welding

a layered investigation of embodied translation

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a layered investigation of embodied translation |

welding is a layered practice created by Natalia Cervantes in 2023 that physicalizes seemingly intangible borderlands, or third/in-between spaces, through the body in motion to make them more accessible to process.

The body is an active site where borderlands between bodies, materials, generations, and memories materialize. To access and explore these borderlands through welding, intentionally engage with artifacts, movement, sound, and video in a multidimensional fashion.

What does welding feel like?

the body is an archive of generational memory

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the body is an archive of generational memory |

welding borderlands | soldando las tierras fronterizas

February 22, 2025

Location: El Centro Hispano in Durham, NC

Presented by Natalia Cervantes in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MFA in Dance in the Graduate School of Duke University.

A community journey comprised of four layers: a migration, an immersive installation, a sharing of welding, and a celebration.

Credits

Created and performed by Natalia Cervantes

Community Partner: El Centro Hispano

Transportation: Greenway Transit

Musician: Josué Collado

Installation Design: Julia Piper and Natalia Cervantes

Videographer: Germán López Tirado

Photographer: John West

Stage Manager and Lighting: Indigo Cook

Ushers: Julia Piper and Michela Arietti

Thesis Committee Members: Jingqiu Guan, Andrea Woods Valdés, and Pedro Lasch

Production Mentor: Ethan Eldred

MFA Program Coordinator: Dierdre Shipman

Interested in more works with welding? Check out: