We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lazaro Godoy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lazaro , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Hello,

My name is Lazaro Godoy, born in Pinar del Río, Cuba, lived in The States for about 17 years total with a break of 13 years in between leaving first in 2000 fresh from Juilliard School’s graduation in NYC and returning towards the end of 2013 right after completing a successful professional career across prestigious European Companies with internationally renowned choreographers and artists and in Tel Aviv, Israel while simultaneously pursuing my choreographic and artistic independence of well-rounded presented projects receiving awards and commissions from established organizations.

I remain humble and hyper-creative with a child-like feeling, energy, interactiveness with the world and smile as the steering motor in everything I pursue, do, create, and I am. It indeed is a very singular and esteemed characteristic intrinsic to keeping my life and tribe aware and light as an existential guide and motto.

I have worked with so many distinctive choreographers and artists since a young age and I have been part of so many creations that it is hard to point at one so connected and dear to me as well to the time when it happened. The matureness of a developing artist. But with the already shared, I have to say I stay with BrookDale-my current under creation trilogy project, Act I is completed and touring internationally- that I have been artistically developing since 2016, when an incident that propelled the necessity to put this autobiographical creation out there happened in the Spring of 2013 changing my life entirely. It is about a human affair treated artistically to build awareness for larger social impact. And funny enough, I keep on digging and digging and just recently realizing when doing research that (“it”/the strangely upside-down violent situation) has already been endured by so many prolific artists before my sarcastic as life turn. I am stunned by the long list of historically incredible artists that went through “psychiatric institutions” in their lives. It is truly sad and unfair as it provides me with the on point foundation additionally to core values like: Strength, courage, long-term scope and right feeling that I am not alone and should be profoundly and artistically loud and fine about it when publicly sharing the story in all its shapes and forms. It is a mind-twisting and blowing extraordinarily existential experience for sure and when bringing it to its visual/performance ground on its own it goes beyond the theatre space stretching into painting, writing and film realms as the project intrinsically pursues.

I have developed BrookDale | Act I, premiered in Miami, FL (Inkub8/Kor Media Pro, 2023), currently on international touring with its educational and professional adhered choreographic workshops of Perpetual Mobility (my trademark creative practice) and clearly merging into an ultimate trilogy project with Acts II and III under current developments looking for pushing funds to transform them into the magically brave live Acts they are becoming.

BrookDale was the most absurd, scary, insane, ironic and creative time of my life at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, NYC when eternal days were passing and I found explaining myself in front of a group of young medicine students that I shouldn’t be there as I would rather enjoy myself better guiding workshops at Juilliard School. All this time, I had assumed I was mistaken by someone-no idea whom/from where-when traveling with a Cuban Passport my entire life until 2019 when I proudly became a US Citizen in the company of my wife Carlota Pradera and baby son then, Orión Godoy Pradera.

BrookDale is my artistic reference to have this nightmarish time of my life shape into creative outlets as it critically delves into art engaging a world without narrowing differentiating walls, immigration law, sanity and questions’ psychiatric institutions’ treatments as unhealthy instead offering art experiences as the honest healing vehicle for patients.

BrookDale’s performance creation is encompassed by a visual exhibition of drawings and a notebook that have been accompanying my recovery process thanks to remaining deeply connected to my moving body and integral soul’s engine.

For more information on BrookDale and Project’s visual art for purchase please visit the following page:

https://artinmotionlazarogodoy.blogspot.com

Lazaro , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am International performance artist, artistic director, choreographer, educator and healer Lazaro Godoy and together with Spanish/Catalan born collaborating performance artist, executive director and coordinator Carlota Pradera founded and formed our International Interdisciplinary Arts Company GoPra Performance (2014-Present) currently based in the northern west tip of Spain (Galicia), EU.

GoPra Performance was created and based in Miami, FL, USA since January 2014 and many new creations like: Bare Bones, Harmonicum Accordion | Act I, MEDAKA, ArMOUR, BrookDale and more were commissioned, produced and presented in USA’s home ground.

Before 2014, I was part of one of the top contemporary performance thriving epicenters in the world arriving to live and create from performing my touring solo “Jugo de Limón”/2008, immediately followed by performing for independent artists as well as  contracted by Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollack Dance Company while continuing to showcase my own creations and independent collaborative projects in the pulsating, mind-blowing home of Tel Aviv, Israel.

That part of the world gave me so much in all its available, full and meaningful avenues that I am forever grateful to the countless everlasting imprints in my heART from that time in my life.

And before Tel Aviv and touring internationally around the globe, I was a presence in the European scene being a Company member starting in The Netherlands’ Introdans to later moving to Switzerland’s Bern Ballet as a soloist performer-where I assisted Celis’ Beauty More than Me too-, and closing Europe’s life at that time with Serge Compardon’s choreographic assistance of “Peter & The Wolf”/Switzerland-which I would be creating original in Spain under GoPra Performance 2025/2026 season. During this first living period in Europe, I was too freelancing with German-based choreographic projects as well as receiving a choreographic coaching career development award under the direction of historically valued Susanne Linke/2008.

*A side note: I stopped training as part of regular Company classes since 2005 when at The Bern Ballet/Switzerland I decided to forge my own trademark staying in versatile shape with stamina, focus, dedication, culturalized, full range of motion, flexible, ready and more with my Perpetual Mobility and Imaginatively Creative Choreographic practice.

I thank many of my great mentors and artists and supporters that have provided so much richness and vocabulary to my personalized and unique moving engine like: Ernesto Ramos (Pinar del Río Arts School, Cuba), Reginald Yates (New World School of The Arts, Miami/FL, Alvin Ailey Summer program, NYC), Peter London (New World School of The Arts, Miami/FL, Martha Graham Dance School, NYC), Daniel Lewis (New World School of The Arts Director, Miami/FL), Bambi Anderson (New World School of The Arts Limón technique teacher and long-term close friend), Elaine Wright (New World School of The Arts teacher and long-term friend and supporter of GoPra Performance), Mary Luft (Tigertail Productions director/producer gave me and our Company producing support for creations while in Miami, FL), The Arison Family (Lin and Sarah), (for providing so much support through YoungArts Foundation and in Israel), Benjamin Harkarvy (Juilliard School, NYC, Director), Héctor Zaraspe (Juilliard School, NYC and International travels), Stijn Celis (Bern Ballet, Switzerland), Jiří Kylián (Choreographer, NYC and Europe), Inbal Pinto (and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company, Israel), Susanne Linke (The Swiss International Choreographic Coaching Project, Germany) and many more great performance stars I have had the privilege to share studio time perfecting as well as warmer, more family-feeling times that grew into lifetime connections.

I was born and raised in the beautiful and wild Pinar del Rio, Cuba where I spent many of the most beautiful and fond moments of my life when as a child I would wonder around with my best friend dog (Julie) and hen (Titico) in the evoking wilderness dangerously riding wild horses and eating fresh mangoes just picked from the trees. During my teen years, I began break-dancing training that opened new avenues in my expressive and skillful physicality in addition to martial arts to then enter “La Escuela Nacional de Arte/ENA” one year ahead and began more formal dance training in Havana.

I enjoy the fact of loving The Arts and been so curious about as my younger times when just arrived to began my professional career in Europe upon Juilliard School’s graduation, 2000, in NYC where I studied on a full scholarship thanks to receiving the YoungArts Foundation award for the performance of my solo creation “Starting Point”/1996 amongst other competitive young talents; I continued looking for visual art books, visiting Museums and new exhibitions, continuously going to mesmerizing performances to get to know new choreographers’ works expanding my culture and horizon as well as my dedicated passion for visual arts as I do my own drawings since an early age.

Currently, I am very involved with BrookDale’s trilogy touring creation, its performance story’s developments per Acts, documentation, film and drawings’ production as well as with Perpetual Mobility workshops, and continuing healing by crafting unique movement moments to groups while desiring to establish an international space for the Arts to gather, exchange and activate with purpose at Healing Oasis Arts Center together with Carlota Pradera and collaborating artists friends.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As I have already shared, I was born and raised in a small, mesmerizing for its magical uniqueness geographic area of Cuba: Pinar del Río’s province, which I hold very close to my heART as it embraces my family’s beginnings, first memories, steps, and knowing how to live through harshness with a natural smile of gratitude that never leaves your face. It is a rare natural survival happiness, even with having nothing really but everything at the same time.

And, I am pretty sure, that this is why I have always kept it so dynamically creative having been provided with a gentle, understanding, kind soul as a sensitive artist man, which it could have been something completely contrary to that and more like a horrible, violently grotesque monster of a person. Since I have endured so much and always looking and balancing towards the positive side of all at all times, I made a saving choice in my life!

1994 (Special Period in Cuba) meaning basically nothing, nothing to put in your mouth, making the impossible juggling to continue my vibrant studies at the best Arts School in Cuba: ENA/National Art School in Havana, so prestigious holding a list with so many globally recognized artists graduating from that treasure of a school.

I, as a young teenager, actually told my mother Esperanza quite cold and direct-particularly these things inside the island you tell them, always but even more at that time, very secretly and no one can have a clue: Mom, if you are not leaving, I am leaving, I cannot stand it any longer as I know there is something better out there in the unknown.

And this is how we left our family lives in Cuba. My mother prepped everything surprisingly agile and since we had family we got to Miami on a plane.

Miami was my next stop for 3 years with its arrival’s cultural shock.

