Making connections

In ‘A Year of DISDANCE,’ Disco Riot uses art to build spiritual and emotional bridges

Despite the challenges of social distancing, San Diego’s dance community is working to sustain its organizations while using film to inspire everyone from the grieving to the hopeful. “Dancers and artists aren’t necessarily first responders,” explains Zaquia Mahler Salinas, artistic director of Disco Riot, the nonprofit that “exists to elevate a collaborative art culture.”

“But maybe they come in as second responders in terms of how different kinds of art can support people in finding lightness or ways of processing their experiences.”

Disco Riot is producing “A Year of DISDANCE,” a collection of six dance films by local choreographers that will be screened today at Cinema Under the Stars and Tuesday online.

In many ways, the effects of social distancing are amplified in the lives of dancers, whose instruction and creativity often requires touching and being in close proximity to others.

With that in mind, the six local artists who have choreographed works for “A Year of “DISDANCE” offer a glimpse into their world and most likely, a peek into yours, too.

“I was reflecting on the impact of the pandemic on our artistic practices, on our physical and mental health and on the community as a whole,” Salinas says.

“We are communal and interconnected creatures. I feel like the dance community across the world has floated people energetically, spiritually and emotionally.”

San Diego performance artist Alyssa Rose explores joy as a survival tool in “Finding Light,” and those who have found themselves spending more time in the kitchen can relate to Marcos Duran’s “Minced,” a solo project that parallels the sense of being cut up into fallen pieces with the therapeutic task of combining ingredients to nourish the body.

Marlene Garcia combines different movement modalities in “Sleep Walking,” a work that portrays the sensation of feeling out of control during the pandemic’s social isolation.

And award-winning choreographer Tanya Lewis, a dancer with Visionary Dance Theatre in La Mesa, offers “6,” a film that compares isolation and being denied touch with the opposite of those conditions.

The project titled “San Ko Fa /Kalayaan,” by Alyssa Junious, intends to answer the question, “Where do we find freedom in a world where we are tethered?”

Junious, founder of Continuum Arts & Pilates in North County, says the dance is inspired by the resilience of her African and Filipino ancestors and translates to “Go Back and Fetch/freedom.”

In addition to her role as artistic director of Disco Riot, Salinas is a dancer, choreographer and filmmaker. The latter skill has been especially helpful to artists who must film choreography instead of performing it live at a show. She began learning film editing as an undergraduate and her immersive film project “the loneliest part of here is now” toured internationally and was shown locally at the 40 North Film Festival and at the White Box Live Arts performance space.

Salinas is editing the film “I Miss Your Face” by choreographer Desiree Cuizon, a work included in “A Year of DISDANCE” that’s accompanied by Cuizon’s original piano composition and includes dancer Chelsea Zeffiro.

“I think this year has become a catalyst for more dance on film and being creative with that,” Cuizon says. “But it’s very different than seeing a live performance, seeing a body move in front of you. A lot of dancers I have talked to have gone out of their comfort zone, including myself, when sharing other parts of our artistry beyond the movement.”

There are masks to reckon with, for one, and along with seeing faces, Cuizon has longed for the days when dancers could depend on lighting and costumes and live musicians.

“The title ‘I Miss Your Face’ is kind of ironic because we miss half of everyone’s face,” Cuizon says.

“We can only see their eyes. There may be smiling under there, you don’t know. So, we must push the boundaries and think about how we are moving so we can clearly express a feeling our faces can’t express.”

Cuizon has an optimistic outlook and considers the challenges of the pandemic to be “a huge growth opportunity for all performance artists.”

“I think, as a community, we have learned how to present our work creatively in any space,” Cuizon says.

“Anything can happen anywhere. When people go out in public, dance will not be confined to just screens or a stage. It will be everywhere.”

JESSICA OROPESA Desiree Cuizon will present her film “I Miss Your Face” as part of Disco Riot’s “A Year of DISDANCE.”