Bianca Medina is a Boricua-Mexicana Chicago native newly based in Brooklyn. After earning her B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Iowa, she spent five years based in Los Angeles working as a dancer, choreographer, and educator touring with CONTRA-TIEMPO Urban Latin Dance Theatre, Viver Brasil Dance Company, and in working with collaborator Marina Magalhães.

Medina has danced on stages across the world such as REDCAT, The Joyce, Lincoln Center, Dance Place, The Wallis, Hollywood Bowl, Disneyland (Viva Navidad Parade Dance Captain), the Centre Chorégraphique National (France), House of Culture (Bulgaria), and at the US embassy of El Salvador as a cultural ambassador. She also took her travels to Bahia, Brazil training and researching the Candomblé Orixá tradition under master teacher, Vera Passos.

Medina has led choreographic / arts activist residencies and has served as guest faculty for universities and institutions throughout the US. She also served as Dance Captain for Disneyland California Adventure Park’s Viva Navidad Parade, preserving the caliber and essence of Afro-Brasilian movement.

Medina is also a member of the Dancing Diaspora Collective, which is dedicated to honoring, sharing, and reimagining dance practices of the Latin & African diasporas in dialogue with local and global histories of cultural resistance. DDC is a group of local artivistas dedicated to curating ongoing programming for Dancing Diaspora in Los Angeles and beyond.

As an Arts Administrator, Medina held the position of Social Media Coordinator for CONTRA-TIEMPO the year of 2019, and the position of Associate Production and Programming Director for Viver Brasil Summer 2019-Spring 2020.

ARTIST STATEMENT

In reclaiming her Afro-Latin Indigenous roots, Medina’s movement research lies in the intersection of modern release and the diaspora, honoring the divine feminine and the spiritual traditions of her elders through an approach to movement that is grounded, lush, raw, and resilient.