Daisy Velasquez
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Daisy Velasquez, otherwise known as "La Green Eyes," is an American feminist, activist and choreographer of Salvadoran and Colombian descent.
Early life[edit]
Velasquez was born in Torrance, California to a Salvadoran mother and Colombian father, who immigrated to the United States in the 1980s. She grew up in Hawthorne, California, adjacent to Inglewood, California, and attended Yukon Middle School (now known as Bud Carson [1]). She later attended Lawndale High School[2]. She started dancing at a young age and performing at local talent shows when she was just nine years old.
Later years[edit]
After graduating from high school she attended Loyola Marymount University in Westchester, California, double majoring in Chicana/o Studies and Sociology.
Dismissal from Chicano Studies Department[edit]
As of 2007 Velasquez was dismissed from her position as a Chicano studies worker in the department. She asked that this case be reviewed and had the support of many students that formed Brown Blocs around campus in protest of her dismissal. Her dismissal was seen as reaction to her radical politics and indigenous lifestyle that often results in scrutiny from the institution. Her alliance with a faculty member referred to as "Profe"[3], radical Chicana feminists, and Chicana/o anarchists can also be accounted as a motive in her controversial dismissal.
San Diego[edit]
In mid 2008 Velasquez moved to the Logan Heights neighborhood of San Diego and befriended Mexican dancer Yesenia Palacios. With her help, she became involved in the local krump scene and won several awards in the field. In early 2011, she created a dance (The Choompepe) that would go on to be featured in the Nicki Minaj video for her song "Super Bass".
Velasquez is known for her distinct dance style, which incorporates elements of krumping, salsa, popping and Memphis Jookin'. Her performances are highly energetic, often featuring elaborate costumes and props. In early 2012, for example, she headlined the Fierce and Ferocious Tour, where she would perform while dressed like various animals. The panther segment of the show was perhaps the most famous. Velasquez descended from the stage in a harness, while dressed in a skin-tight latex body suit. She would then begin a spastic interpretive dance, leaving many in the audience wondering if she was undergoing a seizure.
Amazon Woman Tour[edit]
In September 2013, Velasquez announced that she would return to the stage. Her show, entitled "Amazon Woman in La Mancha," featured intricate tribal themed acrobatics and complex hip-hop popping. She was joined on stage by over fifty dancers for the three-hour performance, which traveled through large cities around the world for over four months. It became one of the highest grossing dance tours of all time. After the completion of the tour, Velasquez stated to the LA Times that she was "tired beyond belief" and would take a break from performing to focus on her personal life.
During her time off, Velasquez completed a cookbook entitled Cooking Con La Raza.
"Anaconda" and future projects[edit]
In August 2014, Velasquez returned to the spotlight by choreographing Nicki Minaj's video "Anaconda." Velasquez stated that she was inspired by her Amazon Woman show but also wanted to incorporate twerking, a dance style that she pioneered in the early 2000s but had since abandoned. Minaj offered Velasquez a chance to star in the video, but she declined, stating that she was afraid the size of her buttocks would distract from the rest of the dancers.
A day after "Anaconda" premiered, Velasquez took to Twitter to announce her newest endeavor, a line of moisturizing lotions made specifically "...for women whose booties cannot be contained. For all the curvalicious mommas in the world." The line, entitled "A$$ by Daisy" will hit stores in January 2015.
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