From the Archives

Moderator 

Dr. Washington is a cultural anthropologist, curator, and practicing dancer specializing in museum curation, experiential education, and expressive arts of the Americas. His curatorial work has been reviewed positively by media outlets such as the New York Times, British Broadcasting Company (BBC), ARTE (Europe), New York Post, UN Web TV, UN News Center Chinese, El Especialito, Huffington Post, Le Monde (France), UN Department of Global Communications, UN News, and National Broadcasting Company (NBC).

Mr. Washington is the curator of Dreams & Defiance: A World Re-Imagined, an interactive program series taking place at institutions such as 92nd Street Y, New York University, and forthcoming exhibition that explores the links between continents. In 2021, at the National Jazz Museum, he created an evening length presentation/film that shared the socio-cultural links between jazz, Latin music, Afro-Cuban music, and different dances. He co-leads Urban Stomp: From Swing to Mambo. A multinational, collaborative of artists, the project includes a documentary short film in historic and iconic spaces and the basis of an article and evening-length lecture-performance at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the summer of 2019. Aspects of the multidisciplinary curriculum are taught by means of various United Nations agencies in the present.

Guest

Originally from St. Louis, MO, and influenced greatly by the Jazz music scene, Candice Michelle Franklin of Jazz Ain’t Dead™, is a New York-based professional dancer, choreographer, and producer who has been seen in numerous films, TV shows, music videos, industrials, and, of course, on the live stage performing in plays and dance companies. She has a B.A. in Fine Arts majoring in Dance on four-year scholarship, studied on scholarship at Steps on Broadway, trained in St. Louis at Missouri Concert Ballet, and, upon invitation to New York, received her conservatory training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She now owns The Pro DANZ Group, Inc. in which she oversees the choreography of several performance groups and artists. 

Her work has been performed at Jacob Javitz Convention Center, The Syracuse OnCenter, MTV/Viacom, Capitale, The Kumble Theater, National Black Theater, Symphony Space, Joyce SoHo, Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAM Cafe, Webster Hall, The SPACE at Westbury, Stage 48, The Theater of Riverside Church and New York’s City College, as well as numerous casinos on the east coast such as Turning Stone, the Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Tropicana, Borgata, and Caesar’s.

Guest

Frankie Martinez is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and progressive Latin dancers of his generation. His exploration into the Afro-Caribbean roots of performance art, as well as the choreographic possibilities native to Latin/Afro-Latin dance, positions him as one of the foremost authorities in the genre. In 2000, Frankie established the Abakuá Afro-Latin Dance Company. Within months of its inception, Abakuá gained notoriety within the Latin dance community and ultimately, the performing arts community at large.

To date, Frankie Martinez and Abakuá have performed and taught in over 50 cities and over 20 countries worldwide. They have produced full-length, concert dance productions in New York City and have performed at prestigious venues such as Madison Square Garden, Roseland Ballroom, Lincoln Center, Aaron Davis Hall, Jacob’s Pillow and SummerStage.

Frankie is also the founder of the Afro Latin Funk Method, a concept which answers the question, “What would Latin dance be if a disciplined training method were applied?” Renowned for his work as a dancer, choreographer, and educator, Frankie continues to dedicate himself towards the elevation of Afro-Latin dance and to its recognition as a legitimate art form.