Courageous Creative Soul

I am 'My Living Experiences'

This account is about Good Hearted International Performance Artist Lazaro Godoy who had an upbringing immersed in Cuba’s Natural Wonders to Travel His Life Stories blending Movement Expressiveness and Creation of Art to expand and color his Passion for Visual Arts.

Born and raised in Pinar del Río, Cuba, my first HOME and a Magical place on Earth I would love to introduce you to by showing you around through a personalized Arts & Nature crafted experience. (Get in touch with me about this 'other' exciting adventure not to be missed!)

My Story is Making Me Who I Am

I fall and I stand up, I fall and I stand up, I fall and I will always stand up over and over again cause have to continue this unique journey of my life as a moving artist. Get your suitcase and Go Do what you lovingly do best!

I left Cuba when I was 15 years of age and was studying dance in Havana's Arts School ENA (Escuela Nacional de Arte), although, my very first risky movement drive came straight from the Streets of Pinar del Río acquiring the everlasting breakdance skills still present in my highly trained and mature physique.

I arrived to live and continue pursuing my dance career in Miami, FL, USA at New World School of The Arts, graduating in 1996 with a YoungArts Foundation award recognizing my solo performance choreography ‘Starting Point’ which propelled me to NYC’s Juilliard School fulfillment on a full scholarship graduating in 2000.

My professional career as an international soloist dance performer, coach, choreographer, Artistic Director and freelancer interdisciplinary artist has stretch along an array of countries dancing for Introdans (The Netherlands), Bern Ballet (Switzerland/Stijn Celis, director), Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company (Tel Aviv, Israel) and presenting my own creations and workshops like Jugo de Limón/2008 and Perpetual Mobility (workshops) across international festivals.

By the end of 2013, I relocated to living and finding my way as an artist in Miami, FL from Tel Aviv, Israel due to accidental circumstances beyond my capability at the time but for the good since together with Spanish artist Carlota Pradera by January 2014 we were able to found and establish Interdisciplinary Arts Company GoPra Performance with commissioned and showcased productions: Bare Bones, Harmonicum Accordion | Act I, MEDAKA, ArMOUR and others for recognized Theaters, Museums and Art Organizations.

As an artist, I am happy and thankful to have been supported along my creative trajectory by awards and commissions like: The Swiss International Choreographic Coaching (Susanne Linke), YoungArts Foundation, Miami Theater Center, Miami Light Project, Dance Miami Choreographers and more.

My Visual Arts Approach

Drawing, painting and the usage of diverse media like video-art and photography has always been a part of me, my artistic identity, life and creative growth across my career. It started early and it was organically combined with my professional performance, as a desired and pursued extension of my expressiveness. I had exhibitions "Color in Motion" at Suzanne Dellal (2009) and "Choreographic Visuals" at Hanina Contemporary Art Gallery (2012) both in Tel Aviv, Israel. The latest exhibition before my current developing project and exhibition of BrookDale was ArMOUR drawings (2017) at Miami Theater Center for Inside the Box commission by Stephanie Ansin, North Miami, FL.

And then came the shifting point with BrookDale's first live presentations (Miami Theater Center, 2016) into current’s trilogy creative developments with BrookDale | Act I premiered at Inkub8/Kor Media Pro in Miami, FL, 2023 and its international touring with its parallel exhibition of insightful drawing series.

BrookDale (Trilogy Project)

BrookDale's Artistic Project and story has a compelling driving force behind, which for already 11 years is having me on the meaningful task of building active consciousness around worldwide stages, spaces and communities. This actively enabling getting it out of my system to avoid becoming trapped and numbed instead choosing to be loud on a quest of accomplishing healing while giving back. It is so personal and touching that there is an urgency to share it with the world with the purpose of enhancing awareness, for it not to be suffered by any other human, less a sensitive ARTIST like me.

BrookDale is a moment of unexpected personal and emotional defiance that happened in between March and October 2013 when taking a flight back to my home and workplace in Tel Aviv, Israel from USA's Miami International Airport (MIA). Struggling my entire life across all travels with a Cuban passport, but this by far weighting all of them the heaviest, I was stopped and extensively searched on the plane's gate (*Side note: Keep on reading through the most dramatic section following, exhales of relief, as I am glad to be in a much secure and better place since 2019-when I finally took "The Oath of Allegiance" and became an American Citizen). Furthermore, a dense and lengthy story precipitated synthesized herein: In that very moment at Miami's Airport with a stop at JFK's in NYC my life was suddenly stolen by the unanticipated forceful removal in its entirety of the so carefully carved ground from under my feet making me fall so fragile, lost and lonely. They wrongly played with and badly manipulated a precious chunk of my youth, but my will is so deeply rooted and strong that I am here to tell my truth through the creative vision in this Project. With the years passing, I am for sure becoming my Superhero and sharing how to make it possible by tuning to the healing vehicle of movement!

I was taken to Brookdale Hospital's psychiatric unit in Brooklyn, NYC, by two dark-dressed guards from JFK. To this day, I still don't understand why and no one has been able to give me any coherent nor honest and least legally documented explanation whatsoever. Where much not too good happened to me, while it is remembered as a traumatic episode in my dynamically creative and lovely yet hard-working international arts career, I am here as a testimony sharing this my cathartic experience tangible in BrookDale Acts' live performances because I am an expressive, fully heARTed surviving ARTIST! .

Brookdale Hospital's enclosement in their psychiatric unit became BrookDale's trilogy creation extending into a series of interlaced mixed-media drawings intrinsically connected to the creative process and production of BrookDale's Acts inspired by subconscious memory allowing to establish a full-bodied texturized relieving "dance on paper" with ink, pencil colors, liquids, cuts and more as well as an accompanying "Notebook" recording the process through visual narratives as my organically self-established visual arts platform. Simultaneously, it renders attention to immigration and human interconnectedness of cultures for dialogue advocating on "Art Without Borders (AWB)" that value transformation and empowerment to remain alive while becoming the practicing tool of positive endurance and resilience.

GoPra across this Project is engaged to bring artistic movement practices into psychiatric institutions with the goal in mind of projecting the advancing towards humane and empowering healing procedures to its patients that are escalating in numbers. They can have better options based on observations and lived experiences on how they treated me and other individuals closed in the same space I was. I am a source of stimulating inspiration by providing light to others when facilitating my personalized approach made of viscerally authentic connections to movement.

Below please find a selection of videos and images that would give you another insight to BrookDale | Act I visual arts.

To purchase any of the available BrookDale's Creation drawings please go ahead and communicate your interest via email to proceed with order's successful completion: