NERI TORRES

Artist, choreographer, performer, lecturer, and scholar NERI TORRES is a native of Havana, where she studied at Instituto Superior de Artes and Escuela Nacional de Instructores de Artes. After relocating to the United States, she received an MFA in dance and a minor in film from the University of Colorado, Boulder. An assistant professor of dance at the University of Texas, El Paso, she is also the founder and artistic director of the Miami-based IFÉ-ILÉ Afro-Cuban Dance Company, whose repertoire combines traditional with contemporary dance. Torres has worked on numerous international tours, film, television, and stage productions with renowned artists such as Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan, and is the primary editor of the book “Perspectives on Dance Fusion in the Caribbean and Dance Sustainability: Rituals of Modern Society.” Currently, she’s a doctoral candidate in cultural studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill, Barbados. Her research focuses on dance and migration, dance in popular culture, multimedia performance, cultural appropriation vs. appreciation, and Caribbean dance. In March 2013, she received the State of Florida Folk Heritage Award from Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner for her significant contributions to Florida’s cultural heritage through her outstanding achievements as a performer and advocate of Afro-Cuban traditional dance.