7 days until #DanceWeekend21! Meet Jose Carret: Cuban born award winning choreographer, principle dancer and educator, with more than 60 works created and performed in Canada and around the world. “Since I moved to Canada my goal has been to share my Cuban Heritage with the Canadian dance scene.”
Jose will be leading a workshop on basics of the popular Cuban dance Salsa on Sun May 2nd at 6pm! This workshop is presented in partnership with the TD Salsa in Toronto Festival
Get your ticket to DanceWeekend’21 HERE. See the full DanceWeekend’21 schedule HERE.
Read more here:
1. Can you tell us little bit about yourself/company/collective/school?
I am a Cuban born, former Awarded Principal Contemporary Dancer and Choreographer, with more than 60 works created and performed in Cuba, Spain, England, Mexico, Guadalupe, Saint Cristobal and Canada amount others. I am a dance Educator and the Artistic Director of Danza Corpus (Cuba) Danza Corpus Canada,TEADE (International Dance Intensive in Cuba) The Carret Dance Conservatory (Canada), Guest artist with Ballet Creole Canada since 2008, The University of North Carolina School of the Arts ( Winston-Salem USA) ( 2015-16) Decidedly Jazz Dance Works (2005) Dance Immersion (2012) I am a member of Dance Ontario and the International Dance Council( CID) UNESCO.Since I moved to Canada my goal has been to share my Cuban Heritage with the Canadian dance scene.
2. What will you be sharing at DanceWeekend’21?
At DanceWeekend’21 I will share my expertise and knowledge on Cuban Popular Dance.
3. How has the pandemic shifted your work as a professional dance artist?
During these last months I got to adjust to teaching online, however, I have missed the creation process with dancers in a studio setting . It has been a new discovery that through ZOOM we can still dance together. The more positive fact that happened to me was that due to COVID- 19, my international summer intensive TEADE that normally takes place for a week in Cuba was cancelled, and for the first time we have an online International version with a great success! 53 participants from 13 different countries joined. We have the priceless collaboration of 14 guest artists from Canada, Spain, Africa, Argentina Cuba and Venezuela who donated their time and taught amazing dance work shops in the different styles of dance we offered (Ballet Contemporary Dance, Cuban Modern, Cuban Popular Dance, South Asian Dance, Argentinian Tango, Flamenco, Hip Hop, Jazz, African Dance, Caribbean Contemporary and Afro-Cuban Dance) We also organized an international dance conference with artistic directors and dance professionals. Then, I also directed a winter version of TEADE with a final con ference where new guest artists, companies and schools that joined from USA , Ger many, Canada and West Africa.
4. Please share what you are most looking forward to at Dance Ontario’s first virtual DanceWeekend?
I am going to teach one of the Cuban Popular Dances: Salsa. I want to share with our community inToronto one of our most popular dances, and it will be a great first time to collaborate with Dance Ontario during the first virtual DanceWeekend.
5. Do you have any up-coming performances/workshops/events you would like to share?
We are going to start Online Children Dance Classes, introducing ballet and contemporary dance for children 8 years old up. Also we will offer Online Cuban Popular Dance classes for all ages. This year will be the 30th anniversary of my professional dance career and I hope to be cel ebrating it during the tenth anniversary edition of TEADE 2021( International Summer Dance Intensive) I founded in Matanzas, Cuba .
6. In 1 or 2 sentences, what does dance mean to you?
Dance is a vital space for my soul because dance is an important place where I express my deeper feelings and ideas.Through dance I have found incredible forms, language, perception, sensation, balance, and creativity.