Luna Negra was founded in Chicago in 1999 by Cuban-born dancer, choreographer and educator Eduardo Vilaro as a company that would be solely dedicated to the creation and presentation of contemporary dance works by Latino artists. Today, under the leadership of artistic director Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Luna Negra self-produces two performance seasons annually at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, its home venue in Chicago, and the company tours nationally and internationally in order to extend the impact of its work, to enhance its national and international reputation, and to help support its ongoing programs in Chicago. Luna Negra has been committed to dance education since its inception and conducts a full range of education and outreach programming in underserved Chicago public schools, including long-term education residencies for students from first through 12th grades. Luna Negra also has a strong commitment to supporting and nurturing up-and- coming Latino and Latina choreographers through a commissioning program that enables them to develop their work on professional company dancers, and to see their through to performances for diverse audiences on main stages in Chicago and on tour. Luna Negra also has a rich history of collaboration with artists and institutions, including visual artists, musicians, and composers (such as Paquito D'Rivera, Turtle Island Quartet, and Susana Baca, to name a few), and with the Grant Park and Ravinia music festivals. These collaborations have fostered innovative cross-disciplinary explorations resulting in richly textured and highly original contemporary Latino dance programs.

Luna Negra Dance Theater's mission is to explore Latino culture and identity through: a) the creation and performance of works by contemporary Latino choreographers; and b) the offering of cultural education and community outreach programs that lead to discovery and exploration of personal and community identity. Luna Negra fulfills its mission through public performances that feature world and North American premieres; through education and outreach programming for underserved, low-income youth, and through a significant Latino artist commissioning program. Through these programs, Luna Negra enables the public to gain a deeper understanding and experience of the diversity of Latino expressions in the 21st century.

Each year, Luna Negra self-produces two home seasons at the Harris Theater and, through its commissioning of new work by Latino artists, it continues to create a distinctive and unique body of work. To date the company has commissioned more than 35 new works by established and emerging Latino choreographers. The company facilitates the creation of new works by Latino choreographers in several ways: through direct commissioning of new work by established and emerging Latino choreographers from around the world as well as from Chicago; through its Latina Choreographers Project, a multi-year, multi-artist commitment to stage a new work by a Latina choreographer each year (now in its fifth year); and through collaborations with Chicago institutions such as the Ravinia and Grant Park music festivals, Chicago Sinfonietta, the Dance Chicago Festival, and Fulcrum Point among many others. In addition to creation and performance, the company conducts numerous education and outreach programs including long-term residencies for 1st through 12th grade students in underserved Chicago public schools, in-school performances throughout the Chicago area, and a special in-studio "Antojito" series that showcases works-in-progress, is open free to the public, and that helps audiences gain deeper insights into contemporary dance and the choreographic process. Dance Reach programs offered in partner schools provide weekly, intensive dance education programs that use national and Illinois State Standards of Learning in the Arts, and that incorporate lesson plans, frameworks and goals from the Chicago Guide for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Residencies range from 7 to 26 weeks per year; in some schools, such as Sabin Magnet School, Luna Negra has the opportunity to work with the same group of students in a sequential, developmentally appropriate learning program that progressively builds on dance technique, knowledge and skills from first through 6th grades. Through its dance education programs, Luna Negra encourages students to use dance knowledge and techniques to explore the world around them, examine their individual and cultural histories, and to find their own voice to express their unique identity through dance. Luna Negra also tours nationally and internationally to expand the reach of its performance and education programs, to help support the costs of operations in Chicago, and to enhance national and international awareness of Luna Negra Dance Theater as Chicago's only contemporary Latino dance company.