SHAWN HARPER
Richard Oaxaca in “Fear is the Enemy.”
From cheerleading to cruise ships and circuses, Richard Oaxaca has an unusual resume for a modern dancer.
When he was young and growing up in Texas, Oaxaca dreamed of becoming a trainer at SeaWorld. Starting in high school, he became a competitive gymnast and cheerleader — and was voted America’s top male cheerleader four times by the National Cheerleading Association.
One constant: his restless energy. “I can never sit still anywhere,” says Oaxaca. During his college years he attended six schools (including cheerleading powerhouse Navarro College) before embarking on a six-year stint as a performer on four major cruise lines, which involved “having girls jump on you,” and, as he puts it, “taking my shirt off and acting like I’m hot. I was flopping around on stage until age 30.”
“Imagine this at 18,” says Oaxaca, now 37, smiling. “This is the tame version of me.”
Oaxaca first performed in Madison when he made his debut with Kanopy Dance as the Puppet Master in Devil’s Night in February, a role he inhabited with ferocious charisma.
Now Oaxaca has joined the ranks of Madison’s modern dancers. Kanopy’s co-artistic directors, Lisa Thurrell and Robert Cleary, noticed him in May 2018 when he performed at NEXT@Graham, an annual festival held at the Martha Graham Studio Theater in New York City. They invited him to join the company.
Oaxaca’s energy is toned down as he rehearses for Spring’s Awakening (April 12-14 at Overture Center) in Kanopy’s sunny studio. With his solid technique he cuts through space making beautiful shapes with his body, thoughtfully exploring the nuances of the choreography. He dances through “Tua Vontade,” choreographed by company member Hannah King and set to Portuguese fado music. Then he launches into “Sextet + one - as slippery as a fish,” where Kiro Kopulos’ choreography requires Oaxaca to perform some fishy moves. He remains focused and curious throughout.
Post-rehearsal, I sit down with Oaxaca for a wide-ranging conversation on his storied career and what brought him to Madison. It’s a cliche to say Oaxaca seems smaller in real life, but onstage the sheer force of his talent and personality make him seem much larger. But his dazzling teeth and high energy are the same on and off stage. The compact and chiseled dancer exudes wit and a performer’s knack for drawing people in. He pinballs between amusing anecdotes of his youth and vulnerable confessions.
After the cruise ships, Oaxaca spent four years — and filled three passports — performing internationally with several circuses as an aerialist and fire-eater.
In the early 2000s, a former teacher who was a graduate of Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, suggested to Oaxaca that he should explore dance. He hadn’t yet earned a bachelor’s degree from any one of the schools he had attended. But when he got around to applying in 2012, Case Western was willing to give him “life credit” and accepted him into its graduate program with a full scholarship. By age 34, Oaxaca had earned a master’s in fine arts in dance, and it was there that Martha Graham’s modern dance technique captured his interest. He attended the Martha Graham School in New York and had an epiphany observing a technique class. “That is what I want to do,” he recalls thinking. Graduate school provided an intense and rigorous time for him to focus on his technique. “My hair was black when I started, and I left like this,” he says, pointing to his now salt-and-pepper hair.
After performing aboard the Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship as the crowd-pleasing Magic Carpet in Disney’s Aladdin, A Musical Spectacular, he was invited back to Case Western as an adjunct professor of dance, where he taught popular technique classes for two semesters.
Oaxaca notes that he never had to buy toilet paper until he started grad school in his early 30s because he was well-cared for (and well-paid) when working for the cruise lines, circuses and Disney.
Last May, Oaxaca was at an artistic crossroads, as he considered multiple offers: playing the Cookie Monster for a touring Sesame Street production or performing in one of two productions based in Malaysia. The fourth pitch came from Cleary and Thurrell, offering him a chance to become a member of Kanopy’s company.
Thurrell, the company’s co-artistic director, is glad he chose Kanopy. “I saw something in him as an artist,” she says.
Oaxaca was aware of Kanopy’s excellent reputation in the Graham realm and felt validated by Kanopy’s faith in his ability as a pure modern dance performer.
When Oaxaca arrived here, he says he had to take some deep breaths as he assessed his new environment. He was surprised by Madison’s small size, but is pleased “that there is a lot of art here.” And because he no longer receives the larger paychecks for his commercial dance work, he has taken on some teaching gigs and restaurant and retail work.
“I feel safe here,” says Oaxaca. “I hope I can continue to push myself and Kanopy ahead in Madison’s arts scene.”
This dancer is always on the move, and always working to improve, so Madison might not be able to hold onto him for long. Catch him while you can.