And I went onto studying at NWSA (New World School of The Arts, Daniel Lewis’ dean of The Dance Department) where I was the only man in my whole classroom filled with talented women, I was impressed. Even though the language barrier and new customs took some adaptation time, I was feeling quite content with being in a dance institution doing what I love the most by learning how to become an artist. And the best was about to come with YoungArts Foundation’s awarding me first price for my performed Starting Point original choreography in 1996 onto NYC’s Juilliard School on a full scholarship, the celebration was huge! It all feels like a dream almost, but it really happened to me to that young kid always walking barefooted daydreaming feeling at home in the wilderness deeply in love with nature and the natural world from my beginnings.

I was 15 and Miami had its social impact and drama as well, but dance-and always feeling like a strong performer in my body that was hungry for more, more different and anew to get to experience-always saved me and kept me sane. Performing intensifies and ignites with healthy powers my northern guiding star in my life’s path and I thank and happily congratulate my mother for giving me the opportunity of becoming a spiritually wealthy international artist.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

This coming May 24, 2024-a sounding rounded year for me actually-I will become 47 having with us our incredible superhero son Orión that shines my life day and night and a lifelong career that I am profoundly passionate about and dedicated researching, investigating and creating as I enjoy been artistic director and choreographer while exploring too the visual artistic realms of film, filmic-edition, photography and drawing. Still, there is the undeniable acknowledgement of the missing elements if they would have become instilled earlier along my beginning steps as nowadays I find and feel artists are undergoing so much pressure with having to be the fullest package beyond the purely and solely creative act.

Artists have to be too many things at once: Producers of their own projects, create their projects, perform in their projects, be the outspoken individual presenting the process, the actor in the performance arena as well as the skilled phenomenon been revealed, dream about the piece and fully develop it, technician, light designer, web designer, document it all, post on social media, sound engineer, making choices, costume designer, run around finding everything you need to produce your project; it just really is crazy if you look at it and are able to digest it and do everything right and top quality within your potential range, but artists-and young artists mostly-are becoming extremely multifaceted-which may be a positive gain in turn.

We are creating our own art businesses and are asked to be too much. I feel it is meandering ridiculousness and it makes me wonder what Art Organizations are really doing and how much and good they are really invested on supporting us so opportunities flow in favor of our long-term instinctual and educated developments based on artistic choices.

Only creating, there is an entire Universe, but of course all decision-making involved in each creation should have the last word by the master creator, its artistic director and movement creator with vision and driven objectives.

Therefore, what I feel is that new generations I am pretty sure are been more broadly educated with the tools to be ready for today’s Art World era of Dynamic Transformation impulsed by the media and its global demands. I hope scholar entities, colleges and universities are providing and forming them more fully equipped and smARTer than my times.

Hence, I am happy and proud to see how powerfully youth are developing and growing charged with more confidence and skills to have more wins than fails, or at least to be aware of better feasible ways towards getting where they want to arrive without forgetting the process.

Although, I do have to add that today”s dance performance developing young artists in general are equipped with a mixing and blending of diverse movement languages that turn into abilities comprehending such impressive plasticity of ‘almost feeling-like artificial-science out of this Universe’ bodies embodying limitless ranges. It is like moving playdoh that can harden unpredictably and catch you out of guard, so many wonderful talented qualities and dynamics are available and constantly forming, developing, it is so wonderful to be part of this incredibly unique Performance Arts World!

Though jumping back onto the multifaceted artists’ conversation, I would have liked to acquire more versatile and multipurpose abilities beyond just focusing everything on and about what the body can do with its involved risks and creativity. In addition, now it is that I am instructing myself on new facets I have to gain and include in my artistic practice and business for myself and our Arts Company with Healing Oasis Arts Center developing, so I better-rounded rounded and ready for this future today’s world.

Anatomy’s re-learning and training, massage, enriching and better tuning my developing practice Perpetual Mobility when workshopping to individuals-working on it since 2005-anyone and groups, my leader and healer inborn characteristics and qualities in my persona are additions empowering me and my approach to the world and the groups of people I can share and impact from the resourceful imagination playfully, creatively, expansively, lovingly and liberatingly with direction and pleasant time at Healing Oasis Arts Center (based in Spain).

Contact Info:

• Instagram: GoPra_Performance
• Facebook: GoPra Performance, Lazaro Godoy GoPra and Carlota Pradera Cartoixà
• Youtube: Lazaro Godoy
• Other: Carlota Pradera (on Vimeo) lazaro.godoy (on Tik Tok) https://artinmotionlazarogodoy.blogspot.com (selling my visual pieces)

Image Credits
Formento & Formento (F&F)
Luca Artioli
Luca Artioli
Karime Arabia Photography
GlassWorks
Mila Vasickova
GoPra Performance (Healing Oasis Arts Center)
Cabba Blee (Ana María Morales)
GoPra Performance
Maksimilian Dikarev