Paola Lopez

Paola’s work allows us to feel our way to a future without borders. Her practice fundamentally contradicts the type of separation U.S. border imperialism facilitates, her community organizing work forming vital connection between El Paso and Juárez. As a dancemaker and improviser, she intimately responds to the geography of the border, an environment that she moves through to offer the viewer and participant moments of exploratory liberation.

In 2017, she joined the coalition Boundless Across Borders, a group of womxn living along the border that bring together artists and organizers concerned with addressing national issues through a local lens. As part of her involvement with Boundless Across Borders, she produced transfronteriza, a show that celebrates the creative capacity and diversity of fronterizxs. Her process involved invited direct community input through workshops and conversations, resulting in an evening-length solo show that embodied themes generated through previous community participation (the performance has evolved into a group piece that will be performed in April 2018).

Another notable project of Boundless Across Borders’ was Braiding Borders/Trenzando Fronteras, which Sandra put together in collaboration with Xochitl R. Nicholson. The action involved 52 womxn from both sides of the border who joined together on Inauguration Day, 2017, at the center of the Paso del Norte International Bridge to create a human chain through the braiding of hair, an important indigenous symbol. Braiding Borders was a response to the divisive and dehumanizing rhetoric of the president-elect and his supporters, creating a sign of peaceful resistance to combat the palpable hate of the day. Watch Labú and Angie Reza Tures’ coverage of the performance below.

See more of her past projects and learn about her unique process through her website, attached here. In her own words, here’s an excerpt from her bio: “Sandra Paola Lopez Ramirez (BFA, EdM) has a multifaceted career involving performance, dance education, activism and community organizing and it has taken her throughout the US, Colombia, Brazil, Cyprus, France, Canada and Mexico.  She has ample experience in a wide variety of dance styles as a performer and educator, and her work is characterized by the exploration of complex issues such as relationship, gender, race, identity, awareness, kinesthetic listening and touch. Originally form Bogota, Colombia, Sandra Paola moved to the US in 2004 to pursue her dance career and since then has acquired a BFA in Dance Performance with Psychology and Religious Studies minor. Sandra Paola has taught widely in both formal and informal education settings and has presented at national and international conferences. She is currently faculty in the dance program at the University of Texas at El Paso and a MFA candidate in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College.”