Silfredo La O Vigo and his dancers will perform a traditional Afro-Cubana dance which will be followed by a preview his film Mas Alla de Horzonte.

 

During the 1920s and 1930s Cuba experienced a movement geared towards Afro-Cuban culture called Afrocubanismo.  The movement had a large impact on Cuban literature, poetry, painting, music, and sculpture. It was the first artistic campaign in Cuba that focused on one particular theme: black culture. Specifically it highlighted the struggle for independence from Spain, black slavery, and building a purely Cuban national identity. Its goal was to incorporate African folklore and rhythm into traditional modes of art. (Wikipedia)

 

 

Silfredo La O Vigo is a Professional dancer in the Afro-Cuban and Haitian tradition, Popular Latin dances and Modern dance. Silfredo graduated from the National School of the Arts in Havana Cuba in 1994 where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree as a certified Dance Professor and Professional dancer.

 

In 1993, he trained and performed for one year with the Cuban National Folkloric Company and Danza Contemporanea de Cuba. He was also a soloist for five years with the professional touring company Cutumba: Ballet Folklorico Afro-Cubano, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba Following, Silfredo’s professional performing experience later included dancing with the Modern dance Company OCD/San Francisco from 2001 to 2003. Along with this company, Silfredo toured places such as The Joyce Theater in New York, NY, The Getty Museum Concert Series, Lose Angeles, CA, Cal State LA, Cal State Monterey Bay and Kentucky Center for the Arts. 

 

In addition, Silfredo’s list of guest performances includes being a principal dancer and guest artist for the Warner Brothers film The Matrix Reloaded. In 1999, Silfredo was a guest soloist in the Retrospective of Cuban dance Performance, La Pena, Berkeley, CA and Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA. Also, Silfredo was a guest dancer for “Bravura!” with The Blankenship Ballet Company, Riverside, California, in 2003. Silfredo is skilled in teaching modern dance, folkloric dance, popular dance, and percussion and has shared his knowledge during master classes at Portland State University, University of Hawaii, University of Florida, and Santa Clara University. He also has choreographed for Stanford University. Silfredo La O Vigo is also known as a Visual Artist. He presented an art exhibition in ODC Gallery and Palace of Fine Arts, both located in San Francisco. Silfredo resides in San Diego and currently teaches at the University of California, San Diego and at Palomar College. He also has classes at The Time to Dance Performing Art Studio in North Park, San Diego. 

 

See a short film where Silfredo La O combines his dance and visual art here on Youtube:  Click here