Written by Ruby Morales
I graduated from Arizona State University that same summer, a month before I embarked on a journey through Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute (UBW’s SLI). Up until this point I was somewhat blind to racial microaggressions. I was unaware of how they were targeted towards me because I’m a person of color, and didn’t realize how my emotions had been affected by it. It’s not that I didn't know that the U.S. had been built on racism or that I was Mexican, and Arizona’s SB 1070 law targeted undocumented immigrants like my parents. I knew all of this. I mean, I lived it. But I couldn’t name it. I didn’t know how. Additionally, I wasn’t aware of all the small ways racism constantly showed up in my life untttilllll… I did UBW’s SLI. This program was, and still is, full of powerful and impactful information! In fact, it’s a part of CONTRA-TIEMPO’s history. Other dancers who have been in the company have done the program and it even played a role in influencing our director Ana Maria, to start CONTRA-TIEMPO after she attended in '97! SLI included the People’s Institute of Survival and Beyond’s Undoing Racism Training. This specific training unlocked a world of social activism for me, and as much as I want to expand on how, I will have to save those details for another blog post but DO KNOW, it was transformational, informative and has had a BIG impact on my artivism TODAY. It is however, important to note that I did this one week training the week BEFORE doing CONTRA-TIEMPO’s Futuro Summer Dance Intensive in 2018. So I entered the space with new knowledge, discoveries and grieving the loss of a beautiful image I had of life, an image of equality (before understanding equity), fair opportunity (before understanding the multiple ways people discriminate), unity (before understanding racial microaggressions, racial discomfort, and white fragility) and hope (before fully understanding systemic racism). With all this fresh on my mind when I showed up for the first day of Futuro, I was greeted by unapologetic Latinidad, love and joy! Throughout the program I was shown what it means to unapologetically take up space as a Latina and claim love as my superpower! I was given the freedom to dance MY way, my Mexican influenced, waist and hip driven, b-girl flavor, way; AND we were looking at systemic racism and how art IS a form of social action. I connected with other artists who were interested in similar things as I was. I learned about the clave, afro-cuban dance forms, Theatre of the Oppressed, and unlocked new emotional capabilities. The combination of UBW’s SLI and CONTRA-TIEMPO’s Futuro was a gold mind for my mind, body and soul. I mean, let’s be honest, up until this point being Mexican and embarking on a dance career was not easy. Growing up I didn’t know any “successful” and “professional” Mexican dancers. While in college, although my teachers were all very supportive, none of them looked like me or had socially and culturally relatable experiences. SO, to be in a space like CONTRA-TIEMPO’s was POWERFUL and life changing. All of a sudden I knew I wasn’t alone. All of a sudden, I knew what was possible. Futuro, became my futuro. After auditioning and not getting chosen,attending rehearsals to continue my training without a paid apprenticeship, and sharing my breaking skills at Futuro 2019, I sit here writing this blog post as a paid apprentice, Coordinator for our Futuro Summer Dance Intensive 2020, and with a myriad of beautiful experiences performing and touring the country! AND I've been invited to join as an official company member for our Fall 2020 touring season! The power and potential of my dance future was grounded in CONTRA-TIEMPO’s Futuro 2018 and so… I am forever grateful.