Cultural Exchange – The Creative Fusion of Cuban and Cleveland Artists

In Summer 2017, as part of The Cleveland Foundation's Creative Fusion Project, in partnership with DANCECleveland, the acclaimed Cuban dance company Malpaso visited Cleveland to perform and be the featured guest artists for the CSU Summer Dance Workshop. This project's purpose was to investigate, assimilate, and participate in the Cuban Contemporary technique class with Malpaso providing a unique opportunity for CSU dance students to experience the Cuban technique of modern dance, a fusion of North American Modern Dance, European ballet, and traditional Afro-Cuban dances and rhythms. The CSU dancers and film student researched the roots of this Cuban dance form, interviewed the Cuban dancers on their experiences and training, and interacted in a close up and personal creative environment. This exchange was documented through writing, photography, video, and the kinesthetic experience of shared dance sequences which were used to develop an aesthetic expression of the information via the creation of movement compositions. The process was documented by the film student resulting in a visual archive reflecting this inter-cultural experience. The appreciation of the uniqueness of the art of dance as a non-verbal form of communication that easily crosses cultural boundaries became evident to the researchers, and will inform their future creative process work.