Dance in the Desert 2025: A Research Initiative

Choreography: Yvonne Montoya Dancers: Ruby Morales, Vincent Chávez Image Design & Photography: Baylie MacRae

2025 marks the return of Dance in the Desert and this iteration of the program is a research initiative about dance communities in Arizona and New Mexico.

This year, eight researchers and community liaisons will conduct a series of surveys and one-on-one interviews with former Dance in the Desert participants to gather insights on the past impact of the program.

I attended a past Dance in the Desert gathering!

During summer 2025, the research team will return to each of the three communities in Arizona - Tucson, Phoenix, and Douglas/Agua Prieta - to reconnect with and interview dance artists from the Dance in the Desert community. We look forward to seeing everyone!

New this year, the Dance in the Desert team will also conduct exploratory interviews with dance artists in Arizona’s sister state, New Mexico. We are excited to connect with dance artists in New Mexico.

All in all, Dance in the Desert 2025 is a binational multistate research project centering Southwest dance artists. We are so excited to work on this!

I am a dance artist in New Mexico and would love to connect!