about zarina

Zarina Mendoza is a passionate artist, a Mexican immigrant with a desire to share knowledge, experiences, culture and points of view through movement. She has a BFA in dance and has been teaching for more than 10 years at International Dance Festivals and Local Studios in both Mexico and Arizona. She has also imparted her workshop “Power Flow '' inspired by postmodern dance, improvisation, acrobatic movement, floorwork, flying low and basic capoeira techniques to professional dance companies in Asia and Mexico.
Zarina is founder, choreographer and director of Tranze Danza Contemporanea, a dance company that has been invited to remarkable international festivals in South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Costa Rica, United States, Taiwan and Mexico. Her work has won critical acclaim and overwhelming responses from audiences and critics.

 Along with her desire to find interconnections woven in different cultures and various forms of expression, she has traveled to Europe, Asia and South America to submerge into different movement currents like Flying low, Piso Movil, Dynamic floor work, dance theatre, partnering and capoeira. The key elements of her creations involve tension and conflict, body/mind dichotomy, risks, physicality, instinct and passion. She actively cultivates a community that sparks meaningful conversations, her work prompts introspection on themes of identity, immigration, empathy, and solidarity, inviting individuals to engage deeply with these significant subjects.  She is also inspired by personal experiences, psychology supported and explored through scientific research.
Zarina currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona, where she serves as the Studio Manager at nueBOX, a non-profit organization committed to offering resources for BIPOC artists. In addition to her managerial role, Zarina is actively involved in teaching various disciplines, including Latin Rhythms, Yoga practices and Contemporary dance where she inspires her students to go further into the art form. Beyond her teaching commitments, Zarina remains engaged in performances as a director of Tranze Danza Contemporanea. She also collaborates with talented artists in Arizona, such as Mary Fitzgerald, Liliana Gomez and Yvonne Montoya among others while simultaneously pursuing independent choreography projects.