Latinx Dance Educators Alliance to Launch Inaugural LXDEA Convivencia

Latinx Dance Educators Alliance Announces Inaugural LXDEA Convivencia April 12-14 in Harrisonburg, Virginia
Uniting Latinx/e Dance Educators to Shape the Future of Dance Education

Tuesday, February 20, 2024 (Harrisonburg, Va.) - The Latinx Dance Educators Alliance (LXDEA) will hold its inaugural convivencia, LXDEA Convivencia: Belonging y Testimonio, in partnership with James Madison University from April 12 to 14, 2024 in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Founded in 2021, the Latinx Dance Educators Alliance (LXDEA) is a movement that mobilizes comunidades to counter exclusionary practices prevalent in dance pedagogy, curriculum, scholarship, and spaces across the field. In direct response to the historical and continued erasure of Latinx/e contributions and experiences, LXDEA connects dance educators through the Alliance, provides a curated database of Latinx/e centered resources through the Oasis, and promotes Chicana/Latina feminist practices of plática, testimonio, and convivencia to shape learning experiences for dance educators in community.

LXDEA is a growing alliance of sixty-seven Latinx/e-identifying dance educators working independently and across various institutions, including community grassroots and independent organizations, dance studios and conservatories, K-12 public and private schools, and post-secondary institutions. Located in diverse geographic regions of the United States, including Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, Puerto Rico, and throughout Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and México, Alliance members hold various expertise in dance education research and practice.

LXDEA Convivencia 2024 is an event where Latinx/e-identifying dance educators will come together to discuss important topics and real-world issues our comunidad faces. We aim to use this unique gathering as a platform for learning, getting to know each other, and celebrating allyship. Our community is strengthened by the resilience of underrepresented people and their cultural knowledge. We recognize that many dance teacher/educator spaces lack Latinx/e representation, which often leads to us having to negotiate ourselves within colonial legacies. We aim to create a space where everyone feels brave enough to share their realities, voice their dreams, and shift the paradigm. Collectively, we aspire to disrupt boundaries and address the future needs of our communities.

The convivencia weekend is a groundbreaking event that includes pláticas, interactive workshops, movement classes, critical conversations, visual artistic sharings, and ceremonia rituals with a range of educators, practitioners, artists, and scholars, including Brianna Brathwaite, Siomara Bridges-Mata, Franchesca Marisol Cabrera, Beatrice Capote, Jackie Courchene, Elisa De La Rosa, Laura de la Garza Noble, Tadea Martin-Gonzalez, Gabriel Mata, Angelica Monteiro, and Mark Travis Rivera. Sandra Rivera will give a special keynote, and LNX Dance Podcast co-founders, Mari Vasconez and Marcus Valentin, will host an opening night plática with steering committee members Rubén Graciani, Michelle Manzanales, Kiri Avelar, Elisa De La Rosa, Chell Parkins, and Gregory Youdan, Jr. Guests include a performance by Omar Román De Jesús' company, BocaTuya, and community social time with comida and Mariachi músicos from the Harrisonburg, Virginia community.

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