Today we’d like to introduce you to Silvia Huddleston. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Raymi started 9 years ago as a group of friends that miss Peru. And we decided to learn more about the culture with Silvia Huddleston (artistic director she is folkloric art teacher and professional folkloric dancer). She traveled around the world sharing Peruvian culture and she ends performing at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988. It was very difficult in the beginning we only have 4 to 6 students. and we start growing little by little.
After 4 years of working hard to share Peruvian culture in Orlando 2018 Orlando Museum of Art opens its doors to us and we had our first event, we celebrate Peru’s Independence Day, and more people start looking to Raymi, 2020 we received a big help from a Donor Rolando Saenz Guerrero, he loves Raymi mission and helped us to register as a nonprofit under the direction of Sandro Portilla, Genesis Somoza, and Silvia Huddleston, finally we start to see a light on the tunnel.
2022 we called the “Raymi birth year”, because we received amazing news. We had been hired by CeCe Teneal to perform with her at the grand opening of Steinmetz Hall at DR Phillips Center after that show Raymi we had a meeting with DR Phillips Center for the Performing Art and they loved our work and mission and on July 23rd we were the first Peruvian culture organization performing in this magnificent place with our show “VOLVERE A BAILAR POR TI” “DANCING FOR YOU AGAIN” we received same night a Proclamation from Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings the day of our show as well Senator Rick Scott send us a letter congratulating our work.
This year 2023 we will come back on July 29th VOLVERE A BAILAR POR TI is coming back to celebrate our culture and Independence Day at Dr Phillips for the Performing Art.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
During all these years we found a lot of obstacles on the way many people reject our culture because they don’t know about Peru, or because some people don’t care about traditional culture. We didn’t have money to pay studio rent and we start rehearsals in living rooms, garages even parking lots. 2020 was a terrible year for the entire world and especially for Raymi.
Many of our dancers loss a family member to covid, and our director Sandro had been diagnosed with colon cancer and also lost his brother to cancer. Our entire world and lives turn upside down. We had to cancel shows classes etc, but the most important for us was that we never lost faith, God was with us all the time giving us support and guidance all the time during that year. After all that we start recovering and few people gave us that chance to show who we are, and we are thankful for that.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Raymi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating the rich culture of Peru through dance, music, theater, and other cultural expressions.
Under the artistic direction of Silvia Huddleston, a professional folkloric dance teacher, we are committed to cultivating a positive learning environment that promotes cultural inclusion and brings awareness to the history of all regions of Peru.
What makes you happy?
We are very proud to be Peruvian and make us happy that we are able to share our culture in this amazing country, especially in Orlando.
But as a Teacher, I’m very honored to teach our culture not just to Peruvians, we have students from Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombian and Americans. We are very excited that we received a Proclamation from Orange County Mayor, it makes us very proud to be Peruvian and live in this amazing country.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.raymidanceschool.org
- Instagram: @Raymi dance school
- Facebook: @Raymi dance school
Image Credits
Mike Dunn
