MILWAUKEE — The creative designer behind the Afro-Latina dance company Panadanza is working to empower women through traditional folkloric dress.
Karlies Kelley Vedula works out of her South Side studio.
With every stitch and intricately placed feather, fabric, and gemstone, Vedula puts her heart and soul into every skirt and headdress she makes.
Her designs can take days, and in some instances, weeks to complete. Her traditional skirts represent several cultures throughout Latin America.
Watch: A local Latin American dance artist and designer empowering women through design
“The skirts in Cuba are called sayas, in Puerto Rico they’re called faldas, in Panama or some parts of Central America they’re called polleras. They all are considered an extension of our dances,” says Vedula.
The traditional headdresses are intentionally made with Vedula’s dancers in mind.
“I’m thinking about who will wear them and how beautiful they will make others shine through their joy,” adds Vedula.
Through Panadanza, Vedula’s dance troupe uses each skirt and headdress as a supporting character in each dance production. When Kelley Vedula teaches dance, she often allows her students the opportunity to wear one of her one-of-a-kind skirts. She hopes they feel the fluidity, freedom, and empowerment of each skirt as they express each movement.
“You feel that strength, that beautiful strength, and it’s really empowering when you watch women just transform themselves,” says Vedula.
Vedula offers opportunities open to the public to experience Latin culture through each skirt, headdress, and expression of dance through her Panadanza dance company’s teaching division. To learn more, her social media outlets are all @panadanza_dance_company.
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