Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

Joey Navarrete-Medina, also known as Na-Me (pronounced Nah-Mey), is a first-gen queer Mexican American contemporary dance artist based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in Southern California’s Inland Empire, Joey’s work is inspired by growing up as the youngest of seven in a Latinx, Catholic, and immigrant-working family. They are committed to connecting their art practice to inclusivity and their personal and collective journey of decolonization and queerness. In 2023, Na-Me received an MFA degree in dance from UCI and holds a BFA in Dance from CSULB, followed by a Pilates certification under Body Arts and Science, International (BASI). Joey is also a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT).

Na-Me has taught at local and international schools such as UCLA, UCI, CSULA, RCC, and UDLAP, and is served as adjunct dance faculty at Cypress Community College. Additionally, Na-Me has worked with choreographers like Bill T. Jones and Doug Varone, and has collaborated with various artists and companies in LA, including Primera Generation, Keith Johnson/Dancers, Whyteberg, Acts of Matter, No)one.Art House, Heidi Duckler Dance, Rosa Frazier, and Jobel Medina.

In addition to this work, Joey has also performed in various commercial projects, including The Barn – Movie musicals, and music videos for Justin Timberlake, Young Miko, Feid, and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Rosa Rodríguez-Frazier is an educator, dance-maker, and performing artist based in Riverside, California. As a first-generation Mexican American woman artist, she values “movement” as a means to wrestle with and rejoice in her Mexicanidad. Her movement aesthetic and choreographic interests are rooted in a mix of soulful Contemporary and Latin social dance forms approached by “experimental” dance-making processes and Post-Modern frameworks. Frazier holds a BA in Dance and an MFA in Experimental Choreography from the University of California, Riverside and is an Associate Professor of Dance at Riverside City College. Over the past fifteen years, she has created and performed work with dance partner, Joey Navarrete-Medina. She is co-director of Primera Generación Dance Collective, a collaborative group of four first-generation artists that generate art that speaks to their brown, working-class experiences; a board member of Show Box L.A., a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, CA; and board member of the Latina Dance Project, a cultural non-profit corporation- originators of the BlakTinx Dance Festival. For more information: larosadance.com