Helping the diaspora connect to its ancestors — through dance
For 15+ years I’ve moved audiences across the U.S. and beyond — on identity, belonging, and reclaiming heritage through ancestral movement.
Book Cynthia to speakI speak to what it means to belong to two worlds — and how dance carries us home.
As a professional dancer, dance educator and folkloric-dance scholar, I bring audiences into the double and triple consciousness of the diaspora — navigating cultural identity, bridging generational gaps, and reclaiming Indigeneity through the body. Grounded in research, told through story and movement.
De Aquí y Allá — a story of belonging
A four-minute personal film on growing up in the diaspora, my trip to Peru, and how dance brought me closer to my ancestors.
Three keynotes
De Aquí y Allá
My personal search for ancestors and belonging, from Queens to the coast, Andes and Amazon of Peru. Audiences navigate the double and triple consciousness of the diaspora — “ni de aquí, ni de allá” — and leave inspired to reclaim their heritages through ancestral dance.
Love Lessons from Tondero
A powerful matriarchal Afro-Indigenous society preserved love lessons inside a dance. As a longtime Tondero dancer, I share its philosophy as a healing mechanism to revitalize the heart, the senses and deep ancestral connection.
Kachkaniraqmi!
Reclaiming Indigenous heritage within the Latine experience — decolonization as a continuous act through dance. Land connection, ancestral memory, dance as resistance and birthright, and the Andean principle of Ayni: reciprocity and interconnectedness.
Bring this conversation to your stage
Conferences, universities, festivals, media. Let’s talk about your audience.