Spotlight.
Nancy Jacinto
INTRODUCTION
Nancy Jacinto (Nancy Ahmar) is a Mexican dance artist, performer, and coach based in Glasgow. Rooted in Bellydance, Middle Eastern dance, and Latin American dance traditions, with a background in theatre and storytelling, her multidisciplinary practice explores identity, migration, belonging, and female empowerment. Through performance and community engagement, she challenges stereotypes and celebrates Bellydance and Latin dances beyond colonial and exoticised narratives, reclaiming them as powerful forms of cultural expression, resistance, and connection. As the founder and director of Latino Dance Project, she amplifies underrepresented voices and builds community through movement, culture, and shared stories.
INTERVIEW
How did you get into your creative practice? What initially inspired you?
Belly dance became a powerful tool for reconnecting with my body, my confidence, and my identity. After moving to Scotland, my experience as a migrant deepened my artistic practice, inspiring me to use movement as a language for storytelling, healing, belonging and cultural connection.
What themes do you tend to interrogate in your creative practices?
My work explores migration, identity, belonging, ancestry, and female empowerment. As a Mexican woman with Black heritage, I am interested in the visibility and invisibility of underrepresented communities and how dance can reclaim space, challenge stereotypes, and celebrate cultural identity. I often use the body as a site of memory, resistance, and healing, creating work that connects personal stories with collective experiences.
What is your favourite project you’ve ever worked on and why?
One of the projects closest to my heart is Latino Dance Project, which I founded to create a sense of belonging for Latin Americans in Scotland while inviting people from all backgrounds to connect through dance. It has grown into a community where culture is celebrated, stories are shared, and people find joy and connection through movement. Seeing participants gain confidence and build relationships has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career.
What advice would you have for creatives of colour looking to get into your creative practices?
Don't feel pressured to fit into existing expectations of what an "art form" should be or to leave parts of your identity behind to be accepted. Your lived experience is your greatest strength. Stay curious, keep learning, and trust that your perspective brings something unique and valuable to the sector. Representation matters, and by creating authentically, you not only honour yourself and your community but also open doors and inspire others to do the same.
What are you currently working on?
Dances to Keep from Extinction exploring ancestral memory, community, and the ways our bodies carry histories across time and distance. Latin American Archive of Attempts to Survive. Exploring how dance can become a space for remembering, reconnecting, and building community. Together, we gathered traces of ancestral and diasporic knowledge, creating the first draw of an archive of attempts to survive together.
Alongside this, I continue to grow Latino Dance Project, fostering community through dance and cultural celebration, and Nancy Ahmar Bellydance, where I teach and perform Bellydance as an empowering art form rooted in culture, storytelling, and self-love. Both projects reflect my commitment to building inclusive spaces where movement becomes a tool for connection, representation, and collective joy.