EDANCO Dance Festival Will Celebrate 15th Anniversary from September 23 – October 6

For a period of 14 days, Dominicans will enjoy excellent dance recitals, presented by national and international dance companies. In this year’s event, Spain will be the honorary country. Various Spanish dance troupes will participate during the two week event.

Santo Domingo, September 9, 2019 – The International Contemporary Dance Festival (EDANCO) will celebrate its 15th anniversary for 14 days between September and October of this year. During the past 15 years the Festival has presented national and international dance troupes for the enjoyment of local audiences.

In order to celebrate this important anniversary, Dominican choreographer and dancer Edmundo Poy, the founder of this cultural initiative, explained that along with his team they have prepared a special program for this year’s event, which will begin on Monday, September 23 through Sunday, October 6.

“EDANCO is celebrating this important anniversary and we want all dance and culture lovers to participate in the many events we have planned during this Festival.” He also explained that this year the natíon that will be honored is Spain, who will participate with various dance companies.

Other participating nations will be Mexico with two dance companies; the United States, with five; Colombia and Costa Rica with two; Croatia, Slovakia and Canada will also be represented.

This year a total of 18 international dance companies will participate in the annual festival. Altogether, there will be 20 presentations during the 14-day program. The program also includes workshops on Afro-Caribbean, contemporary, solos, duets, trios, dance theatre, performances, and other dance manifestations.

In order to involve young children in the world of dance, Edmundo Poy explained that this year the EDANCO Project will go to public and private schools to introduce them to some of these national and international dance groups. At the end of each presentation there will be a question and answer segment, where the students can learn much more about this cultural expression.

The program will also include a “Dominican Evening,” which will be dedicated to Dominican dance and music. Presentations will be on Friday 27 and Saturday 28th of September. The program will begin at 8:30 p.m. at the Palace of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo.

The “Youth Dance” segment will be held on Saturday, October 5, in two special presentations. One will be at 6:30 p.m. and the other at 8:30 p.m., also at the Palace of Fine Arts.

To make the program even more attractive and give the general public more opportunities to attend the EDANCO event, the presentations will be held during different hours. They will also be held at the Palace of Fine Arts, at the National Gallery of the Palace of Fine Arts, in “Casa de Teatro” and at the Spanish Cultural Center, both situated in the Colonial Zone.

Where Can I Purchase Tickets?
Tickets are RD$200 (the equivalent of US$4) and will go on sale September 15 in the venues previously mentioned.

Edmundo Poy Biography

Edmundo Poy began his dance studies with Dominican dancer and professor Lourdes Ramirez. Later on he studied with dancer and choreographer Eduardo Villanueva in the Modern Dance Workshop. He studied pantomime with maestro Rodolfo Lozada and the Graham Dance Technique with Orlando Shecker at the National Dance School in Mexico. There he had the opportunity of performing with excellent dancers, both from Mexico and the United States.

He was chosen through the American Dance Festival to participate in the ICR Choreographers Program, at Duke University, and as an invited guest on five separate occasions.

As choreographer and dancer, he has participated in the IMBA (Mexico) Dance Festival; in the Bento Goncalve Festival (Brazil); in the Fourth Cultural Festival of the University of Brazilia; in the Course on Video and Computers Applied to Dance (Holling University, Virginia); and in the First Antillean Festival in Puerto Rico. He has also participated in festivals in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti, Cuba and Mexico as country coordinator in the Central American and Caribbean Dance Project (CODACA).

In the Dominican Republic, he directed the Modern Dance Group of INTEC University, the Modern Dance Group of the CODETEL Telephone Company; and the Contempo Group in a prestigious dance school. He also headed the Pioto Group of Dominican Dance Theater. He also founded the “Encounter of Dominican Choreographers.”

He is currently president of the EDANCO Foundation, Maestro and Coordinator of Contemporary Dance at the National Dance School. Poy is also the director of the Festival of Youth Dance, held every year during the annual Book Fair of Santo Domingo and the Encounter of Contemporary Dance.