Sensual. Sexual. Unapologetic. Latinidad. Cubanidad. Languaging blackness and latinxness in a form of movement and conversation. Verbal and non-verbal communication. Iluminada por las necesidades de recuerdo y honor de las mujeres en mi vida y antecesores.

What does it look like to unite the spiritual, mental, emotional, physical layers of the self?

Drawing from cultural experiences to drive my artistry. Encouragement of discovery, growth, and reclamation of the self. I am inspired by the pelvis, hips, waist, and overall curvature of a woman’s body. A place (or places) where love and trauma coexist.
Influences of Afro-Caribbean dance and methodologies. Feminism and divine feminity pour into the work I call my own. I am inspired by Rihanna’s sexual reclamation and ownership of the body; Savage x Fenty Volume I and II. CaribFunk Technique by A’Keitha Carey initiated my needs to work in the field of womanhood and Afro-Caribbean movement, storytelling, reclamation.

What is it to be a woman? What are experiences women of color have that can be used to deconstruct white values in society? How can women reclaim themselves?

LA MUJER: THE FILM

La Mujer is in collaboration with women who utilize their bodies as resistance against oppression and misogyny through movement. I am speaking to/for women of color, specifically to Latinx and black-identifying communities. This film holds an intersection of experiences from different women of color and activates them as retaliation against oppression and colonized societal values.

questions driving my thesis;

How can the body be utilized to resist? What does it mean to resist?
What movement or cultural practices are used to resist or fight against something?
What parts of the human body hold the most trauma? The most power?
What experiences have led you to be the woman you are today?
What does it mean to be a woman?
How are women affected by policing of the body?

Caribbean-based and hip-hop movements influence my thesis.

collaborative process. women empowerment. vulnerability. latinidad. blackness. hips. waist. pelvis. love.

follow my journey


kani wilson is a black queer artist at the university of the arts. As she nears the end of her third year as an undergraduate student she has been invested in the extension of art from self to other. Her art has become an extension of dreaming and manifesting.

My name is Melanie Castro, a dancer, and performer based in Harlem, New york. I have been dancing all my life but without resources and a lack of training, I had to fight for a chance to dance at the age of 17. Through mimicking dance videos, street dancers, and movies, I took a leap of faith and auditioned for The University of The Arts in Philadelphia back in 2017. Now, I am currently completing my BFA in dance at the University of The Arts (spring 2021). Since then I have danced alongside artists like Love & Hip hop star Britney Taylor (2019), performed in the legendary Apollo Theater (2018-2019) The Whitney Museum (2016-2018), New York Sybarite Production, The annual Pride Parade, plus much more. I have now branched into acting, modeling, creating dance films, and choreographing my own work. The depth of my struggles is what motivates my journey, but the pure joy of manifesting my wildest dreams is what makes it worth growing through.

Song Aziza Tucker is a movement artist currently based in Philadelphia, studying dance at the University of the Arts in her third year of undergraduate school. She has produced three distinctive works to precede a lineage of production in honorarium of a multiplicitous self, an acknowledgment of collectivism living within her own body. Song’s work can often be from the perspective of the “she” as someone who identifies with the pronouns “she/her” has dedicated herself to specifically be able to articulate the “shes” that Song is tied to. She is currently invested in making site-specific with fellow peers to uncover unfolding curiosities about movement, dance, and art in general during these transformative times of the covid era.

Azari Ford is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher from New Jersey. She is a senior at the University Of the Arts achieving her Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree in Dance and minor in business. Azari has also spent the past 3 years performing in sports entertainment as an NFL Cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles Cheer Team. Performing, modeling, networking, and getting opportunities to dance backup with artists such as Queen and Adam Lambert, along with New Kids on the block. Along with performing, she loves to train younger dancers in hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary dance.
If Azari isn’t dancing you can find her customizing clothes and shoes for her up-and-coming business Azari collection.

Silka started dancing at 7 years old she attended northwest school of the arts in Charlotte NC , from middle school to high school. She is currently a dance major at Uarts. Silka is an avid reader, Social justice enthusiast, and a constant student searching for knowledge and truth. She enjoys exploring dance with traditional classical forms and movement that drives the sound of music. She is excited about growing as an artist and person as she continues to explore and share the many multiplicities of herself.