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Board, Staff & Volunteers
[Spring 2012]

PRFDance is an all-volunteer-run, nonprofit 501(c)(3). We thank all who contribute time and talents to advance our cultural mission.

Educational Staff

Dr. Ana Maria Tekina-eirú Maynard
Founding Director and Choreographer
Teacher - Traditional Dance, Music, Cultural Traditions, and Coqui Class
Read Full Bio

Dr. Ana María Tekina-eirú Maynard is a proud blood descendant of the native Tainos who call the island Boriken. Tekina-eirú founded Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance in 1997 as an all volunteer-run, nonprofit 501(c)(3), and since then, has become an expert resource on the mainland US for Puerto Rico's cultural traditions. She regularly returns to La Isla for research, ongoing training and mentorship with generous folklore masters, and is honored to have co-directed and shared the stage with Modesto Cepeda and Cimiento de Puerto Rico (2001), Los Pleneros de la 21 (2002), Guateque de PR (2003/2007/2010), Paracumbe (2004/2007), William Cepeda with AfroBoricua (2005), 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).

Tekina-eirú is Founding Executive and Artistic Director of the Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance & Cultural Center, and Director and Choreographer of PRFDance's performing company of dancers and musicians. Since 2005, she has enjoyed creating annual, original trilingual musicals (English, Spanish, Taino) that bring to light untold stories in Puerto Rican history. Ana María enjoys playing a variety of instruments, and teaches traditional dance and music, Puerto Rican culture and history to children and adults.

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.

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. She 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.




Karolina Arocho
Junior Company & Youth Dance Teacher
PRFDance Company Dancer

Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico and raised in "EL pueblo del Grito " Lares, Puerto Rico. Her town's history and the people has greatly influence her cultural and musical experience. Since she was little girl, she has demonstrated her love for music and talent for dancing. She has danced for the following dance companies: Ricky's Dance Academy (Jazz), X-treme Dancers (Pop, Reggeaton, Hip Hop) , UPRAG Dancers (University of Puerto Rico) and N'Point (Jazz, modern dance, ballet). She has enjoyed salsa classes with Ivette Sosa (Lares, Puerto Rico), and currently takes dance classes in St. Edward's University, when she is not studying Pre-Law. Karolina is pursuing a career in Criminal Justice; her family and experiences motivate her to pursue her dreams. But thanks to her passion for her culture she continues to enjoy sharing her talent with kids and adults who love Puerto Rican culture. Karolina moved to Texas in 2009 to attend college. "Failure is not an option" is her personal motivational phrase. She believes that the ultimate measure of leaders is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy. She wants to be a role model for youth and teach them that the only obstacles in life are the ones that they don't try to overcome! Karolina is a member of PRFDance's performing company dancers and teaches the PRFDance Junior Company & Intermediate/Advanced Youth Dance classes. She also supports the Boricua Jazz (fusion dance) class and on select semesters teaches Boricua-Robics, aerobics to the Puerto Rican music and movements the world loves.




Zera Thompson
Boricua Jazz Teacher
Board Secretary, Company Photographer & Marketing Graphics Artist

Zera Thompson was raised in San Marcos and San Antonio, TX. She attended St. Phillips College in San Antonio, TX. (1992-1993) and afterwards moved to Austin to work for Dell Computer Co. (1993-1999). In 2000 she moved to Round Rock, TX. She is currently continuing her education in the Photography program at Austin Community College in Austin, TX. Zera's children have danced in PRFDance's youth programs. Zera also has many other talents, including event planning, culinary, marketing, and photography, all of which she shares with PRFDance. Zera has been with PRFDance since Spring 2004, and has been serving on the Board & Staff since 2005. A freelance photographer since 2004 (Imajinu.com), Zera contributes her talent and expertise in Artography as PRFDance's Company Photographer and in the creation of artistic content for website and advertising. She believes wonderful memories last forever with the perfect picture. Thanks to Zera, we have many wonderful memories to enjoy over and over again! With so many talents to share, Zera also teaches Boricua Jazz.




