About Rebecca Bliss

Rebecca Bliss is a performer, choreographer, and educator specializing in dance traditions from Cuba. After receiving her initial training in modern and classical dance at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Rebecca traveled to Cuba several times to train with members of prominent national dance companies, including Conjunto Folklorico Nacional, Yoruba Andabo, Ban Rra Rra, Afro-Cuba de Matanzas, and Ballet Folklorica Cutumba, and with professors from the Instituto Superior D'Arte in Havana. In January 2009 Rebecca received a Masters degree from the Gallatin School, New York University, completing her thesis on a decade of learning, teaching, and performing the African-based dances of Cuba.

Rebecca has taught and performed in a wide variety of settings, including universities, public art spaces, after-school programs, and nightclubs, in addition to offering ongoing community classes for six years at El Taller Latino Americano in Manhattan. Recent teaching and performing engagements include: workshops at Barnard College and Sarah Lawrence College, a six-week teaching and performing residency at the Lexington School for the Deaf, and six years as a dance facilitator at the El Puente Academy for Peace and Social Justice in Brooklyn.

Rebecca has appeared as a guest artist with Max Pollak's Rumba Tap in recent performances at Central Park Summerstage, DROM NYC, and at Judson Memorial Church. In addition, she performs traditional and contemporary Afro-Cuban dance with Grupo Ara Oko, and has worked as both a dancer and consultant with choreographer Sita Frederick/Areytos Performance Works. She has presented her own choreography, an integration of contemporary dance with Afro-Cuban folkloric and popular dance, at New York University, Sounds of Brazil (S.O.B.s), the Village Underground, and Drom NYC.


Additional dance training includes: Cuban salsa with the pioneer of the local Cuban salsa movement, Karim Noak, African Contemporary dance with New York based artist Ronald K. Brown, Ballet with Merceditas Mañago-Alexander and Beth Goheen, and participation in several summer intensives, including the Jacob's Pillow Cultural Traditions Program, and a two-month professional training hosted by Germaine Acogny and her company Janti-Bi in Senegal, West Africa. She is the 2003 recipient of the Brooklyn Arts Exchange "Pass it On" award for excellence in arts education.