We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sandra Rocha. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sandra below.

Hi Sandra, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Moving to NYC from Mexico City to study acting meant a big risk in my life. It was August 2021, the COVID pandemic was just getting under control and all I had was this inner calling telling me to persue acting once again, telling me that it was time. And that calling was strong enough that I put over 2000 miles between myself and everything that meant home to me. I had no idea if I was going to like NYC, I had never wanted to move there; I didn’t know if I was any good at acting, I had only ever wanted to do it. For months NYC felt like a scary, cold city that would swallow me whole and spit me back out in Mexico with all dreams lost hahaha a little dramatic, I know, but I just hadn’t spent enough time there. NYC proved to be a home for anyone who’s looking for one; a city you can shape according to your dreams; a place that will give you opportunities but asks you to be willing to go through a scary maze; trust me, it can get very scary… But then you come out of it. And you find yourself. Only better, and stronger, and more confident. So, was it worth it? It was worth very single day of it. I feel I have a new found trust and faith in me, that I have arrived in myself. And to be honest I don’t want to leave.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an actor, dancer and producer of profession. I am passionate about human beings and how we navigate life; what we are in essence, what things have been learnt, how we’ve been conditioned by our society, our families, friends, our culture, and how we express our identities with all this information.

Art has been the tool through which I understand and discover myself and the world. The thing that provided me with the necessary tools to remain strong but also welcome tenderness; to be determined but embrace change; to become more curious and open with the world because I had a bigger awareness of myself and others.

We human beings are so complex, so different from each other, and art shows us this. But at the same time it brings us so much closer to one another because it shows us we feel the same love, and pain, and joy, and anger, and grief. It raises questions and makes us face the not so pretty parts of ourselves. It opens a door for change, for visibility, for new dreams and possibilities. It invites you to go within to then come out freer. It is the exercise and study of the human condition. Isn’t it amazing?!

So this is what I do. I study human beings in the hopes of becoming a better one and treating others with more love and kindness. The world needs art. We need art.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

This feels like a tricky question. I mean of course a lot of things would’ve been simpler if I had had different resources when I first began, if I had had connections, or people around me who’s paths were more alligned with mine. But honestly, I probably wouldn’t have taken advantage of them earlier on in my life. There was a lot of growing and maturing that needed to happen for me to dare to own my dreams and have the courage to persue them. So, I would say no, because as cliché as this sounds, everything that has or hasn’t happened has lead me here. And there is something to be said about learning how to live the “process”, about cultivating patience and discipline, about getting to know yourself through hardships and uncertainty.
Trust that life will give you those resources when you will know what to do with them.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Consume quality content. Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Famous doesn’t necessarily mean good. So consume quality content, whether it be live of digital. Develop a critical eye for good content. Good content doesn’t have to mean popular content. Art does not equal profit. It is much more delicate than that for us to be treating it like currency in our society or a thing of mass production. And this is coming from someone who’s watched ALL of the Fast and Furious movies and truly enjoys them. But did we need a 10th one? Probably not. Could that budget be used in better, more meaningful content? Most likely.

Art speaks in a softer voice, so it asks you to listen, to really listen. It shines a light on the unspoken things, it asks you to see with more loving eyes, so see. In our day to day we are bombarded by shiny, loud stimuli that we crave distractions, naturally. It can be very scary to sit with yourself or see yourself reflected so profoundly in a piece of art. So cultivate your attention span, consume better content so better content is made, and dare to listen to the softer voices, they’re trying to show you something.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanrocha_?igsh=MWxleHBvbXNudjdrdQ==
• Other: https://vimeo.com/user204570946?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaY2v3Q9jXmBxQAVToAZO3YKazxoks2pnjRrkvIIAkNPhxtTJjmF5c3Jh0g_aem_nrto2qOngxjW2YuJuvNxwQ

Image Credits

Arantxa Olortegui
Alexis Montesinos
Kelly McRae