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Member Spotlight: Q&A with Rodrigo Flores Hervert

Who is Rodrigo Flores Hervert in a sentence?

A queer, Indigenous Nahua artist and Mexican immigrant based in Vancouver, creating dance where the body speaks its political, ancestral, and emotional knowledge.

Tell us a bit about your work and practice.

I’m a contemporary dance performer and choreographer. My practice weaves together movement, ritual gesture, installation, and multilingual performance in Nahuatl, Spanish, and English. I dance and perform in Camino y Despedida with Tempo, a work on migration and hope that has been presented at Stand Festival, the Roundhouse, and in Smithers, BC. I also choreographed Xantolo (Día de Muertos) at Tamaly Shop and have performed at PuSh Festival and Vancouver’s Pride Block Party. I’m currently training in contemporary and ballet at Harbour Dance Centre and Training Society Vancouver.

How long have you been dancing?

For 7 years I began in a pre-Hispanic dance group and spent years learning on my own, guided by the community and the traditions I come from. More recently I’ve added formal training, including Danz Corp’s Course Contempo and Luciana Freire’s Exploring Immersive at the Roundhouse.

How does dance fit into your life currently – are there any upcoming projects you want to share with us? 

Dance is the centre of my life right now. This year I’m part of the Co-Figure QTPOC Arts Residency, mentored by Ralph Escamillan, where I’m developing ALTAR, my first full-length work as lead creator.

ALTAR raises what was once met with shame onto an altar of care. Copal, marigold, clay, fabric, and photographs are placed slowly throughout the performance, alongside spoken Nahuatl. One of its layers is living with HIV, and the shame and stigma that surround it. That thread has led to a collaboration with a Vancouver Magazine.

November 21, 2026: ALTAR work-in-progress showing and talk at Yoga Circle, Vancouver. I’d love to see The Dance Centre community there.

How would you describe dance’s impact on your life?

Dance has shaped me in a positive way since childhood. It began as a dream, a creative impulse that carried me far beyond what my surroundings could offer and led me to imagine and make my own pieces. It was also how I expressed myself when I couldn’t speak. Today, dance is how I return to what I was taught to hide: my language, my ancestry, my queerness. It lives in the hands, in the breath, in the way the body bends when no one is watching, and it lets me turn silence into presence.

What three core values drive your engagement with dance? 

Care; Making work that holds rather than explains.

Ancestral memory; Honouring Nahua knowledge and language, and bringing them into rooms not designed for them.

Visibility; Choosing to stop hiding, and making space for others to do the same.

Do you have a particular practice that you carry out each day or have you implemented new practices over these last few years?

Ballet and flow work. Ballet gives me structure, discipline, and precision. Flow work gives me freedom, fluidity, and play. Together they help me understand my body more deeply, and that understanding feeds everything I create.

What would you say are the most significant benefits for you in being a Dance Centre member?

Community, above all. It has been key to my growth, both as a person and as an artist. The Dance Centre gives me access to studios and to workshops that have shaped how I understand my own path. This year, training with Rakesh Sukesh, whose practice is rooted in yogic philosophy, Kalaripayattu, and breath, showed me how movement can come from ritual and from within the body, which resonates deeply with my own ancestral roots. Classes with Arash Khakpour, with their focus on imagination, contact, and emotional discovery, helped me trust my instincts and dance more freely. These experiences continue to inform how I move and create. Just as important are the visibility and support The Dance Centre gives to emerging artists like us, who carry stories that aren’t always heard.

Rodrigo’s Member Profile
Instagram: @tlaskamatli
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Photos: AdriánO D Photography; Mehmet Firath