Dr. M. Gabriela Estrada
Houston, Texas
M. Gabriela Estrada is a bilingual, innovative, multicultural, and interdisciplinary artist, journalist,
and educator invested in collaborative global creative projects explored and preserved through
choreography, filmmaking, and published documentation. Estrada holds a B.A. and an M.F.A. in
Dance from the University of California, Irvine, and a Ph.D. in Flamenco Interdisciplinary Studies
from the Department of Sociocultural Anthropology and Philology at the University of Seville,
Spain. Her doctoral dissertation, Flamenco’s Contributions to Ballet (1850-2015), has led to several
publications, choreographic works, documentary film projects, and a narrative screenplay, False
Premises.
Dr. Estrada joined the University of Houston in 2022 as an Assistant Professor of Dance, teaching
dance in film, dance history, tap, flamenco, and ballet while choreographing and developing
creative and scholarly research. Her current projects include In Memoriam, a multi-media tribute to
Juilliard’s faculty emeritus Maestro Zaraspe, and Reconstrucción, a contemporary theatre dance
production inspired by researching Felipe “El Loco,” a lost work Doris Humphrey created for José
Limón and his company in the 1950s, recently premiered in Sonora, Mexico.
Estrada’s service collaborations as chair include the University of Houston’s KGMCA’s Global
Strategic Initiative’s Working Group and the National Dance Education Organization’s Research
Committee, where she serves as Advisory Board Director of Research. Estrada also participates in
scholarly and creative groups, such as the Dance Studies Association, Columbia University’s
Studies in Dance Seminars, Spain’s Universidad de Oviedo, NYC-based film editor’s AI Café,
Sundance Collab, and Mexico’s Association of Women in Film and TV.
In Houston, Dr. Estrada has participated in presenting and/or performing her work at UH’s
Ensemble Dance Works, the Texas Latino/a/x Contemporary Dance Festival, Solero Flamenco
concerts, Mix-MATCH, and the Alley Theatre with TECH23 and UH’s BRAIN Center. She has
also enjoyed choreographing for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston and UH’s operas,
such as The Merry Widow, and guest teaching Escuela Bolera Spanish dance workshops for the Houston Ballet Foundation.