Comparsa dancers Irene and Emelia Fernandez with their apprentices in Key West

Fieldwork

Apprentices

Teaching of folklore

Body movement

Clothing and dress

Arts, Cuban

Cuban Americans

Comparsa tradition

Dance

Dancers

Twenty-eight color slides. Irene and Emelia served as master artists of the comparsas dance for several apprentices. The comparsas tradition was revived by Emelia Fernandez in Key West. Danny Acosta led the band that accompanied the dances. The Cuban dance has African roots, and is usually performed in long conga lines. Dancers dress in elaborate, ruffled outfits. The tradition began in Key West in 1938. Emelia herself arrived in Florida in 1959. She and her daughter revived the dance tradition in the early 1990s. The Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program began in 1983 with a NEA grant of $22,000. The program provided an opportunity for master folk artists to share technical skills and cultural knowledge with apprentices in order to keep the tradition alive. Apprentices must have had some experience in the tradition and agreed to train for at least six months. The first project director was Blanton Owen, later replaced by folklorist Peter Roller. The program was continued each year through 2003.

State Archives of Florida, Series S1640

1991-07

Florida Folklife Program

slides (photographs)

Still Image

S1640

10

3

Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program

Stone, Robert, 1944-

Fernandez, Emelia, 1935-

Fernandez, Irene, 1962-

Cuban American

2230

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