THE TEAM
MEET OUR FOUNDING DIRECTORS
“Great things happen when talent meets purpose,
and people come together to create something bigger than themselves.”
The Manana Project brings together an extraordinary network of artists, cultural leaders and creative professionals, led by Executive Directors Esther Alvero, Antonio de Freitas and Nilda Guerra, alongside our Non-Executive Directors and a growing family of artists and creative collaborators including Odwen Benavides, Etian Antuche, Ale Jansen and Celia Ledon.
Together, our team combines decades of professional experience, lived cultural knowledge and grassroots community connection — spanning performance, choreography, music, education, cultural production and artist development. Rooted in specialist Cuban and Brazilian expertise while embracing world arts, we share a commitment to authenticity, artistic excellence, opportunity and meaningful cultural exchange.
Our goal is to create meaningful access to world arts while protecting living heritage, supporting artist and using culture to straighten connection, wellbeing and community.
A bridge between professional excellence and community access.
ESTHER ALVERO
Co-Founder & Executive Director · Creative Director & Cultural Producer
“We started from zero, so I learned to be resourceful.
Creativity is my superpower, resilience keeps me moving, and heart and good ethics guide everything I do.
Pressure? That’s usually when my best ideas arrive.”
Ester Albero is a Spanish-born, London-based cultural producer, creative entrepreneur and community catalyst with more than two decades of experience spanning arts, culture, live entertainment, education and community development.
Founder of Cubaneando and co-founder of Oi Brasil, Ester has built an independent career connecting grassroots communities with professional and international opportunities. Her experience includes an 11-year creative partnership with Holland America Line, cultural productions for the Brazilian Tourist Board, Embratur, and work with leading blue-chip companies and international organisations.
Her work in Cuban arts and culture includes Vamos Cuba — Sadler’s Wells, where she was contracted as a freelancer to assist Executive Producer Suzanne Walker with the production across Cuba and the UK, including creative development and performance at the National Theatre in Havana alongside director Nilda Guerra.
For more than a decade, Ester has also independently developed and self-funded community and cultural initiatives. Having built businesses, communities and opportunities from the ground up, her approach is rooted in resourcefulness, resilience, relationships and the belief that cultural excellence and social impact should not exist in separate worlds.
Today, through THE MANANA PROJECT CIC, Ester brings those worlds together — drawing on more than 20 years of production experience, international relationships and community-building to protect living heritage, champion artists, widen access to world arts and turn creativity into meaningful opportunities for communities and future generations.
Professional excellence. Grassroots connection. Culture with purpose.
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ANTONIO DE FREITAS
Co-Founder & Executive Director · Artistic Director & Cultural Educator
Born and raised in a humble community in Rio de Janeiro, Antonio grew up surrounded by the rhythms, traditions and spirit of samba and Carnival — a culture that would ultimately shape his life and take him to stages around the world.
Following in his father’s footsteps, he became a specialist in the extraordinary art of tambourine juggling (malabarismo com pandeiros) — a distinctive tradition of Rio Carnival now practised by fewer artists, and one Antonio is passionate about keeping alive. His career took him from Rio’s leading Samba Schools to more than a decade of international touring.
After arriving in London without speaking English, Antonio created his own opportunities, eventually co-founding Oi Brasil and Cubaneando. His remarkable career has included performing for President Bill Clinton, the then Prince Charles and Princess Anne, appearing at Rock in Rio with Grammy-winning artist H.E.R., recording at Abbey Road Studios, and contributing percussion to music by SAULT.
Check out Antonio in action:
Alongside his performance career, Antonio has become one of London’s most loved and respected Cuban salsa instructors. A passionate believer in strong foundations and attention to detail, his teaching can be demanding — but always with purpose.
For Antonio, authenticity matters. His greatest satisfaction is not simply teaching people steps, but seeing them understand the dance, grow in confidence and ultimately fall in love with it.
But Antonio’s greatest achievement goes beyond any stage or prestigious name. It is the cultural ecosystem he has helped build over decades — passing forward the culture that shaped his own life, connecting professional artists, audiences and communities, and creating opportunities for authentic culture to be experienced, valued and shared.
Today, through The Manana Project CIC, Antonio brings a lifetime of lived cultural knowledge, international experience and community-building to a bigger mission: protecting living heritage, passing traditions to future generations, championing artists and connecting people through world arts.
NILDA GUERRA
Executive Director · Choreographic Director & Cultural Advisor
Nilda Guerra is a renowned Cuban director and choreographer and a highly respected figure within Cuba’s cultural and performing arts sector. For 27 years, she has led Ballet Rakatan, one of Cuba’s most renowned dance companies, building an extraordinary career dedicated to Cuban dance, music and theatrical expression.
She is internationally recognised as the creator, director and choreographer of Havana Rakatan, the acclaimed production that took Cuban dance from Havana to major international stages, including London’s West End and Broadway, sharing the richness, elegance and energy of Cuba’s dance heritage with audiences around the world including stages like the Opera House in Sydney.
With decades of experience in artistic direction, choreography, artist development and cultural production, Nilda is regarded as an eminence in her field in Cuba, combining deep cultural knowledge with uncompromising artistic standards and a lifelong commitment to authenticity.
Through The Manana Project CIC, Nilda brings an exceptional legacy of artistic leadership and cultural knowledge to a new mission: protecting living heritage, nurturing artists and ensuring authentic cultural traditions are valued, evolved and passed on to future generations.