98. Rosie Herrera

In honor of our People Issue, which will hit newsstands and computer screens November 25, Cultist proudly presents "100 Creatives," where we feature Miami's cultural superheroes. Have suggestions for future profiles? Email cultist@miaminewtimes.com with the whos and whys.

Courtesy of Rosie Herrera

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98. Rosie Herrera

It's as difficult to classify choreographer and dancer Rosie Herrera as it is to type-cast Miami itself. Her performances involve Drag queens, hip hop dancers and b-boys, Latin dance, gay love, pop culture references, and dark humor. In 2009, Herrera completed a six-week residency at Duke's American Dance Festival where she staged Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret. It explores the emotions of metaphorical drowning through underwater film projections, while mocking of Celine Dion's Titanic mega-hit via a tower of birthday cakes and dancers that cross sexual and cultural boundaries. Recently, she was re-invited by ADF to present Pity Party, a performance which celebrates grief and is performed in front of a glittering curtain.

Courtesy of Rosie Herrera

Film projection from Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret

The choreography is reflective of Rosie's own wide-ranging background that started as a showgirl in the feather-headressed world of Hialeah Cuban folkloric cabarets and in hip hop dance with local companies like Live in Color. She's performed in concerts, music videos, and the MTV Music Awards for artists such as R. Kelly and Usher, and danced with numerous companies and choreographers like Bratcher and Co., Animate Objects Physical Theater, and Bill Doolin. After graduating from the University of Florida and New World School of the Arts, she began choreographing and participating in improvisational performances with CircX, a Miami-based, "beautifully bizarre" ensemble of burlesque, wild clowning, and street theater. As if that weren't enough, this creative is also a vocalist and puppeteer.

1. List five things that inspire you.

-The sunshine
-My gut
-Dreams or "little secrets"
-Absurdity of social norms and behaviors
-My tribe

Courtesy of Rosie Herrera

​2. What was your last big project?

A three-week research residency at FSU's Maggie Allessee Center for Choreographic Studies (MANCC) at Florida State University -- where I researched and developed a new work, Dining Alone, and continued to develop Pity Party.
 
3. What's your next big project?

In January, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts will be presenting my company in the Black Box theater. The program will consist of Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret, Pity Party, and possibly an excerpt from a new work which is set to premiere at the ADF this summer.
 
4. Why do you do what you do?

I feel like I have no choice. It's the only thing that makes sense to me.   
 
5. What's something you want Miami to know about you?

I am Hialeah-raised.

What's something you don't want Miami to know about you?

Ha! Like I'm gonna tell you!

The Creatives so far:

99. Rick Falcon
100. Ingrid Bazin