Come experience a day of dedicated to Reggaeton! The day will begin with a short performance by La Cultura Dance Collective followed by a panel discussing the history of Reggaeton and the space it holds in the culture today. Following the panel there will be three one hour Reggaeton/Urban Latin Dance Workshops designed for dancers at a variety of levels.
12 pm Beginner Reggaeton Workshop
1 pm Intermediate Reggaeton Workshop
2 pm Advanced Reggaeton Workshop
La Cultura Dance Co. is a performing arts collective dedicated to educating, elevating, preserving, and building an understanding of Urban Latin dance. Our mission is to showcase the beauty of the arts through CULTURE. Latin American and Urban Latin movement is influenced by a fusion of styles that have blended together throughout history to create the sound of music we listen to and know today, Reggaeton. Our movement includes styles such as Hip Hop foundations, House, Dancehall, Capoeira, Latin, African, Afro beats, Body Percussion and more.
“Emanuel “Manny” Chacon, a dancer and choreographer from Wilmington, DE. He has been dancing and touring professionally since 2016 with DC based company “Step Afrika!”, the first professional dance company dedicated to the art form of stepping. “Step Afrika!” is a top 10 African-American owned dance company. He had the honor to audition and become the first and only Latino in the company’s 25 year history. He has had the opportunity to perform and teach throughout 41 states and 10 countries during his tenure with the company. Most recently, he has been developing the company known as “La Cultura Dance Collective” (“The Culture” in Spanish). Their motto is to represent culture through rhythm and movement through performances, workshops, and arts education. His styles include Capoeira, Hip Hop, Reggaeton, Afrobeats, Stepping/Body Percussion, Gumboot, Zulu, and more. He prides himself and embraces his diverse exposure to movement. It has allowed him to develop a distinct style that reflects diversity and culture. Everything he has done through performance and arts education has been centered around culture, community, encouragement, and healthy living/fitness. That mentality and dedication has allowed him to see the world and perform with recording artists, Telemundo, Revolt TV, Vibe Magazine, M. Night Shayamalan, the US Embassy, conduct numerous workshops, and now bringing it back home to Wilmington, Delaware!”
“Fred Romano is an aspiring dancer and teacher, originally from West New York, New Jersey. After graduating high school, Fred joined a local dance crew called L.I.T.M (Lost In The Music) where he was introduced to various urban styles including hip hop, locking, popping and breaking house. After a year, Fred parted ways with L.I.T.M. and began dancing in the NYC commercial and underground scene. Here, Fred was exposed to a much higher level of urban dance and had the opportunity to dance with many big names in the NYC scene. Fred trained with Urban Dance League directed by Antboogie from “Amount Boys”. He has performed on BET and 106 and Park several times. Fred has also trained with Rhapsody James completing her Motivating Excellence program season 4. Fred is currently teaching, battling, auditioning and always striving to elevate his craft. Leading by example, Fred is living proof that with hard work, dedication, and passion, any dream is possible.”
“Jonathan Manuel Peña who is popularly known as Shwing is a young dancer who started his performance career in the rough and competitive yards of Greek life. He has won numerous step and stroll competitions and later on continued his passion for performing arts by pursuing dance. He has been dancing professionally as a commercial hip hop dancer for 3 year and has already toured with renowned choreographer J Romeo 2 times in both Miami and the Tristate Area. He is also a brand ambassador/Athlete for New York based Urban Dance League and has opened up for Urban Latin sensation Nicky Jam and performed for El Duo Perfecto. Shwing has performed on major televised programming like Telemundo and several music videos and is currently choreographing within the Urban Latin Reggaeton industry and teaching in the tristate area.”
This program is made possible by the Laffey-McHugh Foundation. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Support provided by the Center for Interventional Pain & Spine. In partnership with Guerrilla Republik.