Maria Mercedes Tureyguanani' Maynard
Beginner Youth Dance Teacher
PRFDance Company - Dance Apprentice

Tureyguanani' is an honor roll student who loves all her subjects and proudly serves in her middle school's Student Council. In her spare time, she enjoys creating art of all kinds and taking Ballet and Jazz dance classes. Participating with PRFDance since the age of four, Maria is a member of the Junior Company. As an Apprentice with the Adult Company she enjoys taking workshops and sharing the stage with Masters direct from Puerto Rico (see Mom/PRFDance Director's bio). In the Fall, she enjoys dancing, singing, playing the recorder, and acting in PRFDance's original trilingual musicals that bring to light untold stories in Puerto Rican history. Each summer, Tureyguani' enjoys very real and "offstage" experiences when her Mom takes her to Puerto Rico to dance Areytos on the beaches, in the mountains, and on the bateys (ceremonial grounds) with their Taino pueblo El Concilio Taino Guatu Ma Cu a Boriken. When called on, Tureyguanani' enjoys taking on small, beginner-level administrative assignments in PRDance's volunteer business office. Her good organizational skills and thoughtful conscientiousness about everything she does is much appreciated! In 2011 Maria was named Assistant Teacher for Youth Folklore Dance, a position that has formalized her continuous sharing of the joys of folkloric dance with beginner-level children, through her in-the-classroom, sweet but disciplined teaching style.




Gerard Guayacani' Villanueva
Lead Percussion Teacher
PRFDance Musicos - Lead Percussionist

Gerard, a native of Austin, has been studying and playing folkloric and popular styles of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, and Brazil for 20 years. In addition to attending Master workshops hosted by the Puerto Rican Folkloric Ensemble he has taken numerous classes with folkloric music masters Jorge Alabe, Mark Lamson, and Micheal Spiro. He has been an active member of ensembles and groups in Austin and San Antonio the past 20 years including Dance Adjae, a Haitian percussion and dance group, and Academicos de Opera, a Brazilian percussion group which plays the Carnival Brasileiro every year for Mardi Gras in Austin. He has been a member of the PRFDance Musicos since 2005 as lead percussionist and teacher. Forever a student of rhythm, he considers learning from and playing alongside Puerto Rican folklore masters like Guateque, Felix Alduen Y Sus Tambores, and Paracumbe' a highlight of experience.




William Manayani Maynard
Percussion Teacher
PRFDance Musicos - Jr. Musico

When William began to play perfect clave at 18 months, his family knew he was born to play percussion. With continuous banging on every flat surface of the house, William is very advanced for his years, and, today is a Jr. Musico with PRFDance's professional company Musicos and teaches percussion. William has been around PRFDance his entire life. By PreTeen he already had the privilege of being inspired by live performances and workshops in percussion and drum-making with Modesto Cepeda, Pleneros de la 21 with Tito Matos, Juan Fuentes, Papo Del Valle, Victor "Tico" Fuentes, the Concilio Taino Guata-Ma-Cu A Boriken, Los Tambores de Felix Alduen, and Tito Matos, to name a few. The air crackles with electricity when William plays Bomba, Plena, and Taino traditional rhythms. His rhythm and strength has grown and expanded beyond Puerto Rican folklore under the ongoing teachings of Gerard Guayacani' Villanueva, especially in the areas of Latin/Afro-Cuban rhythms (on congas, bongos, timbales, small percussion) and more. In middle school, William won scholarships to band camp two years in a row, and was the Honor Band First Chair for percussion by the time he graduated. In High School, William is an extremely proud member of the Drum line, and continues to learn marching percussion as well as latin jazz. During Spring/Summer 2011 William served as Senior Patrol Leader of Boy Scout Troop 511, which put him in charge of 100 boys and all their troop functions for six months.




David Bo Ili Suani Maynard
Percussion Teacher
PRFDance Music Ensemble & IT Services

David Maynard is the President & Chief Technology Officer of OutServ (outserv.net), and a technical and business leader with over 15 years of experience in the design, engineering, delivery, and management of innovative information technologies. OutServ helps small and mid-sized businesses keep their technology infrastructure running smoothly. Their World-class IT operations provide inkind IT services to PRFDance. David was instrumental in developing the technology to build the first modern ISP. He integrated bootp, gated, cslip, and many other systems into a custom ISP terminal server years before such capabilities were available off-the-shelf. David added dynamic IP routing capabilities to allow dialup customers with static IP addresses to use shared modem banks. Prior to this, dialup customers with static IP addresses were traditionally set-up as a dedicated service. David's efforts resulted in a dramatically lowered cost to provide business class service at the dawn of the modern public Internet. David is one of the heros that made low-cost Internet service possible. In his spare time, David is an Assistant Scoutmaster for his son William's Boy Scout Troop and now serves as District Training Chairman. He is a red belt in Tae Kwon Do, and is Ana Maria's husband. David is a member of PRFDance's musician ensemble and teaches percussion.



Adam Rosario
Cuatro Teacher
PRFDance Musicos - Cuatrista

Adam grew up in Elizabeth, NJ, the descendent of Jibaros from Lares and Ciales, Puerto Rico. During his childhood he was surrounded by salsa and latin jazz, learning traditional Puerto Rican and Cuban hand percussion in the rote tradition. At age 14 he was given a cuatro by his grandmother, which he learned to play by listening to old recordings of decimas, seis, and aguinaldos. His influences include cuatristas Nieves Quintero, Maso Rivera, Modesto Nieves, and most recently Christian Nieves. Adam is cuatrista of the PRFDance Musicos and Cuatro Teacher for PRFDance Cultural Center's performing arts programs.




