Additional Information
Richard Oaxaca is originally from Texas where he grew up competing in gymnastics and cheerleading and was named “America’s Number One Male Cheerleader” four times by the National Cheerleaders Association. He was an original member of the now Netflix famous ‘Navarro College Cheer Team’ 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’s seminal work “Cave of the Heart” that was produced by the department of dance in 2024 and 2023. Additionally, in June of 2025, he performed in Karen Potter’s “Into the Wind” at the 10th Annual New York Aerial Dance Festival. Of note, in 2025 his work “Ebb and Flow” was selected for presentation at the annual festival of OhioDance in Columbus, Ohio and was licensed by both Texas A & M University and Cleveland’s Ohio Contemporary Ballet. His work “Until Death Do Us Part” 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’s Aladdin, A Musical Spectacular on the Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship portraying the part of the ‘Magic Carpet’. Prior to that, he performed as a member of the Los Angeles based dance company Diavolo in its ‘Architecture in Motion, Company B’.
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’s Got Talent. 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 Made.
Oaxaca’s artistic activities include choreographing for college and community theater productions of “Legally Blond”, “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Mama Mia” 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.