LNXdance Podcast

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Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! Our guest for this episode is our wonderful and beautiful friend Natalia Mesa. We are so honored to share her story with you. Enjoy!
Natalia on IG: https://www.instagram.com/natalia.mesah/
Ballet Hispanico's Community Arts: https://www.ballethispanico.org/community/community-arts-partnerships
LXDEA: https://www.latinxdanceeducatorsalliance.com/
BAAND Together Festival: FREE Latin Social Class July 30th
https://lincolncenter.org/series/summer-for-the-city/dance-workshop-with-ballet-hispanico-194

Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat. We want to thank Natalia for making this Sip & Chat happen and sharing her story with us!

Natalia Mesa (Community Engagement Director) holds a master’s degree in performance arts administration from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in industrial design with a minor in business administration from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. Her dance training started at Ballarte Escuela de Ballet and Ballet Anna Pavlova in Bogotá. Early in her dance career, she won an honorary mention on the V Encuentro para Estudiantes de Ballet, in Habana, Cuba, obtained a scholarship for the ballet program at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and later moved to New York where she completed her dance education at The Ailey School. Her experience in arts in education started at La Fundación Niños de Los Andes in Bogotá where she developed and implemented creative dance workshops with youth survivors of domestic violence. During her years working at Battery Dance, she managed the Battery Dance Festival, implemented arts in education programs into the New York public school system, and supported dance education programs in Latin America. In 2018, she was a panelist in support of 16 Days Against Gender-Based violence organized by RESIU within the U.S. State Department. Natalia recognizes the arts as a medium for social change that fosters dialogue, builds community, and changes misconceptions.
Natalia Mesa is currently the Community Engagement Director for Ballet Hispanico's Community Arts Partnerships d

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Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email [email protected]

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari VasconezSponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

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Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! Our guest for this episode is the inspiring David Herrera. We are so honored to share his story with you. Enjoy!
Learn More: www.dhperformance.org
Instagram: DHPC
Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat. We want to thank David for making this Sip & Chat happen and sharing his story with us!

David Herrera is a choreographer, producer, and community leader in San Francisco, California, whose work centers Latinx/e voices, aesthetics, and narratives through David Herrera Performance Company. He is also the Director of the Latinx Hispanic Dancers United initiative.
David grew up in Hollywood, CA influenced by his culturally diverse neighborhood and his Mexican and American heritages. He advocates to provide Latinx/e and BIPOC artists opportunities while challenging non-equitable practices in the modern dance field. In 2007, he launched David Herrera Performance Company to respond to the lack of Latinx visibility and representation. He has created over 30 works including evening-length productions ÒRALE!, The Tip of My Tongue, The Least of Them, TOUCH, and Slumber. His work has been presented at the Austin Dance Festival, Mix&Match Festival, ODC's Walking-Distance Festival, Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, SJ Dance Company's "Choreoproject", and more.
David leads the national network Latinx Hispanic Dancers United, which serves the national Latinx/e/a/o dance community, and is the director and mentor of LatinXtensions, a 12-month mentorship program for emerging Latinx/e/a/o dance artists.
David is a recipient of the National Latino Arts & Culture Leadership Fellowship and Bridge Live Art’s Community Engagement Residency. In 2023, David was a Co-Curator for the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival's "Choreofest". He served as advisor to the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, Isadora Duncan Awards Committee, and is a founding member of Dancing Around Race, a community program dedicated to the discussion and implementation of cultural equity in the dance sector led by Gerald Casel. David has also mentored homeless individuals through the Community Housing Partnership in SF. He serves as Deborah Slater's Studio 210 Residency mentor.
David holds B.A.s in American Studies

Support the show

--
Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email [email protected]

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari VasconezSponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

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Welcome back to another season of LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari!
Join us this week as we welcome Latina Americana dancer and actress, Emma Sofia Caymares (BFA, SUNY Purchase College), to our podcast. We dive deep into her childhood growing up in concert dance and her career trajectory as she explores the dualities of working as a dancer and actress both on and off the screen. She talks about how she is now transferring those skills over to film-writing and how she is working hard to create films and content that speaks on Latinx experiences that go far beyond the typical narco/criminal, cleaning lady or overly sexualized Latina that is usually found on the big screen. Coming from Cuban and Nicaraguan roots, Emma speaks on the importance of giving back to our community in ways that are not so "stereotypical" and "problematic" but instead shed light and celebrate the beauty of our multi-cultural lives as Latinx-identifying individuals. She speaks on her love for dance and how it has been a source of creativity and expression throughout many hard years in her life and how important and lucky we are to use our bodies to express our realities.
Credits:
"Emily" in Finding Neverland (2015-2016)
"Veruca Salt" in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Broadway (2016-2018)
"Graciela Morales" in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2020)
"Celia" in Call Your Mother (2021)
"Aliss Lopez" in Bashira (2021) Nominations:
Emma was nominated for a "Chita Rivera Award" in 2017 and the "Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show" category.

