The Luminato Festival will take place in the form of numerous acts through the streets, cinemas, theatres and concert halls of Toronto starting tonight, from June 19 to 28. This festival highlights the diversity of Toronto’s rich arts and culture landscape. This year, one of the featured acts will be the Canadian premiere of the Malpaso Dance Company, a brilliant, Cuban contemporary dance company. They have been lauded for their pristine technique and sparkling energy. Fernando Saéz from the Malpaso Dance Company will also be available for a post-performance talk on June 24, 25 and 26.  See more below:

Cuba’s hottest contemporary dance company shares a little slice of Havana in a sparkling program of movement and music. (CANADIAN PREMIERE.)

In 2012, Malpaso Dance Company burst on to the contemporary dance scene delighting audiences with their refined technique and youthful energy.

Based in Havana and founded by Osnel Delgado, Dailedys Carrazana and Fernando Saéz, 10 talented young dancers from Cuba’s premiere dance schools and companies create work that embodies the country’s rich dance tradition and illuminates the untapped passion that defines Cuban life. Known for their extraordinary skill and pristine technique, this sparkling dance company features a different repertoire each night over a three-night run that feels immediate and vital.

In 24 hours and a dog, an invisible canine doggedly follows the dancers, forcing them to keep pace in a hectic world to music written and performed live by Grammy Award-winning Cuban-American jazz composer Arturo O’Farrill. Despedida, also by Delgado with an original score by O’Farrill, is about the constant departures in life and the different forms they take.

Porque Sigues (Why You Follow), featuring celebrated New York choreographer Ronald K. Brown’s signature blend of African, Cuban and Western dance, explores beats and rhythms within music and our bodies, while acclaimed American ballet choreographer Trey McIntyre brings Under Fire, an intimate and poetic portrait of renewal after destruction.

For original article, see https://luminatofestival.com/festival/2015/malpaso