Dancing Identities: Debunking the Latina Myth

Abstract

This qualitative and experiential investigation is concerned with the body as a site of knowledge and manufacture of one's identity. Focusing on U.S. Visual Popular Culture, the study identifies the assumption of a Latina Myth and uses it as a source for exploration of choreography and identity. Consequently, the research constitutes the conceptual frame in which Not About Me, a 30-minute solo theatrical dance piece, was conceived. The project advocates for postmodern or contemporary dance as a way to destabilize, disrupt or debunk cultural stereotypes in which the dancing body is inscribed. The research is a first-person perspective and intends to contribute to the understanding of identities and Latinidad as a contextual and always-evolving process.

A supplemental file of the video Not About Me is included with this thesis.