Ramón Ramos Alayo is a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and the founder and artistic director of Alayo Dance Company and CubaCaribe. He was selected by the Cuban government to study dance in Santiago de Cuba at age eleven, which led him to earn a master’s degree in contemporary and folkloric dance and dance education from Havana’s Escuelas Nacionales de Arte. He was a principal dancer with Danza del Caribe and Narciso Medina Contemporary Dance Company, and has performed in Cuba, Europe, Canada, Belize, and the United States. Since moving to California, he has performed with some of the most respected choreographers in the Bay Area, including Robert Henry Johnson, Kim Epifano, Sara Shelton Mann, Joanna Haigood/Zaccho Dance Theatre, and Robert Moses’ Kin. Alayo currently teaches Cuban popular dance, Afro-Cuban modern dance, and children’s movement at several local dance studios and schools.