BlakTinx Dance Festival in Phoenix celebrates the art of movement

Phoenix choreographer L. Alexander Patrick-Rolando hopes that when attendees leave this weekend's BlakTinx Dance Festival, they'll have been more than just entertained.

“My hope is that they leave moved by what we have shared with them in some way. While I am able to share a part of my story, I am honored that they are there because without their support, we would not be able to do what we do,” he says.

Patrick-Rolando is just one of the creatives participating in the event, which debuted in Phoenix in 2017.

BlakTinx Dance Festival, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Herberger Theater Center's Kax Theater, showcases the work of local Black and Latinx choreographers. This year, the program includes work by Arizona choreographers Shayla Eshelman, Renee Davis, L. Alexander Patrick-Rolando, Candy Jimenez and Angelica Salazar, Carla León and David Olarte, The Pachanga Collective, Ali Adelis and Juls Toledo and Jay Garcia, plus special guests Bernard Brown of BBMoves Los Angeles and Cynthia Gutierrez of Company Movimiento in Eugene, Ore.

BlakTinx Los Angeles began in 2013, and "in 2017, I reached out to [Los Angeles founder] Licia Perea about how to do a show like that here in Phoenix. We ended up partnering up and starting a sister festival in Phoenix – the rest is history,” says director Liliana Gomez.

Gomez is an artist, dance teacher, producer and choreographer who has worked with organizations ranging from Phoenix Art Museum and Desert Botanical Garden to Arcosanti and Central High School.

“The BlakTinx festival is unique because the call is specific to Black and Latinx dance choreographers, and as a festival we strive to diversify programming and audiences. The focus is to center culture, and experiences, to celebrate the work of these choreographers and support them in their dance career," she says.

“The annual festival in both Los Angeles and Phoenix sparked a larger connection in mission, creating ‘sister cities’ bringing two artists from each city to perform in the other. Every year, each artist walks away paid for the participation with free video and photos of their work for them to submit to other festivals and or help with their portfolio. In addition, in years past we have helped with offering the artists support in writing mission statements, headshots, feedback on their work and this year, pairing up established and emerging artists together to talk about their work and ideas. I think this is something we will continue to build on in the future.”


Patrick-Rolando is the lead choreographer for this year's event and is celebrating his fourth year performing in the festival.

“I originally heard about it through submission calls to artists on social media years ago. I performed in its first year and a number of years since then,” he says. “I have danced for the past 12 or 13 years for a number of companies across the U.S. and have been on the fast track of learning and executing dance in various forms.”

He explains that many dancers come with life histories that allow unique ways of conveying emotion and storytelling through dance.

“For me, the dancer is the canvas and the co-creator. As dancers, we interpret the story and the movement that is given to us by the choreographer and through our histories, we use what we know about this emotion, this story and our instruments (our bodies) to bring that to the studio. The choreographer also brings their experiences and helps us envision what they want and adds to our understanding of how an emotion and movement can be performed/conveyed using our facility (technique),” he said. “They push us to seeing a new perspective and sometimes we do things we didn’t know we could.”

Gomez says that the goal for BlakTinx is to eventually expand and "have this festival open to all – to have one big dance party.”

But for now, she chose The Kax because of its 90-person seating space.

“It’s a special intimate black box – you get to be up and close to the performers. Our show in LA at the Bootleg Theater had a similar setup and as an audience member, I enjoyed the proximity and was searching for a place like that. After touring the Kax, I knew this was going to be the space for this year,” she says.


Dancer Leo Caudillo is performing in Patrick-Rolando’s "beautifully choreographed duet,” he says. “In our duet, we wear a leotard-type top and a long mesh skirt that is cut in different sections and our colors are opposite of each other.”

Caudillo also has a 1-year-old dance studio, Invictus Dance Project, which is a hub for area choreographers to congregate, and he believes that dance is a unique form of creativity.

“I believe dance is different from other arts for so many reasons. One of them being that we are creating with literal human bodies. Not that other arts can't do that, but no matter what we create it is with humans. The different colors, shapes, sizes, etc., can let us connect to this art on a different level. Not only that, but there are many different levels to the art form: music/sound, how many bodies you are using, where you can do this art at, what you can put your dancers in/not in, how long your art is, or even just the collaborative effort to make this art the masterpiece we want,” he says.

Caudillo would love for people to walk away from this show feeling a sort of understanding of the pieces in the show or an understanding of themselves.

“I feel that there is a piece everybody can connect with and can help them grow in their personal lives, I know I have had some dances I have watched that made me think differently about the way I lived my life – in a good way,” he says.

BlakTinx Dance Festival continues Saturday at Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe St. Performances on Aug. 26 are 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $27.50.