“My work is inspired by my Puerto Rican heritage. May each layer draw you in mindfully, connecting you with the colors of my story.”
-Luis Cruz
Luis uses a large variety of subject matter, and we are fortunate to have his salsa dance art which add to the flavor of this issue.
Luis Cruz
(Jose’) Luis Cruz was born in 1953 in the little city of Cagues, Puerto Rico. At the age of three he immigrated to the United States with his family and eventually moved to Boston's North Shore in 1992 where he currently resides in the thriving arts community of downtown Beverly, Massachusetts.
His artwork can be found in galleries and restaurants of Beverly, the Rocky Neck Art Colony in Gloucester,and private residences across the North Shore.
Currently Luis nurtures his creativity by connecting with local artists and his community, the evidence is seen in his photography which combines his love of the North Shore with his passions for movement and color.
Not merely a band but also a mobile seminar on Latin and Caribbean music, Grupo Fantasia is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Angel Wagner. A Dominican native who began his musical career banging on a cheese grater with a fork, Wagner has since mastered more than 30 different instruments. With Grupo Fantasia, Wagner and his cohorts demonstrate mastery of Latin music in a great many styles: merengue, salsa, Latin jazz, cumbia, bachata and vallenato are but a few. You may also spot Mr. Wagner heading a mariachi quartet or a calypso/soca trio. And, as if that wasn't enough, Mr. Wagner also heads the Angel Wagner Musical Workshop, which gives students hands-on lessons in the sounds of the Caribbean and Latin America. Check the Fantasia website for more information, and learn as you dance.
II am inspired to bring African and Latin dance and drum into the area in such a way that a community of friends and artists is forming that can appreciate the culture, dance the movement, drum the pulse, enjoy the connection and share the experience. I want to train dancers and drummers from the beginner to the professional level who want to move and play in classes, in clubs, and in performances.
-Greg Coles
Through Greg's teaching you can discover the thread of of African dance into Latin dance. He explores the African diasporas out of Central and West African into the Latin and Caribbean worlds and the implications thereof for world rhythmic and dance expression.
Here's the MP3 of my Tango Elegy scored for clarinet and piano (there's also a slightly different arrangement for bassoon and piano). I had fun with it and hey, it's just another 3-minute tango. It's a nice little morose and somber work.
-Erik Lindgren
In case you haven't noticed, there's a tango craze is this country. Please enjoy the links below to learn more.
