My creative research practice—what I call autoethno(choreo)graphy—uses dance as a way to study and preserve living histories. I see movement as a kind of embodied archive that carries community values, family ties, spiritual practices, and survival strategies shaped by social and political realities like migration, redlining, and state violence. In other words, dance becomes a record of how people have adapted, resisted, and stayed connected across generations—especially in communities often left out of academic history. As a teacher, I bring this approach into the classroom by combining fieldwork and historical research with dance training. My students don’t just learn steps—they learn to see dance as a window into how cultures express, sustain, and reinvent themselves through movement.

• Popper for 20+ years, first woman to represent the legacy popping crew Playboyz Inc, and invited judge for J.O.A.T. in Montreal—the largest street dance festival in the Americas.
• Founding director of Mud Water Theatre, a street dance theater collective blending turfing, theater, and film to preserve the cultural lineage of Bay Area movement traditions.
• “YBCA 10” Fellow at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and exhibiting artist in international contemporary art festivals: Okayama Art Summit and Tokyo Biennale.
• Recipient of Gerbode Foundation Special Award in Choreography, Rainin Foundation New & Experimental Works Grant, and USArtists International Award.
• Co-author and co-creator of Jardy Santiago’s Online House Dance Program at www.house-dance.com which has taught over 1,500 students since 2018 
• Former environmental attorney with expertise in legal research and analysis, and experience working as a legal extern for the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.