Dancing Our Roots, Elisa De La Rosa
Dance Behind The Screen
#158: In this episode of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott sits down with Elisa De La Rosa, choreographer, educator, researcher, Associate Professor of Dance at Texas Woman’s University, and Artistic Director of De La Rosa Dance Company. Elisa shares how her upbringing in the Rio Grande Valley and her Mexican American identity shape her work as an artist and educator. Together, Martheya and Elisa explore cultural memory, belonging, and the body as a living archive—and what happens when the cultures we carry with us are missing from traditional dance...
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Capturing Movement, Memory + Authenticity: Corey Haynes
Dance Behind The Screen
#157: In this episode of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott sits down with Corey Haynes, Texas-based writer and visual artist working primarily in photography and mixed media, to explore movement, memory, authenticity, and the role photography plays in documenting creative communities. Corey shares her journey from photographing friends and everyday life to finding her artistic home in dance photography. She reflects on how years of collaborating with artists and organizations across North Texas have shaped an approach rooted in trust, curiosity, and capturing...
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Creating Pathways Through Film: Niloo Jalilvand
Dance Behind The Screen
#156: In this episode of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott sits down with Niloo Jalilvand, filmmaker, educator, multidisciplinary artist, and founder and executive director of Pegasus Media Project, to explore how storytelling, technology, and education can create more accessible pathways into the creative industries. Niloo shares how more than two decades in education—and an after-school film club she started while teaching mathematics at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts—eventually grew into Pegasus Media Project. She...
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Building Community Through Dance: Jennifer Mabus
Dance Behind The Screen
#155: In this episode of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott sits down with Jennifer Mabus, choreographer, performer, educator, and founder of Grackle Dance Collective, to explore what it means to create dance rooted in community, empathy, and human connection. Jennifer shares how immersive and site-specific performance transformed the way she thinks about the relationship between artists and audiences. From taking over a historic home to creating work in a funeral home and skate park, she reflects on the power of moving dance beyond traditional performance spaces...
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Pay Artists, Make Space & Stay Human
Dance Behind The Screen
#154: In the Season 8 premiere of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott is joined by former co-host and current kNOwBOX dance Manager of People & Community Reyna Mondragon for a behind-the-scenes conversation about the ideas shaping this new season. At the center of the conversation is a simple question: How do we better value the artists doing the work? Martheya shares how kNOwBOX dance is prioritizing artist compensation by providing honorariums to podcast guests, festival makers, performers, production teams, editors, and designers—putting resources directly...
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Season 8 Trailer
Dance Behind The Screen
Welcome to Season 8 of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, where dance, creativity, and technology converge. Hosted by Martheya Nygaard Scott, Executive Director and Co-Creator of kNOwBOX dance, Season 8 spotlights the North Texas artists, choreographers, filmmakers, creative leaders, and arts organizations shaping the future of dance and media. Season 8 Features: Jennifer Mabus | Grackle Dance Collective Niloo Jalilvand | Pegasus Media Project Corey Haynes Elisa De La Rosa Joshua King | Dallas Aurora Diana Crowder | Pegasus Contemporary Ballet Karla Hardaway | Texas Dance and Culture Rooted...
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"10 años avanzando poco a poco, manteniendo la casa abierta" con Evelyn Mendez Maldonado
Dance Behind The Screen
Invitada: Evelyn Méndez, Codirectora ejecutiva de Pocoapoco / Fundadora de Casa Abierta | Host: Wilber Mendoza 1. ¿Qué es Poco a Poco? (0:00) Org. cultural en Oaxaca (2016). Residencias de 5 semanas, Sur o no Sur, Mucho a Mucho (niños) y Casa Abierta. 2. Públicos y desafíos (12:10) Modelo orgánico: escuchar necesidades. Retos: comunicación, confianza local, equipo pequeño con pagos justos. Acuerdos de convivencia y comidas como vínculo. 3. Visión a futuro (26:07) Crecer "hacia abajo": sostenible, sin depender de personas específicas. Cocreación sobre planes rígidos. 4. Consejos...
