¡A Bailar!

Cristela Guerra is the Regional Manager for the South/Southwest for Report for America. They are also an award-winning arts and culture journalist, a queer Panamanian and often, a moderator leading conversations around books, identity, culture and whatever is currently floating in the zeitgeist.Until very recently, she worked for nearly seven years as a senior arts and culture reporter for WBUR. Before working in public radio, they worked as a newspaper journalist for more than a decade, working at The Boston Globe and The News-Press in Fort Myers, Florida.

She was one of 24 journalists selected to be a 2024 Nieman Fellow at Harvard. Their studies examined stories from the diaspora, including those of her own Panamanian heritage, the reasons that compel people to migrate and how those individuals maintain connections to their cultural identity.

Her work received a regional and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2014 and most recently received another regional Edward R. Murrow in 2023 as part of “Continuing Coverage” for her work at the U.S.-Mexico border on the journey of Venezuelan migrants. They were chosen as a 2019 Latina Leader by Amplify Latinx and selected by YW Boston to be inducted into its 2023 Academy of Women Achievers and receive the organization’s Sylvia Ferrell-Jones Award.

She previously served as the vice-president of the New England Chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and is currently on the board of RAW Art Works in Lynn, MA.

Dr. Shamell Bell is a global movement artist, scholar, and visionary cultural strategist whose work lives at the intersection of radical imagination, embodied activism, and unconditional love. She earned her Ph.D. in Culture and Performance from UCLA and recently completed a teaching appointment in Theater, Dance & Media at Harvard University. Her research and artistic practice center Black street dance forms like Krumping and Jerkin’ as radical tools for resistance, healing, and reclaiming public space. As an interdisciplinary scholar and documentary filmmaker, Dr. Bell explores the power of embodiment, collective freedom dreaming, and multimedia storytelling to disrupt oppressive systems and ignite transformation. Her social impact work in the entertainment industry includes collaborations with artists such as Common, Dominique Fishback, Lalah Hathaway, and Esperanza Spalding. She also served as Supervising Producer on the Emmy-nominated series Lessons in Chemistry. Dr. Bell is co-social impact director—alongside Ms. Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner—for Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist, a performance project responding to state-sanctioned violence. She organizes for economic justice with the Debt Collective as its Visionary Escalator, advocating for student debt abolition and debt-free college for all. Through her unique integration of street dance, breathwork, cultural history, and community organizing, Dr. Bell creates spaces for spiritual and political awakening. Whether in classrooms, on stages, or in the streets, she invites people to move together—spiritually, somatically, and politically—to heal, imagine, and build liberated worlds.

Eli Pabón is a multi-talented singer, dancer, lyricist, percussionist, educator, advocate, and arts curator. A Boricua born and raised in Boston to a family of performers, musicians, and educators, she grew up understanding the power of music and dance as tools for healing, resistance, education, advocacy, and community-building. Eli continues her family’s legacy by sharing her passion and lived experience through community engagement, teaching dance, percussion, and song, and performing and producing arts programming and events locally, nationally, and internationally. Her varied professional background includes leading youth development programs, working in radio and television, serving in the nonprofit sector, and directing a successful college transition program in partnership with an affordable housing development for many years. Eli is Co-Founder of Cocktail Hour and Queen Circe (Sir-See) Productions, curates the stages at Wake Up The Earth Festival, is Co-Director and active member of MetaMovements Artist Collective, and Founder of BOMBAntillana, where she cultivates and helps preserve communities of musicians and dancers grounded in community-building, education, cultural preservation, and advocacy.

Amanda Bravo, MA, BC-DMT, is a creative, expressive arts facilitator, and mental health professional who designs accessible, low-pressure creative experiences grounded in regulation, reflection, and choice. Her work prioritizes process over product and honors each participant’s autonomy, sensory needs, and lived experience.

Board-certified in Dance/Movement Therapy and trained in clinical mental health counseling, Amanda creates human-centered experiences that weave creative and body-based practices to support regulation, reflection, and connection—especially when words are hard.

Through ¡A Bailar! events, she offers art-based spaces that prioritize emotional safety, curiosity, and connection—no art experience required. Using familiar materials and trauma-informed practices, participants are invited to engage at their own pace, explore creative expression as a grounding tool, and leave with practical strategies they can carry into everyday life.

Grounded in studio art, movement, and community care, her approach blends expressive arts, art therapy principles, and community-centered care—making creativity feel approachable, supportive, and sustainable.

