We’re stoked to host our first S P A C E Pro Residency! Like previous S P A C E Residencies, Pro promotes the cooperation of local spaces and movement-artists, building artistic community, artist development, and provides a platform to share new work. This version of our residency program is geared towards artists seeking to deepen their choreographic research. In alignment with DISCO RIOT’s overall mission, we foster interdisciplinary movement-based art with themes of social change and storytelling.
For S P A C E Pro 2024, DISCO RIOT is hosting our residents in our studio space at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Downtown. Artists have 40 hours of rehearsal space over a 10-week period from February-April. In the spirit of community, collaboration and exchange, the residency program also includes a community sharing day with workshops and showings of each artist’s work-in-progress, and culminates in a final presentation of artists’ work at their S P A C E Showcase, April 19 & 20.
S P A C E Showcase
April 19th & 20th @ 7pm
Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla
Meet the Artists
Greta Nuñez
Greta is a Mexican-Brazilian choreographer known for her storytelling pieces. With a diverse educational background, Greta holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Dance and an Art and Business certificate from the University of Oklahoma. She also earned her Bachelor in Dance degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California in Mexico. Greta’s journey in dance began in Mexico, where she studied ballet, jazz, and contemporary dance. Her passion for dance led her to perform as a dancer in Brazil before continuing her choreographic studies in the United States.
Driven by a desire to create meaningful connections with her audience, Greta seeks to develop choreographic works that resonate with people on a personal level. Through her artistry and dedication, she strives to push the boundaries of dance and inspire others to explore the depths of human expression.
Christine & Catalina: Echoes Beneath the Surface is a choreographic exploration that immerses itself in the domains of emotional, physical, and social wellness, while confronting the challenges of overcoming addictions and societal pressures.
At its core, the piece investigates the ways in which our environment and life experiences shape our overall well-being, offering a nuanced examination of the various factors that influence our holistic health. By delving into these complexities, the choreography not only sheds light on the obstacles we face but also explores pathways to improvement and resilience in the face of adversity.
Through the power of expressive movement and compelling storytelling, viewers are invited to confront the challenges that weigh heavy on their hearts, to challenge their preconceived notions, and to embrace the transformative potential of holistic wellness. Each movement serves as a reminder of the human capacity for growth and resilience, inspiring audiences to break free from the shackles of limiting beliefs and to seize control of their own destinies.
In essence, Christine & Catalina: Echoes Beneath the Surface sparks hope and empowerment, celebrating the spirit of humanity in the face of adversity, offering a guiding light to all who dare to dream of a future of fulfillment and growth.
Victor De La Fuente
Victor is a performing and visual artist. He grew up in the Imperial Valley and attended UCSD. During his time in art school he was heavily influenced by improvisational dance, theater, video art and performance art. His work is described as experimental comedic theater with elements of dance. Victor is currently a teacher at a High School teaching teens filmmaking and cinematography.
!Ábrete Sesamo! A work by Victor De La Fuente with Aubrhe Yruretagoyena, is an experiment that brings to the surface the pulsating root beneath neurotic art performers, the pursuit for transformation, and the everyday garbage that inspires something, hopefully something of beauty. A theatrical dance piece that simulates the human brain and its compartments, like a DJ that mixes what is dead and alive.
For this work I have a yearning to seek the extraordinary and grotesquely beautiful. I want to use the stage in all its glory to give me something, rather than the other way around. I want to go into memory, both real and make-believe and pull the trigger to my own discomforts and pleasures supported by the Tchotchkes and all we embody together. I love films, I long for music, I simmer in nostalgia, and I have also been destroyed on many levels these last couple of years. From destruction comes rebirth, and through this work I want to create metamorphosis. Of what, who cares. I have no agenda, no premeditated theme or notion of meaning, but I have a strong instinct developed by years of improvising and an aesthetic language linked to gayhood, queerhood, pophood and being a latino from a hood. I don’t know what I want, I just know what I don’t want, and what I really dont want is that which I have experienced and seen in art and performance time and time again. I seek to make something else, whatever feels different and exciting for me. I will be selfish and childish in this work, with my pal Auhbre and make a stage performance fit for the queens and outsiders.
Cecily Holcombe
Cecily (she/her/hers) discovered dance while studying physics at UCSD. After graduating, she moved to San Francisco and performed with Liss Fain Dance and other local choreographers while earning her teaching credential and teaching high school math and science. Since moving back to San Diego, Cecily has performed with LITVAKdance and San Diego Dance Theater and has been honored to work with many local artists including Khamla Somphanh, Lavina Rich, and Blythe Barton, among others. She presented her first choreographic work at Live Arts Fest in 2022 and has since created work for San Diego Dance Theater’s spring repertory concert in March 2023. Outside of dance, Cecily works with high school students and enjoys playing guitar. She lives with her husband, their dog, and 3 unpredictable children.
DISCO RIOT’s residency is truly a chance for me to honor the process over the product. During the creation phase, I value and incorporate the contributions and insights of the dance artists I’m working with. The use of journaling and discussion can help connect us to each other and can also inform me of the next steps. I love (and totally fear!) that I don’t know exactly where the work will go. I also plan on collaborating with a visual artist and am excited about working with someone outside of the dance world. Of particular interest to me is incorporating storytelling into the work. How do I put pieces together in different ways and how does that affect the experience?
One theme I am currently thinking about: falling. The concept of falling can cover both emotional and symbolic losses of control. When is it surrendering, when is it a physical decline, when is it a shifting of stability? What does it mean to fall? How does it feel to fall? How do we react when we see others fall?
I’m also thinking about monsters.