In the six short years since its establishment in 2012, Malpaso Dance Company has already become one of the most sought after Cuban dance companies with a growing international profile. Emphasizing a collaborative creative process, Malpaso is committed to working with top international choreographers while also nurturing new voices in Cuban choreography. The company tours with 11 dancers and is led by its original three founders; resident choreographer and Artistic Director Osnel Delgado, Executive Director Fernando Sáez, and dancer and co-founder Daileidys Carrazana. It is a group of dancers trained in the national dance and ballet schools of Cuba and that delves into different styles (modern, classic and contemporary). Malpaso stands out for its genius and singular style of choreographic performance. It is distinguished by the rigorous physical work of its dancers.
An Associate Company of Joyce Theater Productions, Malpaso — together with The Joyce— has commissioned original works from a number of prominent North American choreographers, including Ron K. Brown (Why You Follow), Trey McIntyre (Under Fire), Aszure Barton (Indomitable Waltz), and Emmy-award winning Sonya Tayeh (Face the Torrent).
As a means of foregrounding Cuban choreographers, Malpaso has also recently world-premiered works by company members Beatriz Garcia (Being (Ser)) and Abel Rojo (Carrying Floor), bolstering the list of long-toured pieces by Artistic Director Delgado, notably, Ocaso as well as 24 Hours and a Dog and Dreaming of Lions, which are often accompanied live by Grammy award-winning, Cuban-American composer/pianist Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble.
Most recently the company added Fielding Sixes by the legendary, late Merce Cunningham – adapted for 8 dancers and re-staged by Jamie Scott with new costume and lighting designs by David Quinn and Manuel Da Silva, respectively – and Tabula Rasa by world-renowned Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin to its repertoire. Naharin traveled to Cuba in spring of 2018 specifically to work one on one with Malpaso dancers to crystalize the re-staging of this seldom performed, 30 year old master work.
Liquidotopie by Argentinian choreographer Cecilia Bengolea – commissioned by International Summer Festival Kampnagel out of Hamburg-Germany in summer 2018 – rounds out the Company’s active rep.
Most recently Robyn Mineko Williams created Elemental on the company as part of a collaborative program developed with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, which premiered at the Auditorium Theatre in March 2018. Next up, Malpaso will acquire a specially extended version of Mats Ek’s solo, Woman with Water.
