Meet Beatriz Eugenia Vasquez

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Beatriz Eugenia Vasquez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Beatriz Eugenia, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I found my purpose in life by experiencing life, by living my truth and by doing what I truly loved. I never payed attention to naysayers because my love for my art was much bigger than whatever words they uttered. So I kept the course, and by doing that I found my calling and my purpose.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a choreographer, dancer, and instructor, I call myself a Dance Artist since I do it all. I have created, produced and directed my own full length show “Bewitched Writing” based on the life of writer and Nobel prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I am also the Choreographer for the productions “I am Frida Kahlo”, “Tormenta 1985”, and “Cristo Vive”. I have worked as a choreographer for The Bilingual Foundation of The Arts, Casa 0101, Watts Village Theatre Company, Teatro Akabal, Teatro Frida Kahlo, Guadalupe Radio, Grupo Ta’yer and several smaller theatre troupes, I have also worked with recording artists such a Leopold Nunan, Poe Tender, and Arnold G. As a dancer I have worked as a principal dancer for the Central Avenue Dance Ensemble, Mojacar Flamenco, and I have guest danced and choreographed for Kayamanan Ng Lahi. Throughout the years I have performed under Chester A Whitmore in his different variety shows, traveling with him to Arizona and performing at the Ford Theatre. I also work as a model for visual artists, you can find me in the works of Tiger Munson, Eva Montealegre, and Petra Eiko.
Working with so many people throughout the years led me to the film industry, I have worked in two short films, Two Dancers One love recipient of eight awards and 1 nomination, where I was choreographer, actress and associate producer, the other a short Art film loosely based on the life of visual artist Gronk, Tormenta 1985 which is in postproduction and will be released in 2024.
Besides being an artist and performer I have been a Dance instructor for the City of Los Angeles Dept of Recreation for over 15 years, I am a certified yoga instructor through YogaWorks, I have a Progressive Ballet Technique certification as a ballet instructor, and a Vaganova teaching Certification for the beginning levels. I am a teaching artist under Heidi Duckler Dance Company, and Grupo Ta’yer. I teach kids, teens and older adults ages 50 and up.
In 2012 I founded my dance company 3-19 Dance Art (Where Magical Realism Meets Dance) my work has been performed at UCLA, USC, California Plaza, Bach in The Subways, HighWays Performance Art Space, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Pico Rivera Sports Arena, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles Festival of Books, and Lotus Festival.
Thankfully and through a lot of hard work, consistency and discipline my work has not gone unnoticed and I have received two awards, two recognitions from the City of Los Angeles, one nomination in LA Civic leadership and Impact Awards by La Worksnow, and one recognition by the United States Congress House of Representatives for promoting the Arts in the Latin Communities.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Looking back I know that Discipline, Gratitude, and Constancy have been the key factors in my journey. Understanding that my art requires a set of skills that must be worked on the daily, and that my body is my instrument has been crucial for my career, it is this discipline and the love for the classroom that carries me through and has carried me through the years, I wouldn’t be able to stand the 4 to 6 months of rehearsal or work for a production that might only last 2 weekend if it wasn’t for it. I wouldn’t be able to accept an invitation to perform at an event two weeks from now if I was not constantly working and training in case anything arrives. The next quality is Gratitude, gratitude and gratitude and I say it over and over again, because I truly believe that gratitude has taken me places I didn’t think of, when you are grateful and you give credit to those who have worked with you, helped you, and contributed to your growth more good things come to you. Some call it Karma, law and effect, the secret, law of attraction….. the name doesn’t matter, just be grateful and always give credit where credit is due. Remember that while we live in a big world, our professional world is a small one and word gets around fast. If you are ungrateful little by little others will know and people will be hesitant to work with you again, they will not trust you.
last quality is constancy, staying the course and enjoying the work for what it truly is, if you had told me 20 years ago that I would be where I am at right now I would have not believed it. February 2024 will mark the 20th year anniversary of a very sad time in my life which took me away from dance (ballet) for several years, somehow my inner flame and love for dance was not totally extinguished by this event and what happened, and little by little that small flame started flickering once again growing bigger and bigger. Sure I left the ballet world but I entered the world of dance with much bigger, broader and greater possibilities.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
The obstacle or challenge I face is the lack of interest in the performing arts among the latin community of Los Angeles. When you go see dance performances, plays, or any theatrical production the amount of Latinos at such events is minimum compared to other ethnicities. And usually that minimum amount of latinos present at the event are those latinos who are in the performing arts themselves, but not the overall community, I would love to see regular latino folks, who are not in the performing arts attending and supporting artistic events. It is an interesting phenomenon, it is not for lack of funds because when an artist from Banda, Salsa or commercial music genres is performing latinos are there supporting them and sometimes are the biggest crowds. I think is just lack of exposure, we all know that for years the arts in this country have been accessible to predominantly white upper class communities,and hardly to the working class. I am trying to resolve this one child at a time, after teaching dance for over 15 years and exposing my students to the Nutcrackers, ballet performances, dance performances, theatre performances I started seeing a shift, I see that my first generation students (from over 15 years ago) who are now married professional adults make an effort to attend performances, broadway shows, plays etc…… I like to think that during all these years I have touched the lives of so many kids and their families and by example and inspiration I have created a bridge for them where they feel comfortable to join the art world, the performing arts, etc and hopefully little by little a change has started.
One of my main goals has been exposing my students to professional events they can be part of, such as Bach in The Subways at Union Station, where they have had the opportunity to dance with live classical music and see different performances throughout the day, Lotus Festival, and of course our own performances through the City of Los Angeles where we have presented, ballet, dance theatre, modern dance, etc and since their families attend these events everyone has been touched by the beauty of art therefore Creating a change and new found interest in the performing arts.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Photos by CAI Photo on top of white table by Andrien Padilla

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