Kanella Benavides is a movement artist from San Antonio, Texas of Mexican and Pacific Islander descent. At the age of two she started ballet and by age eight had been introduced to other styles including jazz, tap, and hip hop. She joined the pre-professional ballet company, San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet, at thirteen and trained in modern and pointe. While dancing with the company, she was a part of many Nutcrackers and storybook ballets, as well as an attendee of Regional Dance America Festivals. Through encouragement of Regional Dance America’s student choreography opportunities, she started to explore creating her own work. Her choreography was chosen to be performed in Regional Dance America’s 2021 Festival and presented multiple times by the musical theater department of her high school. Following in her company director’s footsteps, she committed to attending Boston Conservatory and is currently in her senior year pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance Performance. While at the Conservatory she has performed in works by Murray Louis, Dwight Rhoden, and Kurt Douglas. Her studies have given her a stronger foundation in intersecting classical ballet and modern techniques with other genres of dance, as well as creatively inspiring new ways of approaching movement generation. In 2023, she attended The Pillow Project intensive which solidified her intrigue in improv. Kanella’s interest in exploring authentic movement and dedication to artistic creativity are strong factors in her approach to dance that she aspires to share with others.