The Essence of Us

Overview

The Essence of Us: Dance, Borders, and Belonging

DEL Facilitator: Ana Fragoso

Guest Artist: Pedro Ruiz

Saturday, September 19, 2026

1 PM–9:30 PM | $115, plus $20 processing fee

Dinner Included!

Inspired by the 92NY Harkness Mainstage Series’ Home: Departure and Return season, this immersive professional learning experience invites dance educators to explore home, belonging, identity, and borders through movement, dialogue, performance, and celebration.

The experience begins with a movement workshop led by choreographer Pedro Ruiz, who will introduce participants to repertory from The Essence of Us, his work created in collaboration with Malpaso Dance Company in Havana, Cuba. Participants will then engage in facilitated dialogue led by DEL Facilitator Ana Fragoso and explore how the themes of the work can inform their teaching, using the DEL Model to consider meaningful ways to bring questions of home, community, culture, and belonging into the dance classroom.

Then, we’ll gather around the table for dinner at Lolita’s Kitchen, just down the block from 92NY. Dinner is included in your ticket, offering dedicated time to connect, share, and build community with fellow dance educators.

The learning continues into the evening with a ticket to the Harkness Mainstage program, The Essence of Us: A Cuban Story, featuring Nel Shelby’s world-premiere documentary about Ruiz’s creative process with Malpaso Dance Company, alongside a live performance by Ballet Hispánico New York. The evening concludes with a post-performance Salsa dance party, with Cuban-inspired music, drinks, and dancing, offering participants an opportunity to continue connecting, moving, and celebrating together.

Together, the workshop, dialogue, performance, film, and dance party create a full-day experience centered on artistic exchange, embodied learning, cultural connection, and the power of dance to create belonging across borders.

Schedule: 

• 1-4 PM: DEL Workshop - Movement workshop with Pedro Ruiz, followed by facilitated dialogue and applications to dance education with Ana Fragoso 
• 4-4:30 PM: Break and transition to dinner
• 4:30-6:30 PM: Dinner at Lolita's Kitchen (Dinner included in ticket price) 
• 6:30 PM: Doors open for evening performance and screening
• 7-9: The Essence of Us: A Cuban Story, featuring Nel Shelby’s world-premiere documentary about Ruiz’s creative process with Malpaso Dance Company, alongside a live performance by Ballet Hispánico New York
• 9 PM onward: Afterparty including Cuban-inspired music, drinks, and dancing