Cuban dance group Malpaso Dance Company will bring a vibrant, high-energy performance of modern dance center stage at 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater.
Established in 2012, Malpaso has become “one of the most sought after Cuban dance companies with a growing international profile,” according to the company’s website.
Laura Savia, vice president of performing and visual arts at the Institution, said she has been looking forward to welcoming the company to the stage for months.
“I’ve had the privilege of seeing Malpaso perform live a few times, and what I can promise our audience is a very vibrant, vital, dynamic evening of dance,” she said.
An associate company of Joyce Theater Productions, Malpaso has come to the Institution before as part of Chautauqua’s off-season residency program.
The Institution hosts a “robust” dance incubator program, Savia said, in which companies from around the world come to the grounds to workshop performances and develop new works. Malpaso has been in residence at Chautauqua during the off-season twice, in 2022 and in 2023, and has in turn played host to Chautauquans as program participants for a 2024 “Cuban Rhythms” Chautauqua Travels journey — one so popular a second one has been scheduled for February 2026.
“Of all the dance companies we have the pleasure of working with, the Malpaso and Chautauqua relationship most typifies what we’re going for when we build relationships with artists: a longitudinal, mutual relationship where we visit each other on each other’s turf, and we support each other and build community,” Savia said.
Malpaso and Chautauqua’s reciprocal relationship has created opportunities to foster community through performing art, and the company’s prolonged time on the grounds signifies just that.
“When our full summer audience meets them, encounters them on the Amphitheater stage, it’s going to be the culmination of a longstanding artistic relationship,” said Savia.
In addition to their performance during the evening entertainment series, the company will lead a class for students in the School of Dance, as well as a Special Studies class for participants of all experience levels.
Additionally, Chautauqua Dance Circle will host a preview before the mainstage performance at 7 p.m. tonight in Smith Wilkes Hall, during which Fernando Sáez, founder and executive director of Malpaso, will give a pre-performance talk.
“There are many ways that Chautauquans can engage more deeply with Malpaso while they’re here beyond simply attending the performance, which I hope everyone does,” Savia said.
To Savia, Malpaso’s performance and engagement at the Institution exemplifies Week Three’s theme of “Art in Action: Building Community Through the Arts” because the partnership runs so deep and the company’s activities encourage individuals of all backgrounds and experience levels to embrace dance.
“Community doesn’t just mean some elite group of artists; community is everyone,” she said. “I try to always look at our arts programming at Chautauqua through the lens of this deep belief that art belongs to everyone.”
