NIURCA MÁRQUEZ 

NIURCA MÁRQUEZ (she/ella) is a movement artist/researcher and author. As a trained somatic educator, she uses her body-centered work to service communities undergoing processes of healing and self-realization. A Latinx artist and activist on the margins advocating for silenced voices, she is particularly interested in notions of identity, cultural memory, ritual, and the body within a contemporary framework, as well as the multiple layers of communication and understanding in movement practices that lead to liaisons with political and social discourse. Niurca is the recipient of numerous awards for both her artistic creation and her research, and her written work on contemporary flamenco, dance sustainability, and identity politics in movement practices has appeared in various publications. Her current research includes an examination of the use of collage (and its affiliated approaches) as a methodology for evidencing transculturality, hybridity, and mestizaje as they pertain to expressions of identity and the moving body, as well as the use of body-centered and Practice as Research models in interdisciplinary teaching and learning as a way to address issues of equity and access. She is an affiliated faculty member of Florida International University’s Latin American and Caribbean Center, Cuban Research Institute, and global studies department. She is also a COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) faculty fellow and has a shared appointment in the Honors College and the Department of Religious Studies. Niurca directs Cultural Arts Exchange, an organization dedicated to artist services and programs centered on social accountability.