¡Soy Unica! ¡Soy Latina! Rally 2022 @ RIT

Mrs. Padilla-Rodriguez is a recent retired Rochester City School District Administrator. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Borinquen Dance Theatre, Inc. celebrated 40 years. During her 35-year career in education, community advocacy and dance, she has worked with thousands of youths to create and help them gain access to life-building opportunities in the arts, academics, culture, and leadership development. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of the first Hispanic performing art group in Upstate New York, Borinquen Dance Theatre, Inc. serving over 1000’s of youth.

With Panamanian roots, Evelyn D’Agostino is a proud “latinoamericana”. Evelyn is the founding executive and treasurer of Grupo Cultural Latinos En Rochester Inc.(GCLER) founded in 2013, a 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the New York Folkloric Society, National Association of Latino Arts, and Cultures(NALAC) for the offering of authentic, high-quality cultural programming. Evelyn is currently leading 2 dance programs, 1 art and culture program, and is responsible for the virtual platform of GCLER. Music and dance have always been a very special part of her life. Born into a musical family, Evelyn was raised in the suburbs of Panama City. Surrounded by folkloric traditions, music, and dance. As a young child, Evelyn enjoyed playing percussion, marimba to the sounds of Latin albums. As an adult, Evelyn was inspired to bring her rich culture to life in Rochester NY so her community and now her two kids could know the joy of her childhood. Her expertise inspired the creation of new groups, creative workshops that use lively the Latin American traditional dance. She is currently responsible to move Grupo Cultural Latinos En Rochester dance, craft, lecture, and podcast content virtually to keep with the organization's commitment to the community. She is leading the percussion coalition, to unify music from different cultures in Western NY. 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!