Lourdes del Mar Santiago Lebron

I research dance on the body of the Puerto Rican and the histories, lineages, and politics that inform Puerto Rican modern and contemporary dance. The research largely considers national identity as a topic of discussion when grappling with questions about the diaspora, nation’s sovereignty, nationalism, and art as activism. Centering ongoing debates allows the research to inquire how bodies position themselves in relation to the politics and legislation that has/will impact their life and art making. My scholarship seeks to further engage topics of race, class, gender, and sexuality to explore how values surrounding these topics circulate, manifest, change, and are enacted within dance in Puerto Rico and the diaspora through performing and witnessing artistic encounters.

The research takes many forms: uncovering, researching, understanding, and interpreting the history of modern and contemporary dance in Puerto Rico in varying artistic discourses, questions of national identity, the diaspora, and the politics of a nation with little sovereignty whose people live and create within many different spheres.