Dancing as a way of being heard. For Rafael Palacios, a legend in his country, dance is a way of speaking out. In Medellín, Colombia—the Latin American country with the second largest Afro-descendant population (after Brazil)—Palacios seeks to deconstruct the stereotypes associated with the Black experience. Through his company Sankofa Danzafro, founded more than 25 years ago, he has allowed many Afro-Colombians to reclaim their dignity through movement. The show pays tribute to the literary masterpiece Changó el Gran Putas by the great writer Manuel Zapata Olivella (1920–2004), which traces the saga of the Black African diaspora in the New World. At the confluence of past and present; a total sensory experience.
Tickets start at $48.00
Rafael Palacios is a Columbian choreographer and dancer dedicated to the exploration of Afro-traditional, contemporary, and urban dance languages. His experience as a dancer in Africa and Europe inspired him to create the Sankofa Company, with which he has created a wide repertoire of works that have been presented in countries around the world such as Colombia, Jamaica, France, Spain, Canada, Brazil, and Burkina Faso. Thro...
Read more about Rafael PalaciosSankofa Danzafro’s mission is “to dance to be heard, rather than to be seen.”
Artistic Director Rafael Palacios’ motivation has been to rewrite the history of Black communities through the eyes of those directly involved, Afro-descendants in Colombia and elsewhere. Palacios’ view is that history has always been written by the oppressor, while the oppressed were denied a voice. So, utilizing the voices of the Sankof...
Read more about Sankofa DanzafroDirection and Choreography Rafael Palacios.
Light and Set Design Álvaro Tobón.
Costume Design Rafael Palacios.
Photography Robert Torres, elmurcy_, Darial Sneed and Elyssa Goodman, Battery Dance Festival, NYC, 2015.
Performers Yndira Perea, Feliciano Blandón, Camilo Perlaza, José Luna Coha, Yeison Moreno. María Elena Murillo, Armando Viveros, Sandra Vanesa, Murillo Mosquera, Maryeris Mosquera Batista, Diego León de los Rios.
