Born into a musical family, and surrounded by elders nostalgic for home, Puerto Rican music and dance were always a vibrant and active part of Ana María's life. From weddings to impromptu gatherings, she looked forward to family and friends bringing congas, cuatros, guiros, and maracas, and dancing to the rhythms of Puerto Rico all night long. As a young child, Ana María enjoyed playing percussion on "latas de galletas" (tins of Export Soda crackers) to the sounds of latin albums she would buy with her own allowance. As an adult, Ana María was inspired to bring her rich culture to life in Austin Texas so her baby son could know the joy of her childhood.
Tekina-eirú is Founding Executive and Artistic Director of the Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance & Cultural Center, founded in 1997 as an all volunteer-run, nonprofit 501(c)(3). It is the only cultural center in Texas and the four surrounding states affiliated with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture for the offering of authentic, high-quality cultural programming. Since 2001, achievement and quality has been validated by repeat support by the National Endowment for the Arts, including an NEA Chairman's Award (2007), the Texas Commission on the Arts, the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division, and the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.
As an expert resource on the mainland US for Puerto Rico's (PR) cultural traditions, Ana María regularly returns to La Isla for ongoing research and mentorship with generous folklore masters, and has co-directed and shared the stage with, Modesto Cepeda and Cimiento de Puerto Rico (2001), Los Pleneros de la 21 (2002), Joaquin Nieves Caldero and Guateque Ballet Folklorico de Puerto Rico (2003/2007/2010), J. Emanuel Dufrasne-Gonzalez and Nelie Lebron-Robles of Paracumbe (2004/2007), , William Cepeda with AfroBoricua (2005), Eric Gonzalez and Gibaro de Puerto Rico (2006), Tata Cepeda (2007/2011), El Concilio Taino (2008), Los Tambores de Felix Alduen (2009), and Tito Matos with Viento de Agua (2011). She has taken Bomba and Plena drum making workshops with Papo DelValle (2004) and Juan Fuentes (2004/2007), artisans who have made PRFDance's drums.
In addition to her ongoing training by Puerto Rican masters, Ana María has studied a variety of dance forms in New York and Austin, including classical ballet under Arletta Howard-Logan and Mexican folkloric dance under Roy Lozano, Chuy Chacon, Raymundo Guzman, and Jaime Guerrero (Monterrey, MX). Her past credits include mainstage performances on the Paramount and Zilker Hillside theatres with the Roy Lozano's Ballet Folklórico de Texas professional company (1993-1997) and character dance roles with Austin Dance Ensemble. She co-choreographed and danced in the Cenzontle music video "La Bruja" (1998). Tekina-eirú was named the Austin YWCA Woman of the Year for Arts (2005), and was recognized for her contributions to the Taino community with Areito Award for Dance and Theatre (2009). She is Director and Choreographer of PRFDance's performing company of dancers and musicians. She teaches traditional dance, music, Puerto Rican culture and history to youth and adults, as well as traditional games and songs, and the rudiments of rhythms and dance to preschool age children and their parents. Since 2005, Ana María has enjoyed creating original, bilingual and trilingual musicals (English, Spanish, Taino) that bring to light untold stories in Puerto Rican history, a blossomed skill under the mentorship of Rupert Reyes, Director of Teatro Vivo. Her works, featuring traditional to modern day Puerto Rican music and dance have included: "Pirates of Puerto Rico (2004)", "Puerto Rico Ever After (2004)", "Puerto Rico Mi Patria (2005)", "Piragua Man (2006)", "The Journey Back (2007), "Angelito Borincano (2008)", "Pa Mi Gente (2009)", "500 Years (2010)", "Boricua Beisbol (2011)".
Tekina-eirú began studying classical piano at the age of 5, her favorite graduate-school years studying with Russian pianist Natasha Snitkovsky. She taught herself to play guitar at age 11, and learned to play barriles and panderos with Modesto Cepeda. She is advancing on cuatro and guitar with Adam Rosario. Whether it's performance or prayer-time, Tekina-eirú enjoys playing and composing native music on Taino earth clay and bone flutes, and of course, plays both Taino ceremonial and folkloric maraca.
Tekina-eirú is a member of Concilio Taino Guatu Ma-cu A Boriken , a Taino pueblo in restoration. She is mentored in native leadership and traditions by the (Chief) Cacike Caciba Opil Veguilla. She is Tekina Suania -- a Teacher of native Taino traditions in the Americas, and a leader of ceremonial dance -- for El Concilio. She is Boycia (a spiritual leader) por derecho.
In addition to her artistic credits, Ana María holds a doctorate in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon. Since 2004 she has enjoyed combining her 20 years of experience in the high-tech industry with over 15 years of leadership, artistic creation and performance in the non-profit sector to deliver innovative workshops, presentations, and consulting services in STEM Education, Diversity Training, & Nonprofit Development through her private company Flametree Corporation.
Dr. Maynard's leadership skills are honed by her career at the IBM Research where she received a University of Texas Trailblazer Award (2003) for her development and 6-years of directing the $1M annual IBM Austin Center for Advance Studies research parternship program. Ana Maria is a Researcher at the IBM Research Human Ability & Accessibility Center, where she has filed numerous patents for her innovations in Globalization and Multilingual Support of Human Language Applications through Machine Translation.
Puerto Rican music and dance has always been a very special part of Tekina-eirú's life. She is very proud to share the joy of her rich traditions with her community, and hand down her cultural heritage to the next generation!
See also: Founding Director's "Business" Bio and her: Technical Vitae.