About Malpaso Dance Company
Since its establishment in 2012, Malpaso has 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 12 dancers and is led by its three original founders: resident choreographer and Artistic Director Osnel Delgado, Executive Director Fernando Sáez, and Associate Artistic Director Daileidys Carrazana.
An Associate Company of Joyce Theater Productions, Malpaso—together with The Joyce Theater—has commissioned original works from a number of prominent North American choreographers, including Ronald K. Brown (Why You Follow), Trey McIntyre (Under Fire), Aszure Barton (Indomitable Waltz; Stillness in Bloom), Tony and Emmy winner Sonya Tayeh (Face the Torrent), and Robyn Mineko Williams (Elemental). Elemental was developed as part of a collaborative program with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and had its world premiere in 2019 at the Auditorium Theatre.
The company continues to tour works by Artistic Director Osnel Delgado, including Ocaso, 24 Hours and a Dog, and Dreaming of Lions, which are often accompanied by Grammy-winning Cuban-American composer and pianist Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble.
As part of its commitment to Cuban choreographers, Malpaso’s repertory includes works by company members Daileidys Carrazana (Lullaby for Insomnia) and Beatriz Garcia (Being [Ser]).
In recent seasons, the company has added works by three legendary choreographers: Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, and Merce Cunningham. Ek’s woman with water was learned alongside dancers from the Royal Swedish Ballet and premiered on Malpaso in Havana in 2021. Naharin traveled to Cuba in the spring of 2018 to work one-on-one with Malpaso dancers to restage his seldom performed 30-year-old masterwork, Tabula Rasa, while Cunningham’s Fielding Sixes was adapted for eight dancers and restaged by Jamie Scott as part of the choreographer’s centennial celebration.
Malpaso Dance Company has shared its work with audiences around the United States at such prestigious venues as The Joyce Theater, The Kennedy Center, Music Center, American Dance Festival, and Jacob’s Pillow, and around the world at the International Summer Festival Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany, and the Belgrade Dance Festival. The company made its debut in Paris at the Champs-Elysées Theatre in March 2022.
