Serafín Aponte is a graduate of the National Artistic Institute Education of the Fine Arts in México and where he taught for several years and is a founding member of Barro Rojo Dance Company of México. He created Serafín Aponte Dance Company in 2000 and Acapulco Contemporary Dance Company in 2017. Aponte also worked as a teacher for The Morelense Center of Arts and as a director for the Guanajuato Arts Center. Serafín has been invited to create works in Latin América, Europe, USA, and Canada.

Each Modern Lab session features a different guest artist teaching a master class and sections from their repertory. This panorama of the contemporary dance field is presented to broaden the students’ awareness of potential career possibilities. Each guest artist conducts a 30-minute technique class/warm-up and then teaches repertory that is performed by the class. In the final 15 minutes, faculty coordinator Bill De Young conducts a Q & A with each artist, discussing their career; their recommendations for transitioning from student to professional, and what they look for when they audition dancers for their projects.

This event supported in part by the EXCEL Lab. This event is funded in part by a Title VI federal grant from the US Department of Education administered by U-M's Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.