Israel Cao-Bara Matthews
PRFDance Senior Dancer
Salsa Instructor

At an early age, Mr. Matthews exhibited an aptitude for music and dance. With ancestral roots in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Israel was born of Creole heritage in New Orleans, Louisiana where he sung gospel music with his siblings in the family choir while playing percussion with his older brother Ignatius. At age 8 he found a natural talent for playing trumpet and with much dedication started playing with the New Orleans classical youth orchestra with renowned drummer Jason Marsalis. In his teen years, he performed traditional New Orleans music and dance in the Black Jack Jazz band, led by trumpeter and cultural ambassador of New Orleans Irvin Mayfield. From there he played traditional, jazz, and Latin styled music at Southern University of New Orleans with the legendary musician and historian Kid Jordan. After moving to Austin in 1996 learned to dance Salsa with Latin rhythm dance instructor Jason Lozada while developing a repertoire in African style dance and study of his Haitian roots. Since 2002 Israel has been in advanced dance studies with Dr. Ana Tekina-eiru' Marie Maynard (Director), which has included indepth cultural and historical studies of his Puerto Rican heritage, and continues to develop his percussion skills through classes in Puerto Rican barriles and panderos with Gerard Guayacani' Villanuva and William Manayani Maynard. Israel is a member of PRDance's performing company and male Senior Dancer. The love of his cultural heritage is truly shown in his continued dedication to all his musical art forms.




Andrea Melette
PRFDance Company - Senior Dancer

Andrea is a longtime Company Dancer, and is PRFDance's Dance Leader.

Yolanda Maisonet
Wardrobe & Character Costumes
PRFDance Company Dancer

Yolanda Maisonet is contributing her professional skills and experience from the Washington DC's Hair & Fashion Industry, and Designer Fashion Shows, to PRFDance in the area of Wardrobe and Character Costumes.


Board of Directors

PRFDance is served by a small, but extremely active and hardworking volunteer Board of Directors who advance the mission of PRFDance including:

Dr. Ana María Tekina-eirú Maynard,
President, Board of Directors
Executive Director
[Read Bio]

Rose M. Irizarry
Vice President, Board of Directors
Development, Major Grants & Contracts

Rose Massanet Irizarry was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, of a Puerto Rican father and an Italian mother. She fondly recalls her childhood growing up in both cultures. Rose moved to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in 1953, learned Spanish and graduated from the Catholic University of PR. She received a Master's Degree in Medical Technology from Wayne State University. After marriage and living in Puerto Rico for over 20 years, all of the family moved to Texas in 1977. Rose became involved with PRFDance when her three granddaughters started taking dance classes in 2002 and daughter Rose joined the Performing Company and became the Youth Choir Teacher. Rose enjoys the family environment of PRFDance. She is an active Board Member and the right hand of the Founding Director.



Zera Thompson
Boricua Jazz Teacher
Board Secretary, Company Photographer & Marketing Graphics Artist

See Bio Above.


Administrative Staff & Volunteers

PRFDance is served by a team of active volunteer Administrative Staff who help run our cultural center's real-world business, and take on special events and projects.


Maria Mercedes Capestany
Web Promotions

Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico (Savarona) of a Taino mother and a Puerto Rican/Spaniard father. At the age of 15 moved to NY where I finished high school. Married and have four beautiful daughters, three beautiful grand daughters, and two handsome grandsons. When my youngest daughter went to school I decided to go to college and received a BA in Accounting. Went to work for an oil company in NY. 15 years ago my husband and I moved to Florida and I love it. Now I am retired and helping my beautiful daughter, Ana Maria (Director) with PRFDance. I also watch two of my grand daughters after school. They keep me very busy but I still have time to help Ana Maria and work in my garden.



Iris Albizu
Grants Development Consultant

Iris A. Albizu-Rivera was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Ms. Albizu earned her Juris Doctor at the Inter-American University School of Law in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After obtaining her J.D. , she barred in Puerto Rico as an Attorney and Public Notary. Ms. Albizu started practicing in Puerto Rico and developed a clientele based in civil litigation with emphasis in Family and Estate Law. After moving to the Washington, D.C. area, she worked as a federal contractor with the Department of Justice in a complex high-profile litigation. Now, having relocated with her family to Austin, Texas she opened Albizu Law Firm focusing her practice in federal controversies, especially in the area of Immigration. She also maintained her office location in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico where she practices with her father, Mr. Angel R. Albizu, Sr., to help individuals non-residents in the Island with their legal matters in Puerto Rico. For more information on legal services, please access www.albizulaw.com. Ms. Albizu enjoys giving her time and expertise to different Non-Profit organizations and offering pro-bono legal services. She serves as Grant Development Consultant for the PRFDance, Inc. and also has handled humanitarian immigration issues. She is an active pro-bono attorney for American Gateways and Bernardo Kohler Center in Austin, TX. As born in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico, Ms. Albizu is a Native Spanish Speaker. She is a mother of two beautiful children and her husband works as an Architect for an International company.



