Vanessa Hernández Cruz, Photo by Whitney Browne

Vanessa Hernández Cruz, Patient Zero
Saturday May 31 | 11AM-1PM

With rafa esparza and Wesleigh Gates

Vanessa Hernández Cruz (she/her/ella) is an interdependent Chicana Disabled multidisciplinary experimental dance artist & Disability Justice activist rooted in the unceded lands of the Tongva and Kizh peoples colonially known as Los Angeles, California. In late 2024, she was an Access Movement Play (AMP) Artist in Resident in New York. In the summer she was a virtual dancer for Kayla Hamilton’s work ‘How to Bend Down/How to Pick it Up’ that premiered at The SHED in NYC.  Earlier in 2024, she premiered an experimental contemporary dance solo titled ‘Soul Seeker’ for the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibition’s (LACE) show ‘Abundance’. This work later premiered at Mouthwater Disabled Dance Festival where she also served as a producer, curator, and audio description trainer.

As a recipient of the California Arts Council x The Center of Cultural Power Artist Disruptor Award (2023). Vanessa premiered an evening length at Highways Performance Space titled: Void Decryption ERROR (2024); where she successfully live-streamed QBIPOC Disabled artists on stage with her.  In 2023, “Exhale Static, Inhale Fumes” experimental dance debuted at The REDCAT’s NOW Festival. 

Bridging together dance, activism, consulting, visual art, and writing—Vanessa is committed to radical accessibility and strives to transform dance into a space where marginalized bodies thrive, innovate, and lead.

The LAX Micro Fest is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture. Los Angeles Performance Practice is also supported, in part, by The Mellon Foundation, The Perenchio Foundation, and the California Arts Council.