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| Gabriela García |
I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and raised in La Paz, which is a beautiful city on the West coast of Mexico right on the Sea of Cortez, or The Gulf of California. I started dancing when I was 5 years old. As a child I was always dancing and singing around the house and I also loved to play with puppets and put on full plays for my little brother doing different character voices for every puppet. So my mother decided to take me to dance class in order to put all that energy to work. I was a member of the very first ballet school in my home town and I remember loving every minute of it.
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| Gabriela García at 5 years old. |
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My passion for dance took me around the world; I traveled following this wonderful discipline. I danced in Mexico, the USA, Germany, and Austria. Trough dance I went from classical ballet to musical theater and musical theater brought me to New York. After several years of living my dream dancing I found myself in CHICAGO the Musical. Little did I know that getting into the Vienna production of this amazing show would bring me to New York and allow me to experience the show in Mexico City and on Broadway and to stage the production in Duesseldorf. I had the honor of being dance captain for this musical for over 7 years, which was a lot of responsibility, hard work, and a lot of fun. But after reaching the dream of making it to Broadway I asked myself, now what? And that is when I met Luis Salgado on the set of “Enchanted”. There we were, two Latinos working as principal dancers on the set of what would become a wonderful Walt Disney film. I knew I would see Luis again but little did I know under what circumstances. I find myself 5 years after our initial meeting working side by side with Luis as Co-director of R.Evolución Latina.
It all began at a lunch meeting at Sevilla where Luis expressed his desire to let our Latino community know that there are Latinos in the Broadway and off Broadway community that, like us, are living our dream in order to inspire them to do the same with whatever passion they find within themselves. How could I not be a part of such a wonderful movement? I felt an immediate sense of empowerment and inspiration which I still carry and feel every single day by being a part of this amazing organization. Through RL I have gained so much confidence by the mere fact that I believe in our mission of inspiring our community through the arts. That feeling of “now what” has been fulfilled by this opportunity to be an example to our children and youth, to talk to them about my experience in theater, inviting them to “Go Beyond” and reach farther than they thought possible, and through the arts, give them the tools to become leaders and examples in their community. That has been the most rewarding feeling, seeing the impact a phrase, a dance piece, or a song can have on our children.
In RL we talk about the “Circle Effect”. The circle effect is a self-sustaining cycle whereby individuals experience inspiring growth and in the process, discover their ability to inspire others. For me, “The ability to inspire others” means simply doing what I do to the best of my potential, by living my passion and being the best ME I can be. I listen to a John Mayer song as I write this and the lyrics “I am invincible” are sounding in the background. That’s how I feel after being a part of RL and being inspired daily by the kids themselves who Dare to go Beyond, and by our volunteers who want to give back to our community. Having the opportunity to be a leader in this organization has given me the courage and confidence to make of the biggest decisions of my career. Many wonderful changes have happened in my life. I recently became an America Citizen; I consider it an honor to be a citizen of a country that has given me so much opportunity. Also just ended my 12 year career with CHICAGO the Musical. It was one of the most wonderful and fulfilling experiences of my life but it was time to let go, take the risk and challenge myself again in order to find the creative me.
We often fall into a comfort zone, and for me, when my passion started to feel like a job, I knew it was time to go, time to let go in order to allow other possibilities to come my way and find that passion again. And going back to the creative me, that little girl doing character voices with her puppets is now a pretty successful voice over actor. Who knew that would become my other career!
I thank our Choreographers Festival for showing me that my passion is dance and it gave me the opportunity to create, to advise, to teach, to feel again and to remind me of what is important. I became inspired by all the dancers who poured their hearts out in this production and said “Thank you for reminding me that dance is my passion and not my job." So the Circle Effect continues as I, by becoming inspired can be the best person I can be and as Marianne Williamson’s poem says, “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."
Thank you RL and all those who dare to DREAM!
My name is Maryelin Barahona and I am a 25 year old Dancer/Choreographer/Teacher from Panamá. I am currently working at the National Institute of Culture (INAC) in Panama as the artistic director of a socio-cultural project for kids from under-served neighborhoods.
Today RL's Circle Effect has changed the way I see the world. Through the Circle Effect I feel the need to spread my knowledge and transmit it to as many people as I can. I feel that I have the happiness and the strength to move forward and reach my dreams. The Circle Effect makes you inspire others through love and empowerment, and once you have affected an individual, the cycle has been completed because this person would affect the next person in the same way you have. 
