Q: What has been your professional dance journey, and how did you come to dance with Paul Taylor?

I hope to see especially people that have been doing the arts lose the jadedness I have seen coming into theater. When you are new like me, there is gratitude and it’s fresh. You feel like you’re fulfilling lifelong dreams. But energy from other people who have done it for so long can feel heavy. At the end of the day, this is something we have all worked towards because most of us have wanted to do it since we were little. I would like the rest of the world to see how important the arts are… Art is always pushed to the back of the line and considered an extracurricular but the fact is the arts are very necessary. We are all watching TV and listening to music. Without it ... we would lose a part of our souls.

Q: Do you have any mentors or important people in your life that have shaped the way you dance and or think about dance?

Someone I have looked up to is Eran Bugge in the Paul Taylor Dance Company. She is the first person I met who was my height and build. I’m short -- 5 feet tall and I don't have long legs. When you're in school it's hard to figure out what path you want to take in dance. My college years had been very ballet heavy and I knew I wouldn't make it in the ballet world. So it was great to find an idol who was really giving. Eran would invite me to see the Paul Taylor Dance Company for free! There are people who are your idols because they’re very inspirational. And then there are people that look like you and you think, “Oh, my body could do that because she can do it.”

Another person I looked up to is Amy Marshall, who I danced with for more than 5 years. She has had her own company for the past 20 years. Amy danced for Taylor 2 and David Parsons. I took her class and she hired me from her class. It’s amazing before you get your foot in the door to have a teacher who has had the career you want. To even just get to listen to her audition and touring stories is amazing. Going into the dance world is crazy. It’s not a normal job. I remember being in college and I would say to myself, “Of course I want to tour!” But then you get there and you are like, “Oh no, what am I doing?” I think it’s important to listen to people who are really honest about what the dance world is really like.  Being a professional dancer is hard and I appreciate Amy.

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Q: What have been some challenges in your pre-professional or professional dance career?‍

I think one of the biggest challenges is trying to find the right job to supplement your income while you’re trying to find a dance job. At Taylor, I have a salary. I don’t need to work another job. That’s very rare nowadays. I think a huge challenge I see a lot of people going through is that if you are bartending a lot and you go out after... you're exhausted. You’re not going to class at 10am and then you may not be ready for an audition. I tried to make sure I had a job that would make sure I could get a good night's sleep. I tried to get  a job that would be flexible if I wanted to go to certain auditions. Sometimes I would watch people struggle to try and get off work to audition. I have worked in fitness for a long time so then I’m only training clients  for an hour at a time. I could rearrange things. 

After graduating from college, I struggled to figure out what I was good at. In college, you take ballet and a certain kind of modern. Then when you are released into the dance world, when you audition, you quickly find that a lot of things don’t fit. When I graduated from college, everyone wanted to get into a contemporary ballet company. I thought I couldn’t do it. I can’t put on a pointe shoe anymore. I was trying to take as many classes as I could to figure out what worked for my body and what I liked. I have short legs and a mobile torso. It works for Taylor and that is a blessing. I had found a technique that doesn't require such high legs and feet! It can take a while to figure out what style you like if you want to teach and not perform. In the dance world you need to put in time to figure out what works for you. It takes time -- at least a year. Being rejected is very hard but if you are committed and keep trying it eventually pays off. It could be that you find out you love teaching pilates and you open a pilates studio.

Q: Do you believe dance can be a platform for social justice topics? If so, how? ‍

Yes, of course. I think if someone has a voice and something truly affects them, they can translate that into choreography. In NYC you can have a voice when it comes to social justice and there is an audience for it -- are theaters willing to show it. I also understand I live in a bubble in NYC. The rest of the world doesn't always think the way I do. But I have seen a lot of dances about immigration, I am currently part of a work by Michelle Manzanalez, the Director, School of Dance for Ballet Hispanico. She is Mexican-American and  making a piece about immigration/migration. It is relevant, especially in today's climate where there is such a hunger to talk about it. Do people around the world want to talk about social justice issues? No. But in the dance and art world in NYC? Yes. Everyone wants to talk about it. Yes, I'm biased because I live here. I’m around like-minded people. I hope everyone in the world wants to listen. 

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Q: What inspires you and drives you forward as an artist and a person?‍

I am proud that I’m a working dancer, that this is my number one job and who is paid a salary. I have my dream job; I’m the first person in my family to have their  dream job. Neither of my parents graduated college. They are first generation from Puerto Rico and Sicily. I always appreciate how lucky I am that Ihave a job that just pays the bills. I love the career path that I’m on. I remember when I got the job. I said, “We made it, we did it!” It was such a huge deal. I don't have any grandparents alive to see me get this far. Two generations ago one worked in a cannery and another was a seamstress. They didn't have the careers that they dreamed of. I have that career. My first Season with the Paul Taylor Dance Company was at Lincoln Center. My parents were just like, “I can't believe you did this.'' My parents are my biggest cheerleaders. I remember feeling guilty that my dad had been so proud he could pay for my college and I chose dance. It was probably not their first choice of what they wanted me to do. I was kind of like, “Sorry”.  But they supported me anyway. I’m living the American dream of working hard towards what you want to do and having it actually pay off is the most inspiring thing that will probably ever happen to me. 

‍Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you as a performing artist?‍

I'm with the company but we can't work right now because we touch and partner. It's really sad, we had two tours cancel and The TaylorNEXT Series at The Joyce in June was also cancelled. There is new information everyday. We can't plan for the future right now. Being a touring company, touring is scheduled at least two years in advance. But now there is an unsure future of when we will be able to start again but there is no doubt that we will start again. We regularly have conference calls with our artistic and executive director and they're so positive about the future. They talk about how much New Yorkers need to go to the theater. I feel like now more than ever is the time to prove how important it is to see performing arts live. It’s very different from watching it online. After this, people will want to go to theaters to see performances. I hate being stuck at home but luckily there are a lot of people posting dance classes online. Today, I took a class today taught by James Whiteside and Isabella Boylston, two American Ballet Theatre dancers and they do this split screen Instagram Live class a few days a week. It’s so great! They tag at the bottom to donate to food banks or other causes. It’s been really amazing to see these ballet gods teaching online. It’s been so lovely to feel connected, especially when you see the comments on the Instagram Live videos. It’s nice to see these dancers selflessly teaching online from their homes. 

The Paul Taylor Dance Company is also teaching classes everyday online through PTDF: Digital. Michael Trusnovec, a Taylor star who retired last year, recently taught a 3-minute solo from Paul Taylor’s Brandenburgs. It’s so awesome because how else would you learn that? And to learn it from the person who did it for 20 years? It’s been amazing to see the dance community paying it forward and teaching while we are all at home. I found many yoga studios are also doing that. You can donate to the studios to help pay the teachers.