Tabata Vara is a choreographer, performer, and the founder of Totema Dance, a company dedicated to the visceral exploration of identity, memory, and exploration. Her work delves into the darker, more enigmatic aspects of human experience, weaving together symbolism, sound, and movement to create immersive worlds that blur the line between spectator and participant.

Tabata began her dance journey at eighteen, training across multiple forms before earning a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Towson University in 2022. During her time at Towson, she received the Outstanding Achievement in Choreography Award, a recognition to work that is both physically demanding and emotionally raw. This academic foundation, combined with a deep connection to her cultural traditions, has shaped her into a choreographer who is unafraid to confront shadows.

Shortly after graduating, she took her work to Japan, performing at the Attune Dance Festival in Kyoto. During that same trip, she also led a creative movement workshop for children, reflecting her belief in dance as a tool for expression across all ages.

In 2024, Tabata was commissioned as a choreographer and performer for The Latinx Movement Festival in Washington, DC. There, she explored themes of cultural heritage and identity, infusing her choreography with the rich textures of Mexican culture. She also presented an excerpt from her work Los Pecados De Nuestros Padres as part of Threads, a free public production. This piece examines generational trauma, silent sacrifices, themes that continue to echo through her body of work.

In 2025, Tabata performed another excerpt of Los Pecados De Nuestros Padres for the New Release Festival at Dance Place. Later that year, she appeared in Angel Ramirez's show Where I Belong. In 2026, she was commissioned to present her new piece APO for Dance Place's District Choreographers Dance Festival, marking another milestone in her career.

At its core, Totema Dance is more than a company, it is a space where the forbidden is embraced, the ancestral reimagined, and the human spirit laid bare. Tabata's choreography functions as an invocation, a call to witness raw, unvarnished truths. Her work is not about entertainment; it is about awakening thought, sparking dialogue, and inviting audiences to see the world through unfamiliar lenses. With each performance, Totema fractures the familiar, leaving audiences to grapple with the pulse of something ancient and uncharted, a reminder that art's greatest power lies in its ability to make us think, feel, and question.