Luna Negra Dance Theater presents its Gala performance, Noche de Luna, paying tribute to Luna Negra Founder Eduardo Vilaro, Friday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m. The evening will showcase a retrospective performance of company favorites and will feature special guests Welz Kauffman, CEO and President of the Ravinia Festival, on piano, together with vocalists Michelle Areyzaga and Paul Corona. The evening's finale will offer the World Premiere of Vilaro's Danzón, reuniting two-time Grammy® Award winner Turtle Island Quartet with Cuban jazz legend Paquito D'Rivera (a nine-time Grammy® Award winner) to perform their critically acclaimed song of the same name. The dance program will be followed by a Gala Anniversary reception at The Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago, 159 East Monroe Street, which will include cocktails, savory Latin cuisine, dancing and live music by Latin band Son de la Habana.

Luna Negra's Fall program, on Saturday, October 10, will be an extraordinary evening of Latino contemporary dance infused with flamenco, mambo and tango movements. The program will begin with Cervera's Tango Vitrola, and continue with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Nube Blanco (White Cloud), which received its World Premiered by Luna Negra in March, 2009. Nube Blanco is a reflective and comical piece set to the stirring music of Maria Dolores Pradera and inspired by the zapateado (rhythmic footwork) technique found in flamenco, the national dance of Spain. This program will also conclude with Vilaro's Danzón, with live accompaniment by D'Rivera and Turtle Island Quartet.