Comparte el amor con Emma by leaving a comment on this episode and let us know what your favorite part of this chat was. We want to send a big thank you to Emma for making this Sip & Chat happen and for sharing her story with us!
Get more of Emma:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmasofiacaymares/

Support the show

--
Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email [email protected]

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari VasconezSponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

Send us a message!

Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! We are excited to be back and close out our celebration of Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month with the inspiring and beautiful Dr. Rebecca Pizarro!
BioSite: https://bio.site/On2PhysicalTherapy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/on2physicaltherapy/
Website: https://on2physicaltherapy.com/ A NYC native, Dr. Pizarro always danced as part of her culture but her passion for Latin dance exploded when she learned on2 Salsa in high school. From then, Rebecca trained with various NYC instructors which eventually led to her teaching and performing at local and international venues. While working as an engineer by day and teaching, training, and performing by night, Rebecca lived the life of an extreme dancer. This lifestyle, unfortunately, led to multiple injuries.

Trying to find a physical therapist with Latin dance experience proved impossible. Rebecca quickly realized that there was no one who understood the movement vocabulary of Latin dancers. Frustrated, Dr. Pizarro decided to study Western dances such as ballet and modern. While useful, this training did not lead to any insights into injury prevention or body maintenance - instead it created new ones.

In an effort to better understand the movement mechanics required of Latin dancers that was lacking in the physical therapy world, Rebecca decided to become a doctor of physical therapy. Her background in structural engineering plus extensive years of dancing gave Dr. Pizarro a unique and deeper insight into the biomechanics of Latin dancers. This led her to opening up On2 Physical Therapy - a clinic that understands and serves the unique needs of Latin dancers.
Dr. Pizarro holds certifications in:

• Bachelors of Engineering - The City College of New York
• Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) - Hunter College
• One80 System Certified Practitioner
• Pilates Certified - Mat Level 1

We are so happy to share her story with you. Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat.

Support the show

--
Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email [email protected]

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari VasconezSponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

Send us a message!

Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! We are excited to continue our celebration of Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month with the wonderful Lourdes del Mar Santiago Lebrón!
Instagram: lourdesdelmar_

Puerto Rican movement artist, Lourdes del Mar Santiago Lebrón, is committed to creating immersive artistic explorations that provoke curiosity, heighten sensory awareness, and demand attention. Central to their practice is a belief in fostering genuine connections between art maker and audience through raw emotional experiences. Their work often carries a sense of urgency, utilizing art as a powerful tool for expression and communication, facilitating both healing and exploration for all audiences.

As a Queer Latine woman, Lourdes is dedicated to crafting unapologetic art that encourages deeper thought, heightened emotional engagement, and fearless life experiences. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University, they are currently pursuing an MFA at Washington University in St. Louis. Their research at Washington University in St. Louis includes but is not limited to, dance on the body of the Puerto Rican and the histories, lineages, and politics that inform Puerto Rican dance encounters. The research largely considers national identity as a topic of discussion questioning the diaspora, the nation’s sovereignty, nationalism, and art as activism.

They are the recipient of the 2024/2025 RADicle Croft Residency and Artist-in-Residence at the Tyson Research Center in the Spring of 2024. They will present an in-progress research essay, "Cuir (Queer) Reggaetón and the Call for Cuir (Queer) Embodied Puerto Rican Identity," at this year’s Dance Studies Association conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Their piece a meating , choreographed with Tess Losada Miner, was recently performed at the Fifth Biennial Graduate Student Art History Symposium Making Contact: Haptic, Temporal, Spatial, and Conceptual Connections. In 2023, their piece Un recuerdo del presente was commissioned to be performed at SUMMIT: THROUGH HER RISE at the University of Michigan Department of Dance through a cross-campus partnership between the U-M Museum of Art, the U-M Arts Initiative, and the College of LSA.

We are so happy to share their story with you. Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat.

Support the show

--
Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email [email protected]

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari VasconezSponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.