April, 2025
Little By Little Art Residency
Brooklyn, NY
Swing Criollo is a Costa Rican dance style that emerged in the 1950s in the dance salons of the capital. Known for its brincadito (jumping step) to cumbia music, its development was inspired by the big swing bands of the USA at the time.
In its early days, this dance was even banned in certain spaces because it was considered a dance for marginalized communities.
My desire to develop work around Swing Criollo comes from a deeply emotional place in my upbringing. During my childhood, cumbia music played at every communal gathering, school event, family party, and quinceaños. Swing Criollo has always been inside me—without formal instruction, we all just knew how to dance it.
To me, this dance style carries a beautiful energy and a deep sense of community. As a dance form originally associated with marginalized people, I find it important, as a queer person, to bring it into my practice and honor it on my own terms—blending it with other techniques from my artistic exploration.
María Paula Morera Núñez 