Carolina “Caro” Acuña-Olvera

Carolina “Caro” Acuña-Olvera (Oakland, CA) has more than 28 years of experience as a professional musician and has toured domestically and internationally. She comes from a long line of dancers and musicians and was raised within a family tradition of artistic collaboration. As part of her Afro-Indigenous cosmology, Acuña-Olvera never considers the indigeneity of the musician and the dancer as two different forms of artistic expression; rather, they are the same, while using different instruments, techniques, and nuance. She collaborates regularly with dancers and is currently immersed in the world of flamenco dance. Acuña-Olvera is one of six founding members of the Black Flamenco Network and has taught in Tierra Adentro Flamenco Charter School’s music department. She has also worked with youth in juvenile detention centers, supporting these young people with digital musical arrangements and writing RAP lyrics and melodies. This is her third year working with Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp.