We recently connected with Sofia Saenz and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sofia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

One of the biggest risks I have ever taken was deciding to take a chance on my idea of starting a collective for choreographers in Los Angeles. About a year ago, I had an idea to provide another platform for choreographers to share their work to LA audiences because as I was figuring out my own way in the LA dance community, I noticed that there was a need for more supportive outlets for choreographers to present new or returning works. I approached three friends with this idea and they were super supportive and excited to get started. Together, we launched ChoCoLA in the Spring of 2023 with applications for our inaugural showcase and received an overwhelming amount of applications for our first year which then turned into a very successful inaugural show. We are now getting ready for our second showcase coming up this Memorial Day weekend and can’t wait to bring even more opportunities to choreographers and continue building a community of creatives. We face risk everyday with our organization but by far the biggest was deciding to start this venture but it has been more rewarding than I could have possibly imagined!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in Los Angeles with a family of creatives so it was no surprise when I turned out to be one as well. The only difference was that everyone in my family had a visual art focus but I chose to focus on the performing arts, specifically dance. From a young age, I knew that dance was the art form for me and not before long I found myself spending all my time outside of school training at a ballet conservatory for most of my childhood. My focus then shifted to modern and latin dances during my undergrad years which rounded out my movement vocabulary. My undergrad years also came with the conflicting decision most creatives go through, “do I pursue my art form or get a full time job?” It was a topic I struggled with for a few years and to make life even more fun, COVID-19 hit my junior year of college which made all previous decisions crumble. In some ways the pandemic did helped me figure out that I wanted to pursue dance post undergrad as a choreographer and not as the dancer. I have always had a fascination with choreography and how movement can be placed together in different patterns that are architecturally interesting to an audiences eye. However, since the pandemic made it very difficult to get into the studio and move around as either the dancer or choreographer, I turned towards having a more stable career path and got a full time office job but still within the performing arts. As life began to open up again, I found myself missing the creativity of movement and the puzzles of creating new works. I decided to call up a few friends and get in the studio to once again create which two years later turned into launching my own organization for choreographers in Los Angeles, Choreographer Collection Los Angeles (ChoCoLA). ChoCoLA is a collective of choreographers who encourage one another to continue creating new works and sharing with the LA audience. We provide platforms for artists to showcase their works as well as provide networking opportunities to continue growing our community and making connections. It has been about a year since we launched ChoCoLA, and this journey has been more rewarding than I could have possibly imagined as the founder but also a choreographer!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Definitely! My goal is to create meaningful connections for dancers and choreographers in Los Angeles through ChoCoLA and build a hub for them to meet, move and create. So often, I hear from dancers that they feel very alone in the LA dance community, and I want to be an organization that helps bring them together and see all the wonderful collaborations that can come out of it. I also strive for it to be a space where up and coming choreographers can be discovered and make connections that launch them down an exciting career path. Even though we are just a year old it is so exciting to slowly see our goals become a reality, and I can’t wait to continue watching ChoCoLA grow.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

My obvious first answer would be to say funding because there is very little funding in the arts that can match an artists ideal creation but I think it all comes down to exposure and an open mind from society. I have found that many people shy away from the dance art form because they don’t feel like they have enough experience with it to know how to enjoy it. Unfortunately, the result of that is many choreographers and dancers no longer get the recognition or support for the art form to continue growing it. I believe that with more exposure, artists will get the recognition for their work and have more reason to continue creating and redefining their practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chocolosangeles.org
• Instagram: @cho.co.la_

Image Credits
Photos by Melissa O’Gara and Hannah Doerr for ChoCoLA