ZAQUIA MAHLER SALINAS

San Diego native’s nonprofit Disco Riot is working on innovative ways to create opportunity for dancers and other artists

What the world needs now, Zaquia Mahler Salinas claims, is more movement-based art. ■ A San Diego native, she’s the artistic director and co-founder of Disco Riot, a nonprofit with a mission to create a place and a space for dancers and other artists to develop their craft. ■ Her mantra? ■ “Move your guts.” ■ Her philosophy?

It’s all about learning who we are by “actively engaging with our physical experiences.”

It took some brainstorming to come up with the name Disco Riot.

The first part was easy. Salinas loves the thumping, chest-vibrating bass of funk and disco dance music.

Then there’s the word riot, which for Salinas is all about making art a radical act.

“I think that dance, enjoying yourself in your body and expressing yourself with your body, is a pretty rebellious act for a lot of people in a lot of ways, particularly for women,” Salinas says.

“It’s an act of self-expression, and also it’s about coming together in community.”

Salinas founded Disco Riot in 2018 with a core group of professional dancers and fellow yoga enthusiast and “business brain” Erica Wexler, who serves as its executive director.

The nonprofit’s fundraising campaign in 2019 was promising in that it raised more than $7,000 from community members and supporters.

Programming includes interdisciplinary collaborations and themed events, like the recent and well-attended Choreo & Skate, which combined a dance performance with an open skate session at Skateworld San Diego.

Disco Riot also offers dance workshops, such as Drop In Spiral Out for advanced performers and Space Alliance Studio Residencies, a program that helps to provide rehearsal space, feedback sessions and more.

Next month, the contemporary dance performance of “currents” features choreography by Salinas, grace shinhae jun and Anne Gehman, accompanied by an original jazz score by Jonny Tarr.

“One of the things I wanted to provide for Disco Riot is opportunities for emerging artists, people who are just starting to make work, regardless of age,” explains Salinas, who will turn 30 in May.

“I especially want to provide young artists with opportunities and a platform to make work and get their feet wet, so that in San Diego, hopefully, we’ll have a wider range of artists who are able to present work.”

Local dance companies are impressed.

John Malashock of Malashock Dance says: “Zaquia is dedicated to expanding the way people interact with dance. She is passionate about the potential of movement as a powerful means of expression, both for artists as well as audiences.”

Adds LITVAKDANCE founder Sadie Weinberg: “Zaquia is smart and fearless, and I love that she is using Disco Riot as a vehicle to create opportunities for other artists, not just herself. So often, young dancemakers have great ideas but don’t know how to bring them to fruition because of a lack of resources. Zaquia is hard at work trying to build bridges to make art and dancemaking a little bit easier.”

Salinas earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in 2017, with a focus on artistic development and dance as a platform for social justice. She’s a steering committee member of Rising Arts Leaders San Diego, a former member of San Diego Dance Theater, and a choreographer who has presented works throughout California, as well as in Peru and Mexico.

Additionally, Salinas teaches dance at San Diego City College and yoga at Yoga One downtown, and she serves the Mind Body Medicine Program at the Navy Medical Center, instructing a group that includes everyone from veterans to caregivers.

Salinas is a believer in big possibilities.

Last year, her Mexican/palestinian heritage inspired her to journey to the West Bank town of Bethlehem as an artist-in-residence with Diyar Dance Theatre, whose mission is to empower the cultural identity of young Palestinians.

Part of her goal was to choreograph a work that portrayed the interconnectedness of our individual and shared experiences.

The takeaway was a renewed understanding of the importance of programs that support the evolution of the community. Salinas also gained an appreciation for the ways in which art can challenge us to widen our view of ourselves and the world.

“When we dance together, we are building momentum and energy in an embodied way,” she emphasizes. “Disco Riot is about generating change and revolution and stirring things up.”

HOWARD LIPIN U-T