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| afro-cuban traditions : shows : festival : classes & workshops : lectures & seminars |
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IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance & Music Festival Staff/Instructors - 2009 Festival Director: Neri Torres Assistants to the Director: Musicians: Dance Instructors
Music Instructors
Yofvani Gonzalez graduated form both Escuela Nacional de Artes and Instituto Superior de Artes in Havana, Cuba in Afro-Cuban Dance and Music. Founder of Oche, the first Afro-Cuban dance Company in Villa Clara, Cuba in 1996, Yofvani was also member of the renowned Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba where he worked for over a year. In addition, he participated in several festivals and dance competitions both national and internationally. After fulfilling a contract with the University of Monterrey Campus, Guadalajara, he relocated to Miami in 2005, the year he joined IFE-ILE Dance Company. Emmanuel (Manno) Merisier one of the leading dancers/choreographers of Haitian folkloric dance in the U.S., with over twenty years experience. Born in Haiti, he was a dancer and choreographer of Haiti's National Troupe. He has also been a dancer and choreographer for Troupe Vivian Gauthier, Katherine Dunham, Navilare William, Sosyete Koukouv, Ayabonmbe Music Corp., Ayizan Kreyol and PAN.
Yanitzia Mizrahi graduated from Havana's Escuela Nacional de Instructores de Artes in 1989, specializing in dance instruction and performance. Currently she is an instructor of Afro-Cuban dance, Salsa, and Cuban traditional dances for several dance institutions and venues in Italy. Her repertoire includes work with Oscar de Leon, El Canario, the late Celia Cruz, Albita Rodriguez, Roselyn Sanchez and the new Andy Garcia movie, "The Lost City."
Cuban-born Ezequiel Torres is one of the most renowned batá drummers and batá drum craftsmen in the U.S. He performs at religious and traditional celebrations, festivals and events throughout the world (Spain, Trinidad, Mexico, Puerto Rico, etc.), playing batá, agbé (guiro), cajón and Yesá. As an Omó Añá and Olubatá, he can play and has made consecrated bata drums. He specializes in making batás, congas, chekerés, cajones and the beautiful beaded tapestries that "dress" the batá. He has conducted workshops at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and was a curator, consultant and exhibitor for the Historical Museum of Southern Florida's exhibits, At the Crossroads, Afro-Cuban Orisha Arts and Caribbean Percussion Traditions in Miami, where his batá drums were on display. He learned the complex tradition of batá drumming and Orisha chanting in Havana, Cuba, from legendary Afro-Cuban griots of these Afro-Cuban cultural traditions. Ezequiel was also featured in the 1995 film "The Perez Family," along with the late Celia Cruz. Festival participants may be able to arrange additional private or group lessons with Ezequiel during their stay in Miami. Please contact us for more details.
Award-winning choreographer Neri Torres is the founder and director of IFE-ILE and the annual Afro-Cuban dance and music festival. Born in Havana, Cuba, Neri defected to the U.S. in 1991 and turned her passion for dance and cultural advocacy into a successful career spanning more than twenty years. Trained in jazz, ballet, modern, and Afro-Cuban dance, Torres has choreographed, written, directed and performed numerous shows (from musicals, movies, commercials to videos) before thousands of captivated and enthralled audiences. Neri is a leader in Miami's arts and culture community, whose numerous awards include a Proclamation by the City of Miami and a Fellowship and Certificate of Artistic Merit from the State of Florida. She is also a cultural ambassador, who has performed in nearly every continent in the world and in dozens of countries, where we has choreographed, written and performed in numerous shows. Trained in jazz, ballet, modern, contemporary and Afro-Cuban dance, Torres is a graduate of Havana’s Instituto Superior de Artes where she majored in choreography. She has toured with and been the principal dancer and choreographer for Gloria Estefan. Onye Ozuzu is a performing artist, choreographer, educator and researcher. Her body of work fuses modern dance, West African dance, Japanese and Chinese martial arts, yoga, improvisational performance, literature and cultural studies. She has been actively making and performing work since 1997. Her work has been seen nationally and internationally at The Joyce Soho (Manhattan, NY), Kaay Fecc Festival Des Tous les Danses (Dakar, Senegal), La Festival del Caribe (Santiago, Cuba), Lisner Auditorium (Washington DC) among others. Current and up-coming projects include (as with Trojan Women) vigorous engagement with interdisciplinary collaboration and feature works with painter Michael Dixon, filmmaker Adam DeMonet, sculptor Steve Silber, lighting designer Robert Shannon and others. Onye is currently serving as Associate Professor in Dance at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Native of Minas Gerais, Brazil, Brian is an excelent Capoeira instructor with a Wide raneg of exeperience in the field. First class instruction in all aspects of Capoeira: Self-Defense, Flexibility, Acrobatics, dance, culture and music). Extremely dedicated to maintaining the highest quality standars of the martial arts Dele Adefemi is Founder & Director of African Arts Productions. Dele was born and raised in Nigeria to a family of cultural artists from which he has been molded in the cultural music tradition of Nigeria and West Africa all his life and has helped to spread this culture for over 35 years. Dele has made his mark in cultural communities in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and has recently set foot in South Florida. Founder of African Arts Productions a non-profit organization. The company works with at-risk youth, offering mentoring and tutoring |
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Yofvani
Gonzalez (Orishas, Rumba Columbia, Arará)
