DAVID BERNAL-FUENTES

David Bernal-Fuentes is a dance artist, choreographer, poet, and aspiring community dance movement therapist. David is a proud descendant of immigrant parents—a Queer Chicanx with an invisible disability, residing in the Gabrieleño Tongva lands, colonially known as Los Angeles County. David started performing at Mountain View High School, doing drill team and color guard. By 16-22, they were performing for various LGBTQIA+ underground community events. David then attended Rio Hondo Community College and trained in many western dance forms with Dr. Alyson Cartagena, Rachel Lopez, Carol McDowell, Lisa Jay, Kristina Urteaga, and Paige Melvin. They completed their Associate of Arts degree in Dance, Psychology, and Social Behavior & Human Development in 2019. David has had the privilege to choreograph and perform at American College Dance Association Baja Region conferences, where two of their solos, Cocoon (2018) and 49 Pulses (2019), were chosen for the Gala Concert. David has received different intensive scholarships that have allowed them to train at the Jose Limon Summer Workshop (with Colin Connor, Debra Noble, & Company members), CSU Summer Arts (with members of Jacob Jonas The Company & the Pilobolus company), and Focused Study 2-5 (with Acts of Matter). In addition, David has engaged in 5Rhythms and in community dance events at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, with legendary Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Twyla Tharp Dance. David has also performed at the BlakTinx Dance Festival, where they danced in When The Boy Sang, choreographed by Edgar Aguirre. Recently, David graduated from Cal State University Long Beach (CSULB) and received their Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance with a minor in Psychology, in 2022. While at CSULB, they trained with Rebecca Lemme, Andrew Vaca, Keith Johnson, Rebecca Bryant, Brenna Monroe-Cook, Betsy Cooper, Renee Kim, Gracie Whyte, and Thomas Tsai. Currently, David is dancing for Safos Dance Theatre in Stories From Home, directed by Yvonne Montoya. Through David’s experiences, perseverance, and testimonies, they are incredibly passionate about improving the biopsychosocial health, growth, and perspectives of individuals through the magical benefits of dance/movement. David dreams of one-day facilitating therapeutic dance classes for disadvantaged/marginalized needed communities and creating collaborative choreographies with them.