Dance
Afro-Cuban Dance Festival’s Theme This Year Is Joy, Freedom

The 2024 IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Festival begins Thursday, Aug. 8 through Saturday, Aug. 10 at the Koubek Center of Miami Dade College and the HistoryMiami Museum. Picture are Deyanira Formental, left, and Siuleydde Rivera of IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company. (Photo by Mitchell Zachs-Knight Foundation /Courtesy IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company)
Since its founding in 1996, the IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Neri Torres, has been at the forefront of rescuing, presenting, and preserving Afro-Cuban culture in Miami.
The 2024 IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Festival, beginning Thursday, Aug. 8 through Saturday, Aug. 10 at the Koubek Center of Miami Dade College and the HistoryMiami Museum, is being presented with a thought-provoking theme, “The Joy of Dancing: The Embodiment of Freedom,” which unifies two terms linked to dance: joy and freedom.
“Throughout my career as a dancer, I have noticed changes in the way young people enjoy dance and in the way they socialize. I have also noticed that there are not many spaces available for middle-aged people to enjoy dance, which is sad because previous generations always loved going out dancing,” explains Torres, “and dancing is the best exercise for all ages.”

IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company from left, Deyanira Formental, Juinier Quintero, Giselle Molina and Siuleydde Rivera, at bottom. (Photo by Mitchell Zachs-Knight Foundation/Courtesy of IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company)
According to the founder, dancing has become the privileged position of a few specialized performers, and the rest have become static spectators. “Spontaneity and the sense of community that moving together implies and creates have been lost. Cuban culture, in particular, is based on motor skills; we dance on every occasion. We have transmitted this quality to the world, and I think it is necessary to rescue it and share it in these hectic times in which we live.”
That is what the festival is about, she says. “There must be a space for fleeting madness, freedom, and emotional transcendence to find motivation and meaning to our existence. Let us try to rescue that joy that is precisely the theme of the festival.”
This year, in addition to the dance and reflection spaces on Afro-Cuban dance, such as presentations and workshops, new proposals give the festival a quality of multicultural cohesion and diversity, ensuring that everyone feels included and valued, according to Torres.

Juinier Quintero with the IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company Afro-Cuban dance troupe in Miami led, by choreographer/dancer Neri Torres, photographed in the Miami Design District. (Photo by Mitchell Zachs-Knight Foundation/Courtesy of IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company)
“Understanding between cultures is part of IFE-ILE’s mission as an organization,” she says. “As part of that mission, we have collaborated with local artists and guests of different styles to reflect the diversity of Miami and our community and share our common points, especially what identifies us as humans.”
Among the guest artists in this year’s edition are Niurca Márquez, who has collaborated on many occasions with IFE-ILE and will teach a flamenco fusion class, and Ducarmel Sekou Desormeau, an instructor specializing in the Capoeira style.
Another distinctive feature of the IFE-ILE Festival is the participation of Cuban dancers, both established and new, in charge of workshops that characterize the event, which are dedicated to various aspects of Afro-Cuban dance.

Deyanira Formental, left, and Giselle Molina of IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company (Photo by Mitchell Zachs-Knight Foundation/Courtesy of IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company)
The workshops will cover a range of dance styles, from the traditional orichas Oyá and Yemayá to the contemporary Cubatón, ensuring something for everyone.
Members of the “old guard” of IFE-ILE, dancers Juinier Quintero and Yosvani González, who will also teach classes on Orichas, Rumba, and Palo, and Deyanira Formental, who will teach the Cubatón class, the contemporary style of Cuban reggaeton, among others, will also participate.
“I will teach a Cuban conga workshop, ‘as if it were nothing,’ on the subject of the joy of living,” shares Torres with noticeable enthusiasm.
Another festival program that should not be missed is the conference and demonstration “Cuban Rumba and Son: Cooking Transnational Salsa” on Thursday, Aug. 8, at the HistoryMiami Museum. It will be led by Yunielis Hernández, dancers from IFE-ILE, and introduced by Torres. Admission is free.
On Saturday, Aug. 10, at 8 p.m., the festival culminates with a gala presentation at the Koubek Center with a sample of various styles of Cuban dance.
Among the special guests at the closing performance will be Dance Heals from Philadelphia, who will perform in their second presentation in Miami, according to Torres.
“We recommend that the public come prepared to ‘walk the walk,’ ” she says.
IFE-ILE is approaching a fundamental milestone: its third decade of existence — a sum in time of tireless work and well-deserved successes. How does Torres feel about the imminent celebration of thirty years of the group?

From left, Deyanira Formental, Juinier Quintero, Siuleydde Rivera, Giselle Molina and Neri Torres, founder of the IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company. (Photo by Mitchell Zachs-Knight Foundation/Courtesy of IFÉ-ILÉ Dance Company)
“Time flies,” she says. “It seems like yesterday when I did my first performance with the group in West Palm Beach in 1994. Almost fresh from arriving, after having deserted a tour in Italy and with a tremendous desire to ‘take on the world,’ ” recalls Torres. “Sometimes I am too demanding, and I think I have not done enough to tell my story, which is that of all Cubans in exile, and to share our culture.”
However, she says there is something that gives her pause when she reflects on her career.
“I look back at the numerous press clippings and photos of my restless steps, of all the dancers who have just arrived and have knocked on my door, and I have welcomed them, and of the artists from other disciplines with whom I have collaborated, of the dreams I have realized in dance; I tell myself with a smile: we can always do more.”
WHAT: The 2024 IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Festival
WHERE: Koubek Center, 2705 SW 3rd Street, and HistoryMiami Museum, 101 West Flagler St.
WHEN: 2 to 4 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 8, lecture and demonstration at HistoryMuseum Miami, free admission). 8:30 a.m. to 5:50 p.m., Friday, Aug. 9 and 8:30 a.m. to 4:50 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 10, Afro-Cuban workshops, Koubek Center. 8 p.m. gala, 10 p.m., closing party, Saturday, Aug. 10, Koubek Center Theater.
COST: Performance, $20, general admission, $15, students and retirees with identification; Workshops, $115, $60, $40, $25,
INFORMATION: ife-ile.org/festival/
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