanied by live music played on a variety of traditional and classical instruments: bata drums, congas, chekeres, yesa drums, bells, wooden boxes, bongos, piano, tres, timbales and trumpets. Our shows are always electrifying, leaving audiences enchanted with the live music, colorful costumes, and contagious energy of the performers. IFE-ILE’s repertoire ranges from short theater performances designed for schoolchildren to several mainstream production and concerts for larger scale audiences.

Below is a list of some of the events and venues where IFE-ILE has performed:

• Celia, The Queen, documentary on the life of the late Cuban singer Celia Cruz, featuring IFE-ILE, released 2009
• IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Festival West in collaboration with the University of Colorado, 2007
• NFL Super Bowl Experience Pre-Game Events and Coach's Party - 2007
• The Lost City, movie, directorial debut of renowned actor Andy Garcia featuring IFE-LE, released 2006.
• Collaboration with Arts for Learning to bring cultural understanding to underserve communities of children and at risk adolescents 2006  
• Guaguanco, The Rumba Musical, LA, 2004
• Emancipation Celebration Day, Trinidad-Tobago, 2003
• For love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, HBO movie featuring IFE-LE,2000

• Orange Bowl Parade, Miami, Artistic Director for IFE-ILE performance- 2000
• Latin Grammy Award, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Choreographer - 2000
• Alma Caribena, CBS Press Release, Atlantis, Bahamas, Choreographed by Neri Torres and featuring IFE-ILE
• No me Dejes de Querer, Gloria Estefan’s Grammy awarded video 2000, Choreographed by Neri Torres and featuring IFE-ILE
• Gloria Estefan's Millenium Concert, American Airlines Arena - 2000
• Guaguanco Oyelo Bien - Musical, Colony Theater, as part of the second annual IFE-ILE Festival - 1999
• Fiesta Africana y Caribena, Colony Theater, as part of the Florida Dance Festival - 1999
• NFL Super Bowl Experience Pre-Game Events and Coach's Party - 1999
• ILE-ILE's first Annual Afro-Cuban Fest at BASH-1998
• Caribbean Percussion Traditions in Miami presented by the Historical Museum of South Florida - 1998
• Gloria Estefan's Evolution World Tour-Europe, Australia, Asia, Canada, Mexico, U.S., Puerto Rico; 1996-1997
• Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington DC - 1996