Sarykarmen Rivera-Maldonado
Special Event & Hospitality Team Lead, Fundraisers & Inventory

Sarykarmen River-Maldonado moved to the Austin area this past Summer 2011, she spent 10 years in sunny Florida. Sarykarmen was born and raised in Guayama, ("El Pueblo Brujo" or Witch Town") Puerto Rico. She started dancing at the young age of 4 years old at the first ballet and jazz school of dance at Guayama, Isadora's Dance Studio. Under the guidance of the dance school's director, Elsa GalíSarykarmen developed her ballet, lyrical dance and jazz skills. She represented her school at various events and competitions. The classical ballet training helped Sary pass an audition at the Centro de Adiestramiento y Bellas Artes (Copani) at Aguadilla. Hundreds of students from all over the island auditioned for a second round and Sarykarmen was selected to be part of CABA's Ballet Juvenil, this is where she began learning about Puerto Rican folklore. In 1997 she represented Puerto Rico at an international dance and culture festival in Sicily, Italy. Finding about the Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance and Cultural Center has been a blessing to her as she started a new life in Texas and away from the strong Puerto Rican community in Orlando, FL. Sarykarmen is also involved with various organizations like the Lion's Club International, Hispanic Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Lambda Psi Delta Sorority Inc. You can catch Sary anchoring every night at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. the local news Telemundo Austin and you can also see her reporting on special topics for the local CBS affiliate KEYE-TV.



Madrile Wilson
Facilities - Team Lead


Yahaira Rodriguez
Newsletter & Program Editor

Josefina Flores
Cultural Center Seamstress

PRFDance's original seamstress is back in Austin! Welcome back to PRFDance Josefina!


Laura Holtz
Backstage Assist - Youth Performances
Events - Hospitality Team

Edwin "Ed" Baez
Events - Hospitality Team

Edwin "Ed" Baez was born in the Bronx, New York and raised in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. With Mother from Rio Piedras, and Father from Camito, Edwin graduated from Rio Piedras Republic of Colombia High School. Afterwards, he joined the military (1978-1985) and graduated in military admistration and science communication. A 1993 graduate students from University of Texas at Austin, Ed is Technical Staff and teaches at the Dept. of Physics. Ed attended the Austin Graduate School of Theology Associate Ministries of Jesus Cristo (2002-2004) and is member of the Royal Ranger SR Commander at a Pentcostal Church. A Southwest Key Charter School board member since 1993, he has also worked an AISD P.E. Teacher (1993-2000), and an afterschool Instructor in basketball and flagfootball. Ed has a beautiful wife and one son at U.T. (mechanical engineering), the other at San Marcos Baptist Academia. Edwin is a "die hard" Roberto Clemente fan and travels to Puerto Rico and New York to collect baseball and basketball cards. Ed loves to teach children how to start up sports cards collections and plans to have a card shop when he retires. Edwin is thankful to God for the blessings in his life.

Advisory Board

PRFDance is served by an advisory board of professionals who make themselves available for inkind professional consultations:

Ángel E. Nemeninshiro Rivera-Ruiz, Esq.
Legal Advisor, Puerto Rico

Nemeninshiro is a Licensed Attorney/Notary Public on the Island of Puerto Rico, and is Legal Consultant for 501C3 Concilio Taino Guatu Ma Cu A Boriken. He is proud to serve on PRFDance's Advisory Board as Legal Advisor.

Joe Alvarado
Accounting Advisor

Joe is an Accountant by trade. In addition to long-time service to the Board, he has served as Accountant for Roy Lozano's Ballet Folklorico de Texas for many years. He has served as PRFDance's Accounting Advisor since our inception.

Contact us if you feel a calling to join our volunteer-run nonprofit mission.

For more information:
Dr. Ana María Tekina-eirú Maynard
Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance & Cultural Center
Center Location: 701 Tillery Street #13, Austin TX 78702-3740 (Map & Directions)
Mailing Address: 15228 Quiet Pond Court, Austin TX 78728-4555
Phone: +1.512.251.8122      Email: dance@prfdance.org          Web: www.prfdance.org     
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