Geografía
Geografía is a contemporary dance collective in Austin, Texas that centers social justice and asks how orienting to a politics of location within the topography of the body can serve as a basis for other ways of knowing and being in the world.
Co-directed by Bonnie Cox and Erica Saucedo, Geografía aims to produce and curate dance experiences that are driven by individual and collective embodied geographies. Through festivals, performances, and immersive dance productions, Geografía creates a community of dance artists that celebrate the minutiae of Latinx cultures from a uniquely Texan perspective. Geografía produced a Latinx Contemporary Dance Festival in 2019 in Austin, and in 2020 in San Antonio. At these festivals, dozens of artists from all over Texas came together to share their work and engage in a conversation around Latinx identity and performance. Geografía's previous works have questioned Latina stereotypes, grappled with the 2019 El Paso shooting, evoked La Cucaracha as an avatar, and drawn links between the spirit of tequila and fertility. In December 2023, Geografía will produce an immersive dance show at a historical mansion in Sequin, Texas that honors the ancestors through embodied rituals. In the post-pandemic era, Geografía seeks to host an annual dance festival for established and emerging social justice-focused artists in Texas.
Background Photograph by Hank+Tank.
Bones.Memories.Marigolds
December 2, 2023
On December 2nd, 2023 Geografía presents, Bones.Memories.Marigolds–an evening of dance works created by Bonnie Cox, Erica Saucedo, and a special guest performance by Teatro de Artes de Juan Seguin’s Ballet Folklórico de la Rosa.
Location: The Mosheim Mansion in Seguin Texas
Tickets: https://dojour.us/e/18477
Geografía presents, Bones.Memories.Marigolds–an evening of dance works created by Bonnie Cox, Erica Saucedo, and a special guest performance by Teatro De Artes De Juan Seguin’s Ballet Folklórico De La Rosa.
This site-specific production will premiere in various rooms at the historic Mosheim Mansion in Seguin, Texas on December 2nd, 2023. Engaging in the realms of the transient, ancestral, and natural worlds, this immersive evening of performance reaches backwards to recall gestures from times before and ask, “where might they guide us now?” Bones.Memories.Marigolds will feature a new live dance performance work by Erica Saucedo called “Red Carpet Detergent”, a dance film by Bonnie Cox called “Maiz Threads”, a duet performed and created by Bonnie and Erica called “Tequila Tendu”, and special live performances by Ballet Folklorico De La Rosa. Seating and occupancy will be limited for safety reasons, so Geografía recommends purchasing tickets online in advance. Food, drinks, and a live cumbia band performance will be included in the ticket price on a sliding scale of $25-$45.
“While governments and media companies have profited off of labeling and pandering to a socially constructed Latino population based on geographic tropes, I am interested in how this festival might analyze geography, as Deborah Vargas notes, as the topography of the body. — Erica Saucedo
Geografía presents a South Texas contemporary dance festival that asks how orienting to a politics of location within the topography of the body can serve as a basis for other ways of knowing and being in the world. This intimate performance setting aims to celebrate modes of difference through storytelling. Through this artist-driven initiative, dancers co-vision and co-create the performance platform they need in order to move towards the body, one another, and liberation. Geografía unites choreographers and engages the public in critical discussions about culture, race, gender, and politics through the power of performance. All performances are followed by a post-show discussion centered around where dance and identity intersect, as self-determined by each artist.
To support amplifying marginalized voices in contemporary dance, Bonnie Cox and Erica Saucedo founded Geografía in 2019.
SAVE THE DATE:
Geografiía, Austin: June 19-21, 2020. Emma S. Barrientos Mexican Americal Cultural Center, 600 River St., Austin, Texas 78701. ***SUSPENDED DUE TO COVID-19
Featured Artists (in alphabetical order)
Adam Castaneda
Adel Hernandez
Amber Ortega
Azteca Sirias
Bonnie Cox
Cecilia Duranp
Edwin Tamayo
Erica Saucedo
Fabiola Guillén
Matthew Mendez
Sarah Sanchez
Stephanie Valle
URBAN-15
Past Iterations
2019 - Esquina Tango (Austin)
2020 - Jumpstart Theater (San Antonio)
June 2020 - Emma S Barrientos Mexican-American Cultural Center (Austin)