Ballet Hispánico Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with Latinx Leaders Summit

Ballet Hispánico, the nation’s largest Hispanic/Latinx dance organization recognized as one of America’s Cultural Treasures, will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with the Latinx Leaders Summit this Thursday, Oct. 6. Latinx dance leaders from all over the country will convene from 9am-7:30pm, and participate in forums, discussions, workshops and networking. They will come together to explore ways of working to create more visibility and to assure diversity in the dance field. https://www.ballethispanico.org/

Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director & CEO, Ballet Hispánico

Tamia B. Santana, Chief Engagement and Inclusion Officer, Ballet Hispánico

Dr. AnaMaria Correa, Director of Diversity, Equity and Belonging, Brooklyn Friends School

Heather Hathaway Miranda, Founder and Owner, Hathaway Miranda LLC

Sergio Trujillo, Internationally renowned theater choreographer, director and producer

Chell Parkins, Arnold Director of Dance Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Mark Travis Rivera, Award-winning professional storyteller

Rodney E. Lopez, Former Executive Director, Dancing Classrooms in New York City

Emil J. Kang, Program Director for Arts and Culture, the Mellon Foundation

Media check-ins: 8:30am – morning events, 5:30pm – reception and social dance class

RSVP: Press please RSVP to:

Liane Ramirez at Goodman Media: [email protected]

Michelle Tabnick at Michelle Tabnick PR: [email protected]

SCHEDULE:

9:00 AM – Opening Reception

9:30 AM – Encontrándonos in Community by Dr. AnaMaria CorreaP

Dr. AnaMaria Correa, Curator of the Latinx Leaders Summit, leads a community gathering and grounding.

9:50 AM – Ancestral Naming by Heather Hathaway Miranda

10:00 AM – La Bienvenida from Eduardo Vilaro

10:05 AM – Keynote Speaker Sergio Trujillo

Mr. Trujillo tells his story of growing up Latinx and his journey to success. Followed by a Q&A session.

11:00 AM – Chell Parkins

Embodied testimonios: Countering the erasure of Latinx identity through dance

Culturally sustaining practices that visibilize and celebrate Latinx identities push against oppressive paradigms seeking to demean Latinx’s Peoples and erase our complex histories. Dances embodying Latinx Peoples’ diverse stories and identities provide powerful counter-narratives, a compelling culturally sustaining tool that disrupts the trend towards erasure. This talk unpacks Ballet Hispánico’s culturally sustaining approach that centers embodied testimonios while weaving multiculturalism, socio political realities, and evolving culture through its choreographic works, educational programs, and community events.

12:00 PM – Mark Travis Rivera

Disruption — Showing Up Whole & Authentic

In this session, we will explore the power of disrupting systems that force us to fragment ourselves as artists and people by showing up whole and authentically. The time to embrace every person (and ourselves) for all we are is now. By becoming disruptive creative leaders, we will ensure that every Latino/a/e/x person is fully acknowledged and represented in the dance field with intention.

1:30 PM – Engagement lunch at Pio Pio

3:30 PM – Rodney E. Lopez

Generosity and the Economy of Enough: Examining Money Questions as Artists and Resource Generators for Our Organizations

Centered in his personal story as a dancer, arts educator, and nonprofit leader, Lopez will invite us to reflect on our money stories and how they impact not only our own relationship to money, but how we enroll others in a vision of support for our organizations.

5:15 PM – Emil J. Kang at Améliei

A candid Board Discussion with Emil J. Kang and Eduardo Vilaro on best practices.

6:00 PM – Latinx Leaders Summit Reception

Join Ballet Hispánico for an evening of discussions and a Latin Social Dance Class paired with a cocktail hour and music by Tempo Alegre.

About Ballet Hispánico

Ballet Hispánico has been the leading voice intersecting artistic excellence and advocacy and is now the largest Hispanic/Latinx cultural organization in the United States and one of America’s Cultural Treasures. The organization provides the physical home and cultural heart for Latinx dance in the nation. Ballet Hispánico has developed a robust public presence across its three main programs: its Company, School of Dance, and Community Arts Partnerships. Through its exemplary artistry, distinguished training program, and deep-rooted community engagement efforts, Ballet Hispánico champions and amplifies underrepresented voices in the field. For over fifty years Ballet Hispánico has provided a place of honor for the omitted, overlooked, and oppressed. As it looks to the next fifty years and beyond, Ballet Hispánico seeks to empower, and give agency to, the Latinx experience and those individuals within it.