Nepantla

Nepantla

Nepantla is a manifestation of border arte. The piece represents the experience of existing in the borderland between two cultures; grappling with embodied memory, lineage, and identidad. It explores what it means to be whole, feel whole, and be seen as whole within Chicanidad.

This piece is the culmination of my creative research during my MFA program at the University of Utah School of Dance. I asked myself: How can I develop a borderland movement practice utilizing Folklórico and modern dance? And how do I negotiate this theoretical, pedagogical, and creative process in a Western concert dance space? Utilizing traditional Folklórico and modern dance techniques, Chicana Feminist methodologies, and decolonial approaches to faldeo, we built a thriving, creative space in the borderlands.

“I have been straddling that Tejas-Mexican border, and others, all my life. It’s not a comfortable territory to live in, this place of contradictions…No, not comfortable but home.” -Gloria Anzaldúa

The piece was selected for the American College Dance Association National Festival, 2025. It was chosen by the adjudicators, "For its ferocious depiction of female power and sophisticated amalgamation of traditional forms." —Sidra Bella, Leah Cox, and Mike Esperanza

CREDITS

CHOREOGRAPHY
Roxanne Gray
with collaboration from dancers

PERFORMERS
Leslie Jara
Salanieta Malohifoou
Kiara Saavedra
Masio Sangster
Keily Tafiti
Yolimar Rodríguez Rivera
Em Zinn

LIGHTING
Em Bertelli

ACDA NATIONALS CAST
Leslie Jara
Salanieta Malohifoou
Keily Tafiti
Em Zinn
Isabel Nieves Carrasquillo
Ayana Lovell

MUSIC + SOUND
Daniel Clifton
Roxanne Gray

ZAPATEADO
Zeniff Mejia
Ale Romero

COSTUMES
Sandy Starr
Roxanne Gray

VIDEOGRAPHY
Benjamin Sanders

PHOTOGRAPHY
Joshua Whitehead
Ryan Ross

ORIGINALLY PERFORMED AT
The University of Utah
Graduate Thesis Concert, 2024

SELECTED FOR
American College Dance Association National Festival, 2025
Washington, DC

ALSO PRESENTED AT
Nepantla: Border Arte
Curated by Roxanne Gray with 801 Salon
Finch Lane Gallery, Salt Lake City, 2025

Corrienta Alterna
Pro Artes de México, Salt Lake City, 2025

For access to more footage, please contact me.