Allyssa & Raven

Allyssa Trujillo is a New Mexico-based independent dance artist who specializes in improvisation/freestyle and community-focused dance and performance. Coming from a background of studio and street dance, she considers her style to be a montage of her lived experience and New Mexico community. Over the past 14 years, Allyssa has trained in a multitude of dance forms and styles, including contemporary, improvisation, modern, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, ballet, pole dance, and most recently, Waacking. Allyssa received her early dance education at Foundations of Freedom in Gallup, NM, and in 2017 and 2018, attended the Modas Summer Dance Intensive on scholarship. She has taught dance classes periodically from the age of 14 at local studios and schools including Foundations of Freedom, Keshet Dance & Center for the Arts, Avix School for the Arts, and Harwood Art Center. Allyssa holds a BA in Contemporary Dance and a minor in Arts Leadership and Business from the University of New Mexico with honors. While attending college, Allyssa was a member of the UNM Contemporary Dance Ensemble where she studied with and performed works by Francesca Harper, Miguel Guiterrez, Vladimir Conde Reche, Donna Jewell, and others. In 2019, her choreographic work, Voice, was selected to be presented at the 2020 Southwest Regional American College Dance Conference. Post-college, Allyssa expanded her dance work to include acting, modeling, costuming, and interactive play, performing seasonally at venues such as Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, and events such as Somos ABQ (2021) and Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (2022, 2023) in Manchester, TN. Her current dance practice includes training and performing as a pole dancer at Black Widow Pole Arts/Almighty Buda Crew, entering freestyle dance battles, and co-creating with her partner, Raven Bight. Together, Raven and Allyssa have choreographed and performed locally and nationally for organizations such as Wise Fool Santa Fe (ReUnite, 2023), Meow Wolf (Bedtime Stories: Summer Camp, 2022), and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (A Playlist of Love Stories, 2022).