Today, we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Padilla.
Melissa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Well, I’m a scenic artist specializing in contemporary dance and choreography.
My dance journey began at the age of 12 in Tijuana, Baja, California, and México, with a lot of Jazz Dance to eventually incorporate ballet classes and contemporary movement. The time to choose a career path came, and I tried to quit dancing and study graphic design. I barely managed to stop dancing for a year. I was going crazy, so I returned to study a pre-professional program at the same time as my second year in college.
Long story short, I loved design school but couldn’t bear the idea of not studying dance professionally, so I got a job, made some money, bought airplane tickets, and applied to one of the best dance schools in México, the Escuela Profesional de Danza de Mazatlán, got selected, move to Sinaloa and 4 years later I graduated with honors.
Immediately after finishing school, I was selected for a theater play, acting, and dancing. We toured with it in México, Colombia, and Chile, a pretty fun and interesting experience. At the end of 2012, I stayed a month in Bogotá to start a contemporary theater company with my Colombian theater director colleague Jose Luis Sanchez. We moved to Tijuana to establish the company here and start working.
Our work, combining theater and dance, was accomplished by being present at several festivals and shows in Mexico, Colombia, and France and winning different grants and government support from both countries (Col-Mx). In 2022, I left the company to keep working on my dance journey. My dance journey has taken me to wonderful places and has allowed me to meet amazing people from 11 years ago.
I worked with Lux Boreal Dance Company for almost 6 years. At the same time that I was doing all the theater work, working with the company, and doing my research, I collaborated with the dance community from SD/TJ, producing my festival Paradojas Invisibles/Invisible Paradox, a scenic art encounter where the artists can show their finished work, ongoing research or try different performances in nonconventional spaces or dance forums with an after show talk so they can discuss or exchange ideas with the public in a safe and intimate place.
Currently, I’m co-directing SISU Dance Company, a beautiful project I have the honor to share with 3 of my favorite people in the world: Pamela Macías, Matthew Armstrong, and Raúl Navarro. We recently premiered an amazing show called QUIETUDE, a co-production with Centro Cultural Tijuana in collaboration with Brianna Lopez as movement director and Eldar Baruch, who made our original music score. We’re so excited to start showing this work with more and more people and places.
As a company, we manage the Community Dance Training, a professional space to train and share knowledge, curiosity, and movement with the amazing dance community from both sides of the border, taking place in Connectarte, a multidisciplinary art studio.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road; the struggles, as everything, keep changing, growing, or disappearing from moments. In me, the human experience and the artist’s experience can not be separated from one another, so I try to keep growing and keep healing to keep creating, dancing, and expressing myself and these art languages.
As we know, this economy is not artist-friendly, so it is hard to concentrate on just one thing or just a few projects, when in reality, almost always, the independent artist has to do everything from creating to designing, promoting, advertising, directing, etc., to produce or dance, plus maybe have another job that pays the bills, like teaching or using other skills outside the art world.
I think sometimes balancing things can be the real struggle: to rest, to keep pushing, to accomplish your goals but not get lost in your mind and burn out your body, to be gentle and soft with yourself in the process.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a very visual person; I love small details and small moments suspended in time, and I like to believe that I put this in all my work. I’m a current teacher in the CONTINUUM training system net, a floor work Latin American contemporary dance technique that works with the continuity of the movement and the energy in it while transiting the space, entering and exiting the floor.
I love to create choreography, and I’m obsessed with the hands, I love to see them move, touch, and how they can hold so much emotion in them; they are an inspiration in my creative process for sure. I like slow, soft, meaningful movements as much as fast, strong, and animal-like ones, so I like to have fun with these extremes as I create movement.
I enjoy listening to people’s stories, interests and current questions of life and work, that’s why I love producing PARADOJAS INVISIBLES. This year is going to be the 7th anniversary of this magical festival.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think to keep a soft soul, life is hard, we all have our different stories, different traumas. I want to be resilient, patient, and kind to myself and keep consistency in my work.
I will definitely invest in my mental and physical health so I can keep growing and creating, moving in my body freely, to be better for me, my family, my partner, and my friends. Having a safe and loving net that supports me in difficult moments and is there for them when they need it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/_malossa , instagram.com/sisu.ciadanza , instagram.com/paradojas.invisibles
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissapad
Image Credits
Leo Aldair, Gabriel Monroy, Alex Chiu, Miguel Zavala, and Yessenia