I am a proud Afro-Latina, born and raised in the Dominican Republic, who moved to Boston at the age of 12. Ballet became my anchor in that transition—something I carried from home and continued at Boston Ballet, a language my body already knew. I am grateful that, after all these years, dance is still one of my truest forms of expression, and I am honored to be part of this performance alongside my sister, Yvette Modestin.

I am a dancer, a mother, a rebel, an activist, a daughter, an auntie, a cousin, a social worker, a curator, a collector, and a lover of all things beautiful.
 

Carlos and Zarith from Lili Latin Dance present “Aun No Es Tiempo" a dynamic salsa cabaret performance that blends acrobatics with diverse salsa styles, creating a visually stunning routine full of passion, energy, and artistic expression.

Boston based DJ La Nena, is all about creating a feel-good atmosphere at every event she has the opportunity of playing music for. Growing up in a household deep rooted in Puerto Rican culture and with a mom who breathed and lived Latin music; DJ La Nena grew up to love and Appreciate genres like salsa, bachata and merengue. It was this first love of music and the lack of Latino representation she noticed in the city's night life, that drove her to buy her first mixer and teach herself the art of mixing beats. Now with over a decade of experience, her client List ranges from private events, boat cruises, weddings and nightclubs. "For me is all about making sure people have a good time and leave the dance floor happy having danced to their favorite song.

Javier Jeffer Cumbrera, a Havana Cuba native, is a renowned dancer, choreographer, and musician with expertise in a broad range of Traditional and Contemporary Afro-Cuban Folkloric genres. He is also an expert in Cuban Modern Technique and a variety of Cuban social dances including Rumba, Son, Casino and more! A graduate of Cuba’s National Arts School, he has had an extraordinary trajectory, achieving the titles of Primer Bailarin and Maestro at Cuba’s National Contemporary Dance Company and was selected as the lead choreographer and soloist for Madreagua Afro-Cuban Folkloric Music & Dance Theater, among others.He is thrilled to be a part of the MetaMovements Artist Collective, and having the opportunity to share his passion and his culture with the world.

MetaMovements is a collective of artists who came together through their shared passion for Latin dance & music, as well as their belief in the power of the arts as a tool for positive transformation, cultural exchange, and personal empowerment. They have diverse passions, skillsets, and artistic crafts -- allowing them to provide a wide range of services to uplift communities and celebrate the rich cultural history behind the art and dance styles they love so much. The collective members span multiple countries and remain united in their commitment to each other as well as their mission to create lasting social change.

Yvette Modestin- Lepolata Aduke Apoukissi- Empress Modest-I is a scholar, activist, writer, poet, abstract visual artist, storyteller and playwright, born and raised in Colon, Panama. Ms. Modestin was named one of “30 Afro Latinas You Should Know. ” She is Founder/Executive Director of Encuentro Diaspora Afro in Boston, MA. Ms. Modestin has been profiled by the Boston Globe as "The Uniter'' for her work in bringing the Latin American and African American community together and for her activism in building a voice for the Afro Latino Community. Yvette was named an “Influyentes” by SerTV in Panama for her advocacy in bringing attention to the struggle of the black communities in Panama with a focus on her home province of Colon. In March 2026, Ms Modestin performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Panamanian Pianist and Grammy Winner, Danilo Perez, Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Catherine Russell, as the writer, poet and narrator uplifting the African Routes of Panama. In January 2025 she was the narrator, poet of the Princess Orelia Collective at the 22nd Panama Jazz Festival. The all women band was directed by Patricia Zarate Perez. She presented a dedicated poem to Don Jose Masso at Boston first International Music Festival, centering the Afro Latino experience. Ms. Modestin is the co-founder of ReRooted Productions. In February 2024 she co-curated the art immersive exhibit, ReRooted; What’s Hair Got To Do With It? At the Museum of Science. In 2023 She was the co-playwright of the successful short play, Crown of Times. Ms. Modestin is one of the Boston Caribbean Artists featured in the mediatheque exhibit at the ICA. She is a member of Our Place Theatre. She wrote two short plays, I Am Black Too, that highlights the Afro Latina experience, and The Banana Tree which is dedicated to her father Felix Z. Modestin, speaks of his segregation experience growing up in the Canal Zone. She is featured in the award winning film, Faith in Blackness, and is one of the contributors to the newly released book, Daughters of Latin America.