For over 30 years, Alvin Rangel has cultivated an international career as a performer, choreographer, and educator whose work bridges cultures, generations, and artistic disciplines. A native of Puerto Rico, he began his professional journey performing ballet and jazz before expanding into contemporary and modern dance.
Rangel is currently a Professor of Dance at California State University, Fullerton, where his teaching and research focus on dance composition, improvisation, contemporary dance, dance pedagogy, Horton technique, Afro-contemporary, African American concert dance, and yoga. Since 2018, he has been a visiting professor at NAISDA Dance College—Australia’s premier Indigenous training institution—where he teaches Horton Technique and contributes to the development of emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. He has also taught for the Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year program and led workshops and residencies throughout the United States, Russia, Australia, Taiwan, Poland, Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
As a performer, Rangel is best known for his work with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), where he spent nearly a decade performing and originating roles by renowned choreographers including Bill T. Jones, Bebe Miller, Dwight Rhoden, Donald McKayle, Ronald K. Brown, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Kevin Ward, Doug Varone, among others. His performances have been featured in the PBS documentary Free to Dance and the American Dance Festival’s film Dancing in the Light. In 2001, he received the Josie Award for Best Male Concert Dancer.
Rangel has appeared on major stages, including New York’s Lincoln Center, performing Donald McKayle’s iconic Rainbow Round My Shoulder with DCDC and the Paul Taylor American Modern Dance Company during their 2016 and 2019 seasons—earning the Bessie Award for Outstanding Revival (2016).
His choreographic project, Tango Vesre (Inverted Tango), has received international acclaim for its exploration of identity, gender, and the politics of intimacy. The work has been performed at the Kuandu Arts Festival (Taipei), Fresh Fruit Festival (New York City)—where it received the Fruit of Distinction Award—and the VII International Queer Tango Festival (Buenos Aires). Tango Vesre also earned nominations from the Austin Critics’ Table Awards for Best Short Work and Best Dancer.
Beyond DCDC, Rangel has performed with Andanza: Compañía Puertorriqueña de Danza Contemporánea, Ad Deum Dance Company, and Dance Theatre X, among others. He has also worked with an array of choreographers including Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Charles O. Anderson, Rodney Rivera, and Lolita Villanúa. His choreography has been presented by dance companies and university programs in the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Rangel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education (English as a Second Language) from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico and a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin. A dedicated yoga practitioner, he is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, having completed his training in India.