The Davalos Dance Company has been presented at various venues in Northern and Southern California since its inception in 1994.  Most recently performed in the Vision Series, Finding Equal (quartet), produced by SFDance Repertory, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, CA, December 2007. Also at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, MALCS Summer Institute and Conference, Borders, Spaces, and Brown-Eyed Girls (30 minute solo version), St. Paul, MN, August 2007. Performed locally at Works in the Works, Blue Monkeys (solo), Berkeley CA, November 2006. Also, Raw and Uncut, premiered Blue Monkeys, Footloose Dance Studio, San Francisco, CA, July 2006. Women on the Way Festival, premiered

Chicana choreographer, dancer, teacher, and Artistic Director of the Davalos Dance Company.

Her work emerges from her Mexican voice and the constant rediscovery of identity. She has been inspired by contemporary Chicano/Chicana literature because of the thematic similarities between their words and her life. "We are all looking for a place to fit, a space to identify proudly with our heritage. Growing up in Southern California with brown skin makes you both invisible and the target." Ms. Davalos investigates ethnicity by examining

Dreams Suite, a full evening work with eight dancers, Dance Mission, San Francisco, CA, January 2006. Women of the World Festival included Bedtime Rituals (duet), Dance Mission, San Francisco, CA, January 2006. West Wave Dance Festival and Summerfest/Dance, premiered Shatter, Mend, Scatter, Bend (quartet), ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA, July 2005. In Berkeley, CA, April 2005, Bare Bones, Bedtime Rituals, Sleepless Night (quartet) at Western Sky Studio. The company was presented at the Dance IS Festival, my soul is very brown, and so is my skin... (quartet), Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, Berkeley, CA, March 2005. January 2005 marked the 10th anniversary of the Davalos Dance Company and they celebrated with a concert at ODC Theater in San Francisco.  The concert, Sacral Queens, Latinas, and Dreams was praised by Rita Felciano in DanceViewTimes.com. In 2004 they were part of the Printz Dance Project's performance, Encore 2, in San Rafael, CA and the Saint Mary's College Dance Company spring concert, Mandala, Moraga, CA.  In 2002 they were produced by ODC Theater for Rock, Paper, Song, as part of the series, Migrations.   This honor was awarded after performing One Size Fits All in Pilot 33 and Moon Dance in Pilot 35.  July of 1998 marked the company's Northern California debut when they performed two new dances for Summerfest/Dance '98.  Later that year, the company performed at Saint Mary's College with the CLAM series.  In 1997 Ms. Davalos received a second multi-cultural grant to perform at the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB).  The first grant was awarded in 1995 for Mixed Company.  In 1996 she was presented by Highways (Santa Monica, California) for American But Hyphenated.   Highways also presented her full-evening work Borders, Spaces, and Brown-Eyed Girls in 1995. The Davalos Dance Company has performed at Beyond Baroque (Venice, CA) with VIVA for Chicks and Salsa '95, the Long Beach Museum of Art (Long Beach, CA) for the Children's Cultural Festival; Highways for Fierce Tongues, A Celebration of Latina Art & Artists, produced by Luis Alfaro and Monica Palacios; and they performed with Voices In Motion V, at LACE (Hollywood, CA).  Ms. Davalos was nominated for the Dance Magazine "Outstanding Choreographer" award for 1994 and the Los Angeles, Lester Horton Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography, 1997. Her work has been supported by the Zellerbach Family Fund and by the generous support of the Faculty Development Fund of Saint Mary's College where she is also the Artistic Director of the Saint Mary's College Dance Company.

cultural issues of racism and sexism in relation to the modern woman. Her work is multi-layered often using text and voice to enhance the choreography. Her work crosses many borders as she delves into the coalescence and contradictions of being a Chicana and an American.

Davalos has performed as a guest artist for Casey Carney, Steven Craig, MaryJane Eisenberg, Tina Gerstler in Los Angeles, Clay Taliaferro in Seattle, Ruth Currier in New York, Randee Paufve, and Nina Haft in San Francisco. In 1990 she performed with Tryntje Shapli in the Phoebe Neville 15th Anniversary Season in New York, NY. Ms. Davalos performed at the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) when her duet Doblez was chosen to represent the Southwest region at the National College Dance Festival in 1994, which earned her a nomination for the Dance Magazine "Outstanding Student Choreographer" award for 1994.

Ms. Davalos continues to train as a dancer all over the country, including: Durham, NC at the American Dance Festival; Dance Centre Seattle, Seattle WA; Limón West Dance Project's Summer Dance Workshop in San José CA; San Francisco Dance Center, San Francisco CA; and Shawl /Anderson Dance Studio in Berkeley CA. Her training has been primarily in the Humphrey-Limón tradition. She has studied with Ruth Currier, MaryJane Eisenberg, Lane Sayles, Jennifer Scanlon, Tryntje Shapli, and Clay Taliaferro. She has also studied various other modern and ballet techniques from noted teachers such as: Jeff Slayton, Susan McLain, Sophie Monat, Ronald K. Brown, Donald McKayle, Victoria Koenig, Colleen O'Callaghan, Tina Gerstler, Shelley Shepherd, Erin Matthiessen, Risa Steinberg, Holly Schiffer, Cheryl Chaddick, Dudley Davies, Hannah Kahn, Arturo Fernandez, Joan Skinner, Gloria Newman, Doug Nielsen, and Bill Evans.

Ms. Davalos received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy and Dance in 1985 from California State University, Long Beach, and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Dance in 1995 where she was honored with the title "Most Outstanding Graduate for the College of the Arts at California State University, Long Beach."

Ms.Davalos has held numerous professional positions since her under graduate degree in 1985. She was full time dance teacher for 7 years at Whitney High School in Cerritos, CA. She was on the faculty at California State University Long Beach in the Dance Center  from 1995 to 1997, where she taught Beginning Modern Dance Technique, Dance Orientation, Dance Production, Viewing Dance, and was Co-Director of the Community Dance Project. In the Bay Area, she has taught Modern classes at the Shawl/Anderson Studio. Since 1997, Ms. Davalos has been the Director of The Saint Mary's College Dance Company, and is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Performing Arts at Saint Mary's where she is also the Chair of the Department of Performing Arts.  Click here for a full VITA.