Portrait of a Dancer

Portrait of a Dancer is a collaborative project with dancer Gabriela Rocío Martínez Rodríguez. Through movement and image, it explores dance as a way of grounding, presence, and connection while reflecting on shared experiences of migration.

Dance has long been an important part of my life — a way of inhabiting my body, grounding myself in my surroundings, and exploring what it means to feel present.

With Portrait of a Dancer, I began to explore this connection while settling into my new home in Spain. The project centers on Gabriela Rocío Martínez Rodríguez, a dancer based in Sevilla and originally from El Salvador. Together, we focused on the different aspects of dance: the preparation, the movement, and ultimately the immersion. In many ways, these stages began to echo parts of our own experiences of migration — the anticipation, the transition, and the gradual process of finding a sense of place.

The project reflects on the ways we seek connection — with ourselves and with others — across languages and cultural differences. As two women building our lives in a new country, the process became a space for dialogue, where movement and image offered a way to reflect on our individual and shared journeys.