SYMPOSIUM
The Black and Brown Roots to Spanish Dance & Music
From JUNE 14 to JUNE 17 · Four days of symposium at Northeastern Illinois University (RECITAL HALL) including tapas and light performances · FREE ADMISSION ($10 suggested donation)
DAY 1 · Tuesday, JUNE 14 · AFRICAN AMERICAN ROOTS
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Symposium with La Lupi
Moderator: Jorge Pérez
12:00 - 1:00 PM / Lunch with a Legend
Symposium with Otis Sallid
1:00 - 3:00 PM / Jazz & Flamenco Fusion
Discussion with Diego "El Negro" Alvarez, Otis Sallid, Yinka Esi Graves (remote) & Miguel A. Rosales
DAY 2 · Wednesday, JUNE 15 · MEXICAN AMERICAN ROOTS
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Film Screening & Discussion: Gurumbé
Symposium with Miguel Ángel Rosales (Director)
Moderator: Pepe Vargas
12:00 - 1:00 PM / Lunch
1:00 - 3:00 PM / From Spain to Mexican Folkloric Dance
Discussion with Irma Suárez Ruiz, Briseyda Zárate, Juan Dies & José Luis Ovalle
Moderator: Carlos Cardenas
DAY 3 · Thursday, JUNE 16 · PUERTO RICAN AMERICAN ROOTS
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Symposium with Dr. K Meira Goldberg
Moderator: Lauren Warnecke
12:00 - 1:00 PM / Lunch
1:00 - 3:00 PM / From Flamenco to Bomba
Discussion with Brenda Torres-Figueroa, Tito Rodriguez and Jorge Perez
Moderator: Cesar Rolon
DAY 4 · Friday, JUNE 17 · CARIBBEAN & SOUTH AMERICAN ROOTS
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Symposium with Diego "El Negro" Alvarez connecting with Buika & Yinka Esi Graves
Moderator: Sekou "Tepaka Lunda" Conde
12:00 - 1:00 PM / Lunch with a Legend
Symposium with Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild
Moderator: Dr. K. Meira Goldberg
1:00 - 3:00 PM / Spanish music between Africa and the Caribbean
Discussion with Dr. Gloria Gibson, Patricia Ortega, Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Dr. K. Meira Goldberg & Orbert Davis
Moderator: Julia Hinojosa
SYMPOSIUM · KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
La Lupi
Dr. K. Meira Goldberg
Miguel Ángel Rosales
is the director and choreographer of her own company. She produces Flamenco shows and performs at festivals, theaters, clubs, recitals, conferences, as well as working as a teacher in her own flamenco school.
Miguel Ángel Rosales
Dr. K. Meira Goldberg
Miguel Ángel Rosales
is a Spanish anthropologist and documentary filmmaker. In 2004 he began his first projects as a documentary filmmmaker. Gurumbé is his first feature film.
Dr. K. Meira Goldberg
Dr. K. Meira Goldberg
Diego "El Negro" Alvarez
is a Flamenco performer, teacher, choreographer and historian. Her monograph, Sonidos Negros: On the Blackness of Flamenco won the Barnard Hewitt Award for best 2019 book in theatre history or cognate disciplines, as well as Honorable Mention for the Sally Banes Publication Award.
Diego "El Negro" Alvarez
Diego "El Negro" Alvarez
Diego "El Negro" Alvarez
is a master cajón player. He has more than 12 Latin Grammy nominations and is a winner of a Latin Grammy in 2010 for best rock album of the year for Será by La Vida Boheme.
Yinka Esi Graves
Diego "El Negro" Alvarez
Yinka Esi Graves
is a Flamenco dancer. Born in London to Ghanaian and Jamaican parents, Yinka started taking dance classes at the age of 5. Currently based in Seville in Spain. She began dancing Flamenco at the age of 21 and has not looked back.
Otis Sallid
Diego "El Negro" Alvarez
Yinka Esi Graves
Otis Sallid is a director, choreographer, and producer whose accomplishments in theater, television, and film are known throughout the entertainment industry.
Irma Suárez Ruiz
Irma Suárez Ruiz
Irma Suárez Ruiz
Artistic Director for the Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois.
Briseyda Zárate
Irma Suárez Ruiz
Irma Suárez Ruiz
is an inspired and skilled Professional Flamenco Dancer, Choreographer, and Master Teacher from Los Angeles, CA.
Juan Dies
Irma Suárez Ruiz
José Luis Ovalle
is the co-founder and executive director of Sones de Mexico Ensemble, a Chicago folk music group that specializes in the Mexican musical tradition known as son.
José Luis Ovalle
Brenda Torres-Figueroa
José Luis Ovalle
original founding director of the Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago
Brenda Torres-Figueroa
Brenda Torres-Figueroa
Brenda Torres-Figueroa
is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and art educator, born and raised in Puerto Rico, and working mainly in performance art, installations, and public art.
Tito Rodríguez
Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild
Tito Rodríguez
founder of AfriCaribe. AfriCaribe provides Chicago with a means to celebrate the African influence in Puerto Rico and other Caribbean lands.
Jorge Perez
Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild
Tito Rodríguez
Executive & Associate Artistic Director of Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild
Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild
Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild
is an American cultural historian, performer, choreographer, and anti-racist cultural worker.
Dr. Gloria Gibson
Dr. Gloria Gibson
Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild
President of Northeastern Illinois University
Patricia Ortega
Dr. Gloria Gibson
Patricia Ortega
Flamenco singer with Mexican / Cuban musical roots
Orbert Davis
Dr. Gloria Gibson
Patricia Ortega
Emmy-Award winning trumpeter, composer and educator Orbert Davis is co-founder, conductor and artistic director of Chicago Jazz Philharmonic
Vershawn Sanders-Ward
Vershawn Sanders-Ward
Vershawn Sanders-Ward
Founding Artistic Director and CEO of Red Clay Dance Company
Pepe Vargas
Vershawn Sanders-Ward
Vershawn Sanders-Ward
Founder & Executive Director at International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago.
Lauren Warnecke
Lauren Warnecke
Carlos Cardenas
is a freelance arts and culture writer, educator and administrator.
Cesar Rolon
Lauren Warnecke
Julia Hinojosa
CEO Imagen Consultants Inc. Founder – Latino Fashion Week.