Sarah Hawkins of OR DIE TRYING met with Myrrhia Rodriguez, dancer and choreographer, to discuss her journey in Los Angeles.
Name: Myrrhia Rodriguez
Field of Industry/Company/Job Title: Choreographer/dancer/performer in the dance and art world.
Favorite Film: Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive
ODT: Are you from Los Angeles originally?
MR: I was born a couple hours north from here, but spent a large chunk of my childhood in LA, moved here for my undergrad at UCLA, and have since made it my home base.
ODT: I've had the pleasure of seeing your work in person and it's clear that you use media in a very unique way. Can you describe your art and the role media plays in your performances?
MR: Yes, video is an important element to my work. It allows for me to access multiple layers of meaning beyond the visceral, live bodies performing. There is so much that has yet to be discovered in terms of dance and performance with video, and I intend to keep working with both mediums in conversation with one another.
ODT: Tell us about Dance A Diem. Where did the project derive from?
MR: @dance_a_diem evolved from a discussion last year with a writer about sustaining a daily art practice. I have often let a lack of resources inhibit my own practice, and @dance_a_diem was a way to re-imagine what dance is, where it exists, and how it can happen. I was able to bypass the traditional dance studio to take the practice into my everyday context and posting it to my followers kept me accountable.
ODT: Some might call your work avante garde or experimental. What type of experience do you want your viewers to have when they watch your work?
MR: Hmm, this question is difficult to answer, because it really depends on the piece, the venue, and the context. If I had to choose a common intention that I have for my audience, it would be that they feel safe enough to let themselves really feel. I want to make work that ferments in their long-term memory and shifts and morphs and grows overtime.
ODT: Any particularly memorable moments on your journey you'd like to share?
MR: Last year, I had a very abrupt transition out of a FT well-paying with benefits and was confronted with the choice of finding another job with the same pay-scale to keep my apartment or to move outside of LA for 6 months to figure out how to pursue dance and art making as a career. I chose the latter. It was the hardest year, but I'm grateful to have learned invaluable lessons about myself and my craft.
ODT: What have been some of the more challenging moments about being a woman in the film/entertainment industry?
MR: I spend the majority of my time outside of the mainstream in the safety of my very supportive art community, but when I book a big-scale production music video or film it's a battle to get the almost always cis-heteronormative male director to take my needs/art/skill/talent seriously.
ODT: What motivates you? What dream(s) are you most fighting for?
MR: I am motivated by my incredibly smart, talented, curious, and creative community around me, just as much as I am motivated by my own experiences and questions around dance and art-making. I don't like the verb 'fight', so instead I'll say that I am transfixed and dedicated to continuing to make work that is vulnerable, culturally/politically relevant, and personally satisfying.
