Safos Dance Theatre is a small emerging non-profit dance company founded in Tucson, AZ in 2009.
We collaborate with other Latinx serving and/or AZ-based organizations to offer programs that fulfill our mission.
Supporting a modern dance unique experience to the US-Mexico borderlands
Safos’ mission is to create contemporary artistic forms that reflect the common experiences of our diverse communities.
Supporting a modern dance unique experience to the US-Mexico borderlands
Photo by Baylie MacRae
Dance in the Desert: Where Community Moves Together uplifts dance in the Southwest by connecting dancers across geographies and centering local expertise. Dance in the Desert 2025 is a binational multistate research initiative.
Dance in the Desert is founded and organized by Yvonne Montoya.
Special thank you to Liz Lerman LLC, project partner and co-organizer of the gathering from 2018-2022.
Dance in the Desert: Then & Now
2025
Research
The 2025 iteration of Dance in the Desert ushers in a new round of research regarding dance communities in Arizona and beyond. Activities include conducting surveys and one-on-one interviews with former Dance in the Desert participants to gather insights on the past impact of the program. New this year, Dance in the Desert will interview dance artists in New Mexico as we explore the possibilities of expanding Dance in the Desert to our neighboring state. We look forward to learning about the strengths and needs of Southwest dance communities.
Dancer Isis América Tovar Laborín. Photo by Baylie MacRae
2022
Douglas & Agua Prieta
After a two year hiatus for the pandemic, Dance in the Desert returned May 2022 with an in person gathering and binational dance exchange that took place in Douglas, AZ and Agua Prieta, Sonora, México. The gathering featured professional development workshops and master dance classes of various dance styles on both sides of the border. Master classes were free and open to the Douglas and Agua Prieta communities.
Dancer José José Arrieta Cuesta. Photo by Baylie MacRae
2021
Remote
In 2021, the Dance in the Desert community met virtually in a series of quarterly online Happy Hours. During the Happy Hours, dancers shared resources including information about upcoming grants, online performances, calls for artists, and the like. Each Happy Hour ended with a short dance class led by a member of the Dance in the Desert community.
Dancer Esteban Rosales. Photo by Baylie MacRae
2020
Remote
Dance in the Desert 2020 was set to be the first binational gathering originally scheduled to take place the first weekend of May in Douglas, AZ and Agua Prieta, Sonora, México. However, due to COVID19, the gathering was postponed until May 2022.
Instead of an in person gathering, Dance in the Desert 2020 offered a series of free professional development webinars. To view those webinars, click here.
Dancer Ruby Morales. Photo by Baylie MacRae
2019
Tucson
Dancemakers from across Arizona gathered in Tucson from May 15-19, 2019, for the second annual convening of Dance in the Desert.
This was a unique opportunity for dancemakers and choreographers from the Arizona Latine dance community to come together with dancers from throughout the state to deepen relationships, and incubate new work.
The gathering featured workshops by renown choreographer Liz Lerman.
Dancer Martín Quintana. Photo by Baylie MacRae
2018
Phoenix
The inaugural Dance in the Desert brought Latine dance professionals from around the nation together for a three-day gathering in Phoenix, AZ on April 26-28, 2018.
The first every gathering included a choreographer’s jam, meetings among dancemakers and arts administrators, and focus groups. The three-day convening concluded with a community share-out and public reception.
Dancer Vincent Chávez. Photo by Baylie MacRae
Experience The Movement!
Revisit Dance in the Desert through video highlights.
Press
Dive into our Dance in the Desert Article:
Arizona PBS. (2018, May 3). Dance in the Desert connects people within the Latino dance community. Horizonte.
Photos by Brian Halbach and Dominic AZ Bonuccelli
Staff
Yvonne Montoya - Artistic Executive Director
Baylie MacRae - Tour and Program Coordinator
Megan Neese - Administrative Assistant
Imelda Cortez - Research Assistant
Research Team
Yvonne Montoya - Founder and Principal Investigator
Mireya Guerra - Research Consultant
Imelda Cortez - Research Assistant
Martín Quintana - Community Liaison Central and Northern New Mexico
Ammi Robles - Community Liaison Southern Arizona and the Arizona/Sonora Borderlands
Angel Guanajuato - Community Liaison Southern New Mexico
José José Arrieta Cuesta - Community Liaison Central and Northern Arizona
In Gratitude
A big thank you to Border Arts Corridor (BAC) in Douglas, AZ for donating in-kind space for the research team to conduct interviews in 2025.
Thank you to all the co-organizers, funders, foundations, and dance artists who supported past Dance in the Desert gatherings between 2018-2022. Liz Lerman LLC, Liz Lerman, Erin Donohue, Michelle Marji, Lindsey Sandler, Gabriela Muñoz, Ana Needham, Martina Rendón, Lucecita Badilla, Mireya Guerra, Fabiola Torralba, Fabián Barba, Kesha Bruce, Seyan Lucero, Chrissy Deal, Dance in the Desert participants, and all our funders past and present (listed below).
Funders Credit
2025: Dance in the Desert 2025 was supported by the Mellon Foundation. It is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty and empowerment that can be found there. Through their grants, they seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and guided by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.
2022: Dance in the Desert 2022 was supported in part by the Ford Foundation, the Arizona Community Foundation, the Flinn Foundation’s Arizona Creative Communities Follow-On Grant, a program administered by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona, the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Federal CARES, City of Tucson, and Pima County, and the Dance in the Desert community! Safos Dance Theatre is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019: Dance in the Desert 2019 was supported in part by AZ ArtWorker a program of the Arizona Commission on the Arts funded by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, and Projecting All Voices, a program of Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts supported by ASU Gammage.
2018: Dance in the Desert 2018 was supported in part by Safos Dance Theatre, AZ ArtWorker, an initiative of the Arizona Commission on the Arts funded by a grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation; Liz Lerman LLC, Phoenix Hostel & Cultural Center, Projecting All Voices, an initiative launched by ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and supported by ASU Gammage, and WESTAF with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
