Amber Ortega, MFA, Coordinator for the International Folk Culture Center has received The Texas Folklife, Community Folklife Fellowship in oral history, audio storytelling, and archiving.
Ortega joins a cohort of 12 culturalists across Texas who will receive training and guidance from Texas Folklife’s digital storytelling initiative, “Stories from Deep in the Heart” which includes mentorship from lead digital archivists in Texas.
Since 2023, Ortega has been conducting interviews with choreographers from Cayey, Puerto Rico to Miami, Florida, and San Antonio, utilizing her experience with curating transdisciplinary discussions and bridging dance practice to deeper insights into culture, human behavior, and research methodologies. During her fellowship, Ortega will be meeting and interviewing dance culture bearers in San Antonio to thread a cohesive narrative line between dance, history, and culture.
As Coordinator for the International Folk Culture Center, archiving the center’s history and preserving the greater story of dance in San Antonio particularly with how that story intersects with the IFCC and OLLU, is tantamount to the work of curating and coordinating dance, folk way, and culture at the center, on campus, and in our Westside neighborhood.
Ortega’s final work along with her cohorts will be released this May.