Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba Returning to the New Victory with CUBA VIBRA

Ninety miles south of Miami there is an island, a bit smaller-and warmer- than the state of Pennsylvania that produces some of the most explosive fusions of dance-flamenco, ballet, cha-cha-cha, Afro-Cuban and folk-melded into something wholly its own. The island is Cuba, celebrated for its irrepressible passion for dancing and music, and the home of Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba, the 24-member company of dancers and musicians responsible for creating the singular potpourri of dance forms in Cuba Vibra!, which takes over the New Victory stage November 13-29. So thrilling is their music and dancing that seat belts may be in order at the New Vic!

Embracing over five decades of the island's music and dance, Cuba Vibra! is comprised of a choreographically connected series of vignettes that speak of celebration, love, flirtations, romance, brief disappointments, all with good humor and compelling energy, as well as a suite of dances that call upon the virtuosity and soul of the performers. The dancers, trained in classical ballet and folkloric traditions, command the stage with the octane energy of a rocket and precision of the Rockettes.

The recipient of The National Culture Order, Canada's Dora Mayor Moore Award for Best Choreography of a Musical (VIDA!) in 2008, Lizt Alfonso was also awarded the First Choreography Prize by the Cuban Artists and Writers Association in both 2006 and 2008, and the Cuban Artist Foundation of New York Award in 2001.

Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba has performed in major theaters on five continents including The Chicago Theatre, the Place des Arts in Montreal, the Isaac Theatre Royal of New Zealand, the Cairo Opera House in Egypt, the Teatre Apolo de Barcelona, The Thalia Theater in Hamburg, The South African State Theatre, the Luxor Theater in Rotterdam, the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto and the Shanghai Oriental Art Center. LADC has also performed in New York City at such festivals as Fall for Dance at New York City Center and Central Park Summerstage, as well as Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum. The Company has been seen at the Vail International Dance Festival, Spring of Culture in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Fiestas del Pitic in Mexico.

Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (LADC) was founded in Havana by Lizt Alfonso in 1991. Her commitment to arts education for young people is told in the company's Dance Academy, which includes children's ballet, youth ballet, various summer workshops and choreographic competitions. As a result of her work with children, Lizt Alfonso became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She led the "25 leaders, 25 voices for children" campaign organized by UNICEF for the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.