PROJECTS
Dance in the Desert: Where Community Moves Together uplifts dance in the Southwest by connecting dancers across geographies and centering local expertise. Dance in the Desert 2025 is a binational multistate research initiative.
Dance in the Desert is founded and organized by Yvonne Montoya.
Special thank you to Liz Lerman LLC, project partner and co-organizer of the gathering from 2018-2022.
Dance in the Desert: Then & Now
2026 Research Share Out
In 2026, the Dance in the Desert team will share out the research report for the data collected in 2025. In 2025, our team conducted 58 interviews with dance artists aged 18–75 across New Mexico, Arizona, and the US/Mexico Borderlands. The central question we set out to answer: what does it take for dance artists and communities in the Southwest to not simply survive, but to thrive? Full research reports will be available on this webpage in late September 2026. Additional research graphics and information will be shared on Instagram and Facebook in Summer and Fall 2026 and via a series of 2026 newsletters.
If you would like a presentation of Dance in the Desert data with your community, or for more information, please contact safosdance@gmail.com
2025 Research
The 2025 iteration of Dance in the Desert ushers in a new round of research regarding dance communities in Arizona and beyond. Activities include conducting surveys and one-on-one interviews with former Dance in the Desert participants to gather insights on the past impact of the program. New this year, Dance in the Desert will interview dance artists in New Mexico as we explore the possibilities of expanding Dance in the Desert to our neighboring state. We look forward to learning about the strengths and needs of Southwest dance communities.
2022 Douglas & Agua Prieta
After a two year hiatus for the pandemic, Dance in the Desert returned May 2022 with an in person gathering and binational dance exchange that took place in Douglas, AZ and Agua Prieta, Sonora, México. The gathering featured professional development workshops and master dance classes of various dance styles on both sides of the border. Master classes were free and open to the Douglas and Agua Prieta communities.
2021 Remote
In 2021, the Dance in the Desert community met virtually in a series of quarterly online Happy Hours. During the Happy Hours, dancers shared resources including information about upcoming grants, online performances, calls for artists, and the like. Each Happy Hour ended with a short dance class led by a member of the Dance in the Desert community.
2020 Remote
Dance in the Desert 2020 was set to be the first binational gathering originally scheduled to take place the first weekend of May in Douglas, AZ and Agua Prieta, Sonora, México. However, due to COVID19, the gathering was postponed until May 2022.
Instead of an in person gathering, Dance in the Desert 2020 offered a series of free professional development webinars. To view those webinars, click here.
2020 Tucson
Dancemakers from across Arizona gathered in Tucson from May 15-19, 2019, for the second annual convening of Dance in the Desert.
This was a unique opportunity for dancemakers and choreographers from the Arizona Latine dance community to come together with dancers from throughout the state to deepen relationships, and incubate new work.
The gathering featured workshops by renown choreographer Liz Lerman.
2018 Phoenix
The inaugural Dance in the Desert brought Latine dance professionals from around the nation together for a three-day gathering in Phoenix, AZ on April 26-28, 2018.
The first every gathering included a choreographer’s jam, meetings among dancemakers and arts administrators, and focus groups. The three-day convening concluded with a community share-out and public reception.
Funders Credit
Dance in the Desert 2025 was supported by the Mellon Foundation. It is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty and empowerment that can be found there. Through their grants, they seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and guided by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.
In Gratitude
A big thank you to Border Arts Corridor (BAC) in Douglas, AZ for donating in-kind space for the research team to conduct interviews in 2025.
Thank you to all the co-organizers, funders, foundations, and dance artists who supported past Dance in the Desert gatherings between 2018-2022.
Experience The Movement!
Revisit Dance in the Desert through photo and video highlights.