Rafael Palacios is a Colombian 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
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 Sankofa dancers and musicians, he has been creating choreographies for over 20 years focused on retelling history from a point of view that has been ignored for centuries.