H.Exotic: Latina Dancing Bodies in the los Américas or (H.E.L.D.BiAméricas)

Inspired by biomimicry and change as the only constant, Erica is deeply motivated by creating shape shifting entities thwarted into unpredictable situations and environments.  Erica’s current alias, H.Exotic, references an interview with Rita Moreno in the HBO Documentary “Latin Explosion” where she coins the term “House Ethnic” to describe her experience in Hollywood entertainment as a shape-shifting Ethnic body.  H.Exotic is a series of episodes calling on the entity to manically shift between characters of oral Mexican legends and famous Hollywood Latinas (Peña Ovalle, 2011) in order to interrogate the stereotype of the Latina Dancing Body and the players who created her. 

H.Exotic:TURNUP!__Ep001, honors the intersectional power and resurgence of popularity of Selena Quintanilla as it intersects with racial invisibility and excessive fashion as both signifier and armor.

H.Exotic: Chinita Banana__Ep002, beckons music by Gloria Estefan and imagery inspired by Carmen Miranda to interrogate the relationship between the Latina dancing body and fruit.