CatherineMarie Davalos: Dancing Across Borders
By Clarence A. Haynes
The act of crossing borders, both literally and figuratively, is something that artist CatherineMarie Davalos deeply understands. As an acclaimed dancer, choreographer and director of Davalos Dance Company, she has crafted works that honor her Mexican/multicultural heritage and the experiences of her community while traversing other barriers around identity. She is the Director of Dance at Saint Mary’s College of California, which includes a thriving undergraduate program and two newly launched MFA programs in dance. Davalos is also a recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a collaborator with the Latin Ballet of Virginia. She’s the mother of a 14 year old son whom she calls her “greatest work of art” and is married to David Gaylord, also an artist, whom she considers, “the original Renaissance Man and can do anything.” Here she talks about how her choreography connects to ongoing discussions around immigration, her upbringing, and the powerful feminist icons in her clan.
Q: In your works “Volver” and “A Wintry Mix,” you deal with the issue of Mexican immigrants longing to return home who no longer can, with a dancer literally throwing her/himself upon a projected image of the border. What inspired you to depict this side of migration stories? Are people surprised?
A: Yes, it is an image of the border that my artist husband, David Gaylord, made for me. The inspiration is based on real life experiences of Latinos in my family and community. Since I was born in this country and do not speak Spanish, I had to prove my Mexican-ness to my community and sometimes even my family. I do not have a homeland. I have never felt like I belong here and have always been treated as the woman with brown skin. In Mexico I look like I belong, but I cannot speak [Spanish]. The immigrant family members in my family and community came to the U.S. for many reasons, but all were hoping for a better life here. They did not expect to encounter racism. They were not the target of so much hatred until they came to California. The Mexican immigrant is also invisible when it comes to services. We/they long for home and a place to belong, but once you leave Mexico, it does not look kindly at you coming back.
The song for the work “Volver” says he would do anything to be in her embrace again. Immigrants come here looking for a better life, but they do not realize how hard it is until they get here. As my Colombian friends say, “it was not all roses” like they thought it would be. Latinos are not surprised by this depiction of wanting to return to the homeland and Chicanos see this as the metaphor for finding or returning to Aztln, the ancestral home of the Aztecs. The Chicano movement took up the concept when talking about that place to return home to, where the body feels at home.
