Yvonne Montoya, founder of the Safos Dance Theater in Tucson, had another vision: Dance in the Desert.
Montoya wanted to create a program to connect Latinx dancers across Arizona and Mexico.
She launched Dance in the Desert in 2018. Since then, more than 100 dancers have established their talent, their voices and their meaningful relationships. Choreographers are now putting new dancers — now friends — into their dance. One choreographer toured Los Angeles with a dance that did a workshop through the program.
None of this would have been possible without the Arizona Commission on the Arts, which gave Dance in the Desert $ 15,500, its main source of funding. Montoya had brought the idea away and away.
“The answer was no every time,” Montoya said. “Until I spoke to the art commission. They planted the seed money and injected the resources so that when that funding ran out, we could move forward on our own. ”
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