The Cuban artist and academic Yesenia Selier died on Sunday in New York of unknown causes.
“Hello, I’m Malcolm Selier, one of Yesenia’s three children. Unfortunately my mother passed away yesterday. We will remember her as a person of great passion, an artist, a thinker, a mother, a daughter and a friend. Rest in peace, mom,” says the Facebook page of the dancer and academic who specializes in Afro-Cuban dances.
Facebook / Yesenia Sellier
The news of Selier’s sudden death shocked the Cuban academic and artistic community in New York, calling it a tragedy.
“Yesenia Selier has died. We must learn to live without their joy, without their energy, without their talent, without their boundless affection,” said writer Enrique del Risco on Facebook.
Selier said: “It was joy, vitality, positivity, intelligence. That was what I knew. Today’s news was devastating. I honor his life, which is hugely eventful, yes, but creative and committed to his identity and his culture. Rest in peace,” said academic Rosa Marquetti.
Friends of Selier has opened a collection on the GoFundMe platform to “assist the family with funeral costs.”
“She left a mark on many of us who were lucky enough to have her in our lives. An inspiring force, dedicated mother, daughter and friend, artist, genius and visionary. There are not enough words to express the pain of your absence,” reads the GoFundMe collection promoted by Natalie Romero.
Yesenia Selir dedicated more than two decades to teaching and performing Afro-Cuban dance. She led workshops in the USA, Europe and Latin America and worked with artists such as Teresita Fernández, Coco FuscoNational Septet of Cuba, Jane Bunnett, Wynton Marsalis, Chucho ValdesPedrito Martínez or Román Díaz, as reported on their website.
She also wrote and produced the piece Women Orishas for the Cuban Museum of Miami (2013); the exhibition Cuba en Clave for the Cuban Cultural Center in New York (2014); the Epiphany Performance Procession in Madison Square Park (2015); the Oshun Inform performance in Washington Square Park (2016); Love Vibration, at the Queens Museum (2017); Nigra Suns at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (2018).
His scholarly works on Afro-Cuban culture have been published in Cuba, the United States, Colombia and Brazil. She held a master’s degree in art and Latin American and Caribbean studies from New York University (NYU) and was a doctoral candidate in NYU’s Department of Media, Culture and Communication.
He worked as manager of Afro-global religions at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.