GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP PERSONAL STATEMENT

Today, we celebrate International Dance Day. In Mexico, April 29th is a day devoted to dance. The venues of my beloved Mexico City gather groups, companies, and movers from a variety of dance styles to remember how movement is part of the cultural and knowledge heritage transferred generation after generation, bringing joy and a sense of belonging to our souls. Dance profoundly changed my existence. Some of the impacts dance brought to my life were not necessarily the most positive ones, but many others just turned my worldview upside down, hopefully to become a better human.

13 days ago, I was caught up with the crazy, in a good way, overwhelming, and still to-be-digested news of being awarded as a Guggenheim Fellow for the 100th Class.  I am officially sharing this news today because of how dance changed entirely the pathway I was planning to take 23 years ago. Additionally, at the time I received the news, I did not have the time to let it settle, as I was in the middle of producing the first edition of our [PROArtes México’s] live art festival, Corriente Alterna, running from April 10-21. I was happy, but could barely think about what it means to be awarded this distinction. 

Before mentioning anything else, I must acknowledge that these days feel obscure and hopeless when I know every morning many good, tireless, and decent people who look like me are in fear, hidden, and are facing their lives and realities being completely ripped out. My heart mourns for those who are waking up separated from their communities, families, treated worse than objects, and having their rights violated. Not only that, it saddens me seeing how our humanity has become a currency exchanged for the best rate. Every day, we should be aware of what is happening to our community members, to our close friends, to our close relatives, to our close family members… Me, myself, I am afraid.

From the Borderlands to the Roots. 2021. Photo by Peter Hay.

The Guggenheim Fellowship (GF) “offers support to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possible conditions." The fellowships are awarded to individuals who “have demonstrated exceptional ability in their chosen field and exhibit great promise in their future endeavors.”

Receiving this recognition has a myriad of implications, it is important for me to humbly share so people understand the contextual dimensions not only in my personal and professional life, but also if there is interest to learn more about where I come from.

I am the first Mexican-born female to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship in the Choreography field in the U.S./Canada Competition. Certainly, I am not the first Mexican to receive this prestigious award. In 2021, José Ome Navarrete Mazatl, a Mexico City native, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in the same field of study in the same U.S./Canada Competition. And even previously in 2009, Omar Carrum, a Mexican dance-maker I have had the pleasure to work with before, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Dance in the Latin America and Caribbean Competition, which is currently suspended.

Sharing this distinction with dance-makers who are part of the national and, many times, international dance landscape and history is difficult to grasp. I mean, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Merce Cunningham, Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Bebe Miller, Steve Paxton, Miguel Gutierrez... and many more. I heard many of these names when I started my professional dance studies. Others I got to meet and understand better once at graduate school here in the US. Thinking of seeing my name listed beside these iconic dance-makers blows my mind. Additionally, taking away any ageist connotation, but after reviewing who I am sharing this recognition with this year, I am the youngest recipient in the Choreography field and one of the youngest who has received it since the first recipient, Martha Graham, in 1932. This is an interesting fact simply because it offers a perspective on at what point in our careers dance-makers are recognized in a field where aging is not always appreciated.

Moreover, if taking a detailed look at the location of many of the fellows, most of them have developed their practice in hyper-visible settings/cities. It is curious to experience artists like me who do not live and work 24/7 in places like NYC, LA, or Chicago, and are still acknowledged by our merits. I am located in a city/state that is not considered a dance hub like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. This is extremely challenging. Yet, for someone like me who believes in decentralizing power in an effort to contribute to decolonizing the stereotypical idea of what, where, and how dance should look like, and where to find the “dance that is worth it”. This acknowledgement (GF) serves as a reassurance that the impact of what I do is fundamental for the community I am part of.

Lastly, and even more meaningful, I am Mexican. Since I started working in the dance field in Mexico and started to tour nationally and internationally, I noticed the weighted influence of coloniality in dance. It is about everything, how bodies supposedly must look, the myth of considering classical dance as "foundational", looking at dance expressions from stronger economies/global locations as an aspiration, etc. I have always felt the contributions of Mexican movement makers have been undervalued. 

Moreover, I am the daughter of two tireless working-class parents. I found the arts by accident; my life was not designed to be an artist. With this context, people can only imagine what it means to see my name on a list that will not go away even when I die. 

Because of how difficult times we are living right now, this award lands in a very special moment where not only my creative research but also my advocacy work is focused on highlighting the amazing and unique talent that Mexican and Mexican descent contemporary art contributions offer to the world. It is inaccurate to make the harmful generalization that we, of Mexican or Latin American descent, "are criminals.” We are not what the mainstream narrative aims to mislead. Likewise, in many other cultures and nations, there are social challenges and flaws. Mexican people are creative, resilient, untiring, kind, generous, and gentle, and by receiving this distinction, I honor not only my ancestors but also have the chance to amend harmful stereotypes systematically preserved. My story is and can be that of any other brown girl, woman, and/or Mexican/Latin American future applicant to this opportunity or any other in the arts. There are amazing Mexicans creating, innovating, and changing the world out there, and not broadly known because many times we do not pay attention, we do not mind investigating, or simply do not care.

I must confess that migrating to the United States after 16 years in the Mexican performing arts scene has felt like starting from scratch and, at times, overwhelming. It has been slow process of finding the connections, the spaces, and the funding. You arrive at a new place, and it feels like nothing you have done before exists because people only consider what you can achieve around their immediacy and their own context. People validate you based on their own experience, many times underestimating yours. This is a huge problem. It is not only about not understanding or recognizing the work of foreign or diverse groups of artists in the creative field, but also being willing to hear and know more about other people of our communities who are not or do not look like oneself.

 And I am more than thankful to my unconditional supporters, my family (Peter, Cora, Héctor, Ashly and the Hay Family) who have always been there for me holding me in the best and the worst. I am deeply grateful to my references for this application, Chloe Jones, Barbara Wittmann, Frank Ragano, and Jorge Rojas, and huge appreciation to Samuel Hanson for being a huge supporter of my work since I started presenting it in SLC spaces once the vaccines let us go back to gathering publicly.

Somehow, after 5 years of having migrated, I am rebuilding my career and myself here, in the United States. This news will take longer to digest, however, I am so appreciative of receiving this award. Thank you Guggenheim Foundation!

April 29th, 2025.

SLC.

Message of congratulations from President Edward Hirsch.