Additional Information
Richard Oaxaca is originally from Texas where he grew up competing in gymnastics and cheerleading and was named 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Number One Male Cheerleader鈥� four times by the National Cheerleaders Association. He was an original member of the now Netflix famous 鈥楴avarro College Cheer Team鈥� in Corsicana, TX. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in 2016 with a Master of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance and was the recipient of the Edna Raphael Award for Excellence in Performance. Upon graduating, he studied at the Martha Graham School of Dance in New York City and had the honor of performing for the Next@Graham Studio Series as well as dancing with Kanopy Dance of Madison, Wisconsin.
Since joining the faculty at Case Western as a Visiting Assistant Professor in 2023 and now Assistant Professor since 2024, Oaxaca has been privileged to perform the role of Jason in Martha Graham鈥檚 seminal work 鈥淐ave of the Heart鈥� that was produced by the department of dance in 2024 and 2023. Additionally, in June of 2025, he performed in Karen Potter鈥檚 鈥淚nto the Wind鈥� at the 10th Annual New York Aerial Dance Festival. Of note, in 2025 his work 鈥淓bb and Flow鈥� was selected for presentation at the annual festival of OhioDance in Columbus, Ohio and was licensed by both Texas A & M University and Cleveland鈥檚 Ohio Contemporary Ballet. His work 鈥淯ntil Death Do Us Part鈥� was selected for presentation at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2024, for the Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival (BCDF) in 2023 and for the OhioDance Festival in 2024. In addition to performing, he taught at BCDF in 2023 and 2024. In 2017, Oaxaca performed as a mainstage dancer and performer in Disney鈥檚 Aladdin, A Musical Spectacular on the Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship portraying the part of the 鈥楳agic Carpet鈥�. Prior to that, he performed as a member of the Los Angeles based dance company Diavolo in its 鈥楢rchitecture in Motion, Company B鈥�.
Other notable career highlights include an invitation to perform at the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu, Korea and an invitation to appear on Season 7 of America鈥檚 Got Talent鈥�. He has danced for Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. After attending The New England Center for Circus Arts and the San Francisco Circus Center, he joined Norwegian Cruise Lines as a principal acrobat and dancer, then toured internationally as an aerialist and fire eater with Aerial Angels Circus Company and Aerial Experience Productions. In 2011, Oaxaca worked with MTV and CMT television networks in conjunction with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus to coach circus performers for the reality television show 鈥婱ade鈥�.
Oaxaca鈥檚 artistic activities include choreographing for college and community theater productions of 鈥淟egally Blond鈥�, 鈥淟ittle Shop of Horrors鈥� and 鈥淢ama Mia鈥� to name a few, and he was nominated for a Broadway World Award for Best Choreography for his regional work in Boston. While there, he was also the Director of Dance for Dance With Energy in Weymouth, MA. Other directorial appointments include being the Assistant Director of Dance Studies at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, OH.