Season 1 Finale - The Intersection of Academia, The Dance World, Disability Justice, and Ableism - Part 2

Content warning: Explicit language and mentions of both ableism and racism

In the last part of the season one finale, Mary and Catalina discuss how Catalina's term "diversity burrito" came about, what it means, ableism and  racism in the workplace, the pandemic, and how Black advocates/activists paved the way for disabled advocates/activists.

Born in Medellin, Colombia and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Catalina earned a BA in Psychology at Western Connecticut State University in 2011 and completed all coursework for MS degrees in Psychology and Criminal Justice at Central Connecticut State University in 2015. In 2020 and 2021, she received RISE scholarships to attend American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum’s Teacher Training Intensive for levels Pre-Primary through Level 5. ABT provided these scholarships to Catalina for her work as a social justice advocate and commitment to working with marginalized dancers, particularly with disabled dancers. Catalina is now an ABT® Certified Teacher, who successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum (NTC). 

She has over 15 years of training in ballet and trains under Zimmi Coker (ABT corps de ballet & ABT NTC Pre-Primary-Partnering), Michael Cusumano (former ABT company member), and Rachel Zervakos (ABT NTC Pre-Primary-Level 5). She is also certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and has training in lyrical and jazz, as well as experience with choreographing dances for and competing in regional and national dance competitions with ballet and lyrical solos. 

Catalina works with all dancers with emphasis on providing an educational experience that is respective of social justice and intersections of oppression. Catalina brings her perspective as a disabled Latina and her vegan ethics of compassion and harm-avoidance to her teaching to ensure that every dancer feels respected, protected, and valued in their entirety.

Catalina enjoys using her platform to advocate for social justice through a disability justice framework and to speak about the many factors that prevent marginalized dancers from accessing equitable dance education and advanced training. Catalina regularly engages with Upgrade Accessibility to address social justice through a disability justice framework.

You can follow Catalina on social media here.

The Politics of Disability was named Best Interview Podcast at the Astoria Film Festival in both October 2022 and again in June 2023.