Marquita De Jesus is a fully funded PhD student & dance scholar at the University of Texas at Dallas in Visual and Performing Arts. Her academic research explores dance as a form of embodied activism in marginalized communities. De Jesus has been awarded the Giffin-Harrison Teacher Award, Kottwitz Theater Award, and Levy Research Scholarship. De Jesus is also the Artistic Director of Fusion, a 501 c(3) dance organization and is a lecturer in dance at Dallas College.