Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, also known as KYL/D, return to the Teatro Esperanza stage with a program that spotlights performances and choreography by company dancer, Keila Pérez-Vega.
Keila is a Puerto-Rican dancer who lives in Philadelphia. She has a passion for performing both modern and contemporary dance styles as well as Latin dancing such as salsa and bachata. Keila is also a dance instructor and has competed for and received world titles at the dance world championship forum called “The Summit.”
Kun-Yang Lin is the Artistic Director and Founder of Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (KYL/D). He is a world-renown dancer and choreographer. Lin first studied dance in Taiwan where he was born and raised. He formed KYL/D in 1998 in New York. In 2008, he moved the dance company to Philadelphia. The dance company’s choreography and performance styles combine both traditional Eastern arts and Western contemporary dance. Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers are one of Philadelphia’s leading modern dance companies. Keila Pérez-Vega joined Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers in 2016.
Here is what has been said about KYL/D performances: “The routines performed by KYL/D are not just for entertainment, they truly do take audience members on a ride to another world altogether. The show features spirituality in a highly physical way. Each movement speaks a beautiful language that you already understand, and every dancer embodies another beautiful layer of the human spirit. If you are looking to be moved, awed, and altogether stunned, head to [Teatro Esperanza} to experience the KYL/D.” – Molly Given for Metro.
For the performance on April 22nd, 2023, at Teatro Esperanza, Keila Pérez-Vega will be featured as a KYL/D solo performer. She will showcase “KyLin’s Garden.” This performance references K(un)Y(ang) Lin’s initials, and “the KyLin” –an Asian mythological creature that combines elements of five animals into one body.
Keila is honored because as she shared, “It’s going to be my first time doing a solo this year for KYL/D. We are celebrating 25 years since the dance company was formed. Lin asked me to perform the very solo that he performed at the start of the company. He’s never given it to anyone else.”
In Her Own Words
Keila’s Early Years: “I come from a very supportive Puerto Rican household. Both my parents are Puerto Rican. I grew up in North Jersey. As for my career choice in dance, my parents still have a recording of when I was seven years old saying that I wanted to be a dancer. That same year, my parents enrolled me in a dance studio. It was a small studio but that was when my passion for dancing was established. Further on, my father researched, found, and encouraged me to enroll in a performing arts high school. I received my BFA in 2015 at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.”
Why Contemporary & Modern Dance Styles: Keila shares that “contemporary and modern dance styles have always been my first love. At university, I dedicated myself into training my instrument. Joining a dance ensemble like KYL/D was a dream come true for me.”
Salsa and Bachata: Keila is a world dance champion along with her dance partner, Darlin Garcia. He is also the Artistic Director of Art in Motion, (AIM), located in Turnersville, New Jersey. They have participated and won titles at “The Summit” World Dance Championship for three years. Keila and Darlin won world champion titles in the Pro Cha Cha showcase (2020), Pro Salsa showcase (2021), and just recently in the Pro Bachata showcase (2023).
“Performing salsa and bachata is a way to connect me to my roots”
The Business Part of Art: Besides being a dance instructor and performer, Keila Pérez-Vega is a Marketing/Events Director at Koresh Dance Company as well as for KYL/D and ARTolerance. But the endeavor that brings her the most pride is having co-founded ARTSI, along with her husband, Pradhan Sharma. ARTSI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring audiences from everywhere together to enjoy art in unique ways and in unique spaces. ARTSI was created in 2018 with the goal in mind of giving local artists a platform to showcase their work by transforming spaces at prices that are affordable to audiences yet profitable for the artist.
One gets the sense that Keila Pérez-Vega has a life mission to accomplish and that she’s doing everything in her power to achieve it. She aims to help audiences and artists alike take part in enjoying life through art because as she puts it, “art has a wonderful way of seeing the world through a different lens, to explore ideas, to challenge notions, and to better understand our part in it all. Art can move, inspire, provoke, and empower.”
Come join Keila Pérez-Vega and company on April 22nd at 7:30 PM at the Teatro Esperanza and be inspired, provoked, and empowered through her performance.
Teatro Esperanza is located at 4261 N. 5th Street and Bristol in the Hunting Park area of Philadelphia.
For tickets and information about the Teatro Esperanza performance on April 22, 2023 go to: https://www.esperanzaartscenter.us/event/kun-yang-lin-dancers/
