Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro--based in Tijuana, México and Tampa, Florida—is an all-women ensemble of dancers and actresses from México and the U.S., founded in 1999 by Dora Arreola and Olga Margarita Dávila to investigate the relationship between sacred actions and performative actions with an ensemble of women. We are always searching for collective acts of liberatory experience, and transformation. For us, making performance is a collaborative and critical process, to develop interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and syncretic work. Artistic Director Dora Arreola has developed our unique physical training process, drawing from diverse sources: Grotowski’s physical actions (Objective Drama and Art as a Vehicle phases), Butoh’s body poetics, Suzuki’s precision, and ritual structures from traditions of México. The company creates original performances from the expressive needs, levels of experience or ability, cultural/historical and personal experiences of the ensemble and community members. We explore issues of gender and communities in crisis through performances, classes, and workshops; we aim to establish the presence and voices of women in the public sphere, particularly in the border region of México and the United States. Mujeres en Ritual has toured in México, the United States, Canada, Nicaragua, India and Poland, receiving numerous commissions and invitations to international festivals. 

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 MER have received Awards, Grants and Commissions from Mexico and the United States Ford Fundación, Art2Action, National Performance Network, National Association of Latino Art and Culture, Universidad del Sur de Florida: Cultural Contact