Our physical location in East Austin is home to Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance (PRFDance), our performing company of dancers, musicians, and juniors who perform throughout the year. We share Taino culture and living traditions through Yukayeke Yara Cu (Tribe of the Sacred Place) - our Taino yukayeke of blood descendants and Guaytiao (friends). Our achievement and quality have been validated since 2001 by annual support from the National Endowment for the Arts (most years), including an NEA Chairman's Award (2007), Texas Commission on the Arts, the City of Austin Office of Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment (ACME), and Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (since 2011). A Bloomberg Philanthropies award in Arts Innovation and Management helped us grow our Board (2018-2022). In collaboration since 2001 with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, our formal affiliation in 2005 named us Puerto Rico's Ambassadors in Texas and the Southwest.
We are a community bonded like Family, under an umbrella of Puerto Rican folklore and Taino arts. Our programs are open to all who wish to experience the joy of our music and dance. It takes a village to raise a child; we are that village, for them and for each other. You must travel to faraway places like Chicago or New York City to enjoy another center like ours! Through our multipurpose facility in East Austin, we serve the community with ongoing performances and events, 10 weekly programs in folklore and opportunities to learn Taino arts. Our center includes indoor and outdoor areas where free, monthly folkloric performances and Taino gatherings attract tourism and give our greater community opportunity to participate in music and dance.
Enjoy our video slideshow below!
Our Programs
Trained by Island Masters,
our center is a focal point in the Southwest for
ongoing classes and joyful programs that draw tourists to our city.
Puerto Rico has a rich ancestry based in Taino, West African, and Spanish roots.
We are the only center on the Mainland with expertise to
authentically teach and present the full cross-section of Puerto Rico's folklore
-- Afro-Boricua (Bomba, Plena), Mountain (Jibaro), Salon (Danza),
martial arts (Cocobale) -- as well as Taino music and dance (Areyto).
We spiral Puerto Rico's history with arts to offer ongoing programs in folkloric music, dance, percussion, martial arts, community theatre, and Taino arts. Our programs include both informal inhouse performances and mainstage productions that give students of all ages -- preschool through professional adults -- an opportunity to participate. Since 2001, we provide annual training and performance opportunities with Puerto Rican masters direct from the Island. We bring special workshops to local schools including K-12 and colleges.
Since 2004, we create original bilingual plays based in oral history that honor unsung heroes and bring to light forgotten elements of Puerto Rican history. Featuring live music and dance, these community theatre musicals give opportunity for beginners to perform with professional actors, and provide seasoned professionals a platform to develop multidisciplinary skills.
Our center is a sanctuary for the rapidly growing Puerto Rican community in Central Texas. In the spirit of our welcoming ancestors, we adopt anyone who wants to join! Our multipurpose facility makes it possible to expand our outreach beyond performing arts to grow community through interactive picnics with live music and dance; important holiday celebrations (Octavitas with the Reyes Mago); workshops that pass-on childhood games (trompos/tops); and ancestral sports (Taino Batu ballgame).
Since 2008, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's educational program teaches Taino history, language, arts, crafts, and more. Our Taino - Yukayeke Yara Cu (Tribe of the Sacred Place) - shares free gatherings that give everyone opportunity to participate in Taino Areyto (music, dance, and song), games (Batu ballgame), and more.
Our History & Accomplishments
Founded in 1997 with a single class in folkloric dance, today we are
a world-class center dedicated to Puerto Rican folk and Taino arts
programs that serve the community at-large and attract tourism.
Since 1997, PRFDance has produced artistically acclaimed programming, including our annual Celebrando Salsa & Heritage Festival ($25K/year) featuring performances by Masters of Puerto Rican folklore, handcraft artisans, comida criolla (food), and dancing for all. Our three-dancer company which debuted in 1998 is now a 20-member, multi-generational company of dancers, musicians, and juniors.
Our founding program of adult-dance was joined by youth classes in 2001. Today we offer 10 ongoing and weekly programs to students and professionals in folkloric dance, music, martial arts, community theatre, trainings with invited masters, and Taino arts. In 2004 we created our first original musical for community theatre. Featuring live music and dance, our annual plays honor unsung heroes and share oral history from Island elders who remember an undocumented past.
In 2006 we renovated an industrial space in East Austin to host our programs. In operation since 2006, this multipurpose facility hosts almost all of our public programs, and provides a platform to experiment with new program ideas that could further serve the community at-large and attract tourism.
In September 2024, our performing company, Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance, released our 1st Album entitled - Areyto Le Lo Lai - a fusion of musical genres including Taino, Jibaro, Flamenco & Bomba, with special guests Irvin Santiago (cuatro), Ricky Villanueva (guitar), Isai Chacon (flamenco guitar), and Taino flutes and drums. Our Album, released on Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Spotify, and Apple Music includes 2 (of 40+) songs, written by Tekina-eirú. There will be more!
In collaboration since 2001 with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, our formal affiliation in 2005 named us Puerto Rico's Ambassadors in Texas and the Southwest.
Our Community
We welcome all who want to be part of our community! Each week, students drive from 2 hours away to participate in our hard-to-find programs. It takes a village to raise a child; we are that village, for them and for each other. We live that proverb by mentoring students and encouraging family-unity through shared performance experiences. Through our programs people are discovering the healing power of music and dance. Our volunteers develop real-world skills in leadership, teaching, business administration, marketing, and computer-based business applications. Youth develop leadership skills and confidence through company apprenticeship and student-teaching. We are an oasis where ancestral values are alive -- community elders are encouraged to participate, share their wisdom and pass on oral history.
Thanks to our internet presence and social media outreach, our events serve Austin tourism -- upto 40% of our audience are tourists from other Texas cities (Dallas to Brownsville) and other states. Active since 1997, our website is an educational resource for the world-wide-web community. Through Facebook (14,000 subscribers/followers across Director and business pages) we educate and entertain a virtual community through daily posts and conversations. Our visibility on the world-wide-web has made us a resource for Puerto Ricans travelling or moving to Central Texas.
Music and dance are a very important part of Puerto Rico's history. In 2005, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture named us Puerto Rico's Ambassadors in Texas and the Southwest. We are proud to share the arts with our community and hand them down to the next generation!
Enjoy our History Timeline & Future Plans!
Mission & History - Video!!
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