Bio
Natalia is a Detroit native who has worked as a professional dancer and choreographer, trained as an architect and anthropologist and found her niche as a cinematographer and photographer. Having discovered dance later in life, her work often explores the emotional side of what it means to make art, and tells the story of artists who have been historically overlooked.
Always her work centers on stories that speak to our collective humanity. Most recently, she has been awarded the San Francisco Individual Artist Grant for her dance film work, been selected for a 9-month visiting artist residency with the Art Students League of Denver worked as the resident filmmaker at ODC Dance, and performed in several immersive theater productions, including From On High by Oddknock, The Queens Ball: A Bridgerton Experience by Shondaland, and The Dirty South exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.
She has recently moved back to San Francisco, where she hopes to build her forever roots and become apart of the tapestry of this incredible city.
"I began dancing at the age of 20 under the black choreographer, Cecil Slaughter. He invited anyone with movement potential into his company as an apprentice, but would only give them a spot on the stage if they proved themselves. This philosophy created an amazing, inspiring, and diverse cast.
I’d always been curious about dance, but this was the first time I was exposed to Horton dance (and Horton dancers) with their thick thighs, rhythmic movements and powerful jumps. It was the first time I could see myself in dance, and the first time I felt invited in. I quickly worked my way from apprentice to soloist within his company and decided that that was the kind of dance-making I wanted to keep alive.
I arrived to the world of photography inspired by my love of dance and storytelling while never forgetting about that 18-year old version of myself. The one who was curious but could not see themselves in dance. My goal as a photographer is to tell the stories of people who are often overlooked and in-so-doing show them that I see them and their potential — the same way Cecil Slaughter saw me.
My work hopes to convey the beauty of our common humanity, the hope, struggle and aspirational process of being an artist, and, in surrealist tradition, live in the space between waking and dreaming."
Selected Work
