Dava Hernandez

Dava D. Hernández is a Ph.D. candidate in Critical Dance Studies at the University of California, Riverside researching dancing and performing bodies from early twentieth century Mexican American carpas or traveling tent shows. Hernández holds an MA in Dance and a graduate certificate in Multicultural Women’s Studies from Texas Woman’s University. She also holds a BA in Mexican American Studies with a concentration in Literary Studies from the University of Texas, San Antonio. Hernández was a long-time member of the Guadalupe Dance Company, one of the nation’s leading professional folklórico and flamenco dance companies and has been involved in various dance-theater productions throughout the U.S. Southwest, including Teatro Campesino’s touring anniversary production of Zoot Suit. She taught Dance at Palo Alto College (San Antonio) and San Antonio College. She also taught Dance History, Dance and Globalization, and Urban and Global Dance Practices at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.

Research and Teaching Interests: 

• Dancing and performing bodies from early 20th century  
• Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x dance and performance 
• Contemporary Folklórico dance 
• Dance and identity 
• Dance and the Borderlands