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Episode 153 | The Strategy Is You: Lessons from Season 7
Dance Behind The Screen
#153: In this special Season 7 finale, host Martheya reflects on a season shaped by the intersection of strategic planning, technology, and creative leadership in the arts. From AI and immersive performance to community collaboration and sustainable growth, this episode invites listeners to explore what it means to design a creative path guided by purpose, curiosity, and integrity. Drawing from standout conversations with visionary guests, Martheya shares practical insights from the season — from redefining “strategy” as a personal practice to embracing adaptability and...
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Episode 152 | Navigating Boundaries with Margot Gelber
Dance Behind The Screen
#152: In this episode of Dance Behind the Screen, host Martheya speaks with choreographer, filmmaker, and performer Margot Gelber about the emotional depth and collaborative process behind her award-winning dance film If I Were You — an official selection of the kNOwBOX dance Film Festival. Together, they explore how vulnerability and strength coexist in the creative process, how artistic leadership emerges through trust, and what it takes to translate an inner vision into movement on screen. Margot shares her approach to cultivating authentic collaboration and crafting...
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Episode 151 | Between Spirit and Screen: A Conversation with Gabri Christa
Dance Behind The Screen
#151:In this episode of Dance Behind the Screen, host Martheya sits down with multidisciplinary artist Gabri Christa, whose work moves fluidly between choreography, filmmaking, performance, writing, and education. Born and raised in the Dutch Caribbean, Gabri brings a global and deeply personal perspective to her art, weaving stories of identity, ancestry, and memory that illuminate the intersections of culture, race, and history. Tune in to discover how Gabri Christa builds bridges between the spirit and the screen, inviting us to move through history and imagination with purpose and grace....
info_outline#158: In this episode of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott sits down with Elisa De La Rosa, choreographer, educator, researcher, Associate Professor of Dance at Texas Woman’s University, and Artistic Director of De La Rosa Dance Company.
Elisa shares how her upbringing in the Rio Grande Valley and her Mexican American identity shape her work as an artist and educator. Together, Martheya and Elisa explore cultural memory, belonging, and the body as a living archive—and what happens when the cultures we carry with us are missing from traditional dance education.
From memories of Selena, Tejano music, and dancing with family to incorporating her grandmother’s migration story into her choreography, Elisa reflects on the power of honoring where we come from through movement.
The conversation also looks toward the future of dance education: expanding beyond traditional modern and ballet-centered curricula, listening to students, creating space for culturally rooted practices, and building pathways for the next generation of artists. Elisa also shares her experience serving on the kNOwBOX dance Film Festival jury and how dance film can connect us across cultures and borders.
In This Episode
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Dance as a living archive of culture and memory
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Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley and finding identity through movement
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Bringing family stories and lived experience into choreography
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Representation and belonging in dance education
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Expanding dance curricula beyond modern and ballet
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Listening to students as a catalyst for institutional change
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Creating pathways through culturally rooted dance practices
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Dance film as a bridge between cultures
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Lifelong learning and saying NO to the BOX
Chapters
00:00 Meet Elisa De La Rosa
02:40 Flash Four: Resources, Culture + the Borderlands
04:20 Finding Cultural Identity Through Dance
08:45 When Culture Is Missing From Dance Education
14:00 Honoring Family Stories Through Choreography
17:00 Tortillas y Lágrimas: Memory, Migration + Belonging
19:00 Dance as Embodied Research
22:00 Rethinking Culturally Rooted Dance Education
25:00 Listening to Students + Creating Change
30:00 Preparing Dancers for an Evolving Future
33:30 Measuring Impact + Building New Pathways
38:00 Inside the NBFF Jury Experience
41:00 Dance Film as a Bridge Across Cultures
44:00 How Elisa Says NO to the BOX
47:00 Staying Connected + Resources
Episode Show kNOwtes | Podcast Home
This season of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast is supported in part by the Moody Fund for the Arts and our generous individual Season Sponsors, Dexter & Jenel Evans and Helen & James Gallas.
Say NO to the BOX and YES to the future of dance.