Arts Advocates Luncheon: Why Are Classic and Contemporary Dance Unique?

Two artistic directors who built Sarasota dance companies from scratch share the lectern over lunch at the Sarasota Yacht Club in this Arts Advocates program. Ariel Serrano trained in Cuba's national ballet school system. With his wife, Wilmian Hernández, he co-founded the school that grew into the Sarasota Cuban Ballet, the first in the country devoted exclusively to the Cuban training method. Leymis Bolaños Wilmott co-founded Fuzión Dance in 2002 as the city's first professional contemporary troupe; it is now Sarasota Contemporary Dance. Each director traces the heritage behind the company, and dancers from both ensembles show where the classical and contemporary vocabularies part ways.