Waldo Cabrera and Long Island Arts Alliance (LIAA) were awarded the New York Emmy® Award in the category of Teen (13-19) Short or Long Form Content for its short documentary on Layla’s African Dance and Drum of Valley Stream as part of their Back In the Spotlight: Cultural Dance series. 

Without the ability to meet in person or to perform for an audience, many cultural organizations were faced with closure during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As New York began to re-open, Back In the Spotlight aimed to capture the excitement within five unique cultural dance troupes on Long Island as they prepared to share their heritage in person once again and uplift their communities.