Rafael Palacios

Rafael Palacios is a Colombian choreographer and dancer dedicated to exploring the languages ​​of Afro-traditional, contemporary and urban dance. His experience as a dancer in Africa and Europe inspired him to create the Sankofa company, with which he created a vast repertoire of works that have been presented around the world, notably in Colombia, Jamaica, France, Spain, Canada, Brazil and Burkina Faso. Throughout his career, he has strived to develop training processes for teachers and dancers of all levels, as well as children.
He was appointed National Dance Advisor and Advisor to Colombia’s Afro-descendant Communities from 2009 to 2011, and oversaw the training of all dance instructors at the Ministry of Culture from 2007 to 2013. He received the national award of dance from the Ministry of Culture in 2008 for his work San Pacho … Blessed! and, as director of the Steps in the Earth project, he received recognition in 2010 from the UN for his contribution to the social inclusion of Afro-descendants in Latin America. He was invited in 2012 to be the artistic director of the dance performances organized in honor of the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena and was also the choreographer of the opening ceremony of the World Games in Cali in 2013.