Meet Ri Lindegren | Media Documentation Specialist, Videographer, Dancer, Somatic Practitioner, & Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ri Lindegren and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ri, how does your business help the community?
Dances With Tech is about visibility and connection. I want dancers, theater makers, artists, and creatives of all kinds to feel confident and excited when they share their work with audiences, presenters, and funders. I want the arts to be appreciated, valued, and understood, because I believe the arts are vital to building empathy, compassion, beauty, and respect in our world.

Creativity gives us purpose and hope. Our imaginations help shape a collective vision of what our lives, communities, and future could be. I often think about how science fiction has shaped what we imagine is possible in technology, and how dance, music, and visual art reflect and measure what’s happening socially and politically in any given moment. Artists and creative teams have imagined and designed so much of what we touch, hear, see, smell, and feel in our daily lives.

What fascinates me most are the hidden, invisible layers of the creative process. As a dancer, I love being inside the making as much as performing the final iteration. And in today’s world, artists are never “just” artists. They’re also administrators, marketers, archivists, fundraisers, and tech troubleshooters just to get their work into the world.

I understand artists because I am an artist. I also know how frustrating and rewarding it can be to work with and learn new technologies. My work supports those invisible layers with the goal of making the digital side of creative work feel less like a chore and more like an extension of artistry.

Whether filming performances or leading Tech Confidence or Creative Documentation workshops, my goal is the same: to help creatives understand the digital tools they rely on every day (all things computers and cameras), so technology becomes a creative ally instead of a stressor.

Through Tech Confidence workshops, I help creatives understand the tools they rely on every day, from computer basics to file organization to editing and digital design, so technology becomes a creative ally instead of a stressor. The Documenting Your Work With Ease workshops I offer guide creatives and organizations through actionable, embodied plans to record and archive their work in ways that feel aligned and sustainable. Through Co-Created Media Production, I document performances, events, and processes with care and collaboration, honoring that media is memory. And through Body Sync Sessions, I create tech-free spaces where people can reconnect to their own nervous systems and embodied wisdom. My goal is to make artistic work feel as alive in the recording as it does in the room, and to help the humans behind that work feel less alone, less overwhelmed, and more empowered in the process.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Care, intention, and embodied knowledge of movement are what set me apart most from other media makers who document the arts. I want to collaborate with you, to co-create your vision as a duet or an ensemble.

I don’t just show up with cameras. I listen deeply. I ask what matters most to the artist. I want to understand the emotional arc of the piece, the intention behind the choreography, the context of the project, and who it’s meant to reach. I want to know details about lighting design, musical choices, whether someone breaks the fourth wall. I always aim to capture the live sound of movement and audience in the room. I think of clients as collaborators, not customers.

Sometimes that looks like building a two-camera documentation plan that captures both the full stage and tracks the action onstage. Sometimes it looks like creating a behind-the-scenes mini-doc that follows the creative arc from rehearsal to performance. Sometimes it means helping an artist untangle years of digital clutter and build a file system that actually supports their work.

When possible, I co-create not just with you as the artist, but with other media makers. I bring talented filmmakers, editors, photographers, musicians, animators, and creatives of all kinds into the fold. One of my favorite photo shoots last year was with fellow media maker Katie Owens, where we passed cameras back and forth seamlessly to photograph local bands for the City of Tempe. I also enjoy mentoring students and emerging creatives to build new skills in the media world. I try to create opportunities for collaboration and cash flow so we uplift each other’s work.

Business-wise, it has not been easy. Although I like to say I film anything that moves, dance is the main thing I have filmed for over a decade. Dance is one of the least funded and (arguably) most challenging forms to document in the arts. Many of my clients rely on grants and public funding to produce their work, and public funding for the arts to pay show production and documentation, which means when funding for the arts and education is reduced, the ripple effects are immediate, especially for anyone who documents their work. When arts funding in Arizona was cut from $5 million to $2 million in 2025, and federal funding was drastically reduced, the performing arts suffered. My business suffered. I’m still finding ways to grow and nourish a business rooted in my passion for live arts.

Documentation is expensive. Cameras, lenses, backup storage systems, editing software, and computing power are real investments. I don’t come from generational wealth or private backers. Everything I’ve built has been self-funded on an artist hustle budget, slowly reinvesting in better tools as projects allow.

That reality inspired the Camera Collaborative Fund, an effort to build more sustainable access to professional documentation tools so independent artists aren’t carrying the full burden of production or rental costs alone. The vision is to expand what’s possible for the artists and organizations I work with, and creating infrastructure that supports the creative ecosystem long-term.

The biggest lessons I’ve learned are how to pivot and test out new ideas, grow deeper roots in the networks here, and to remain resilient while continually being inspired by the creative artistry around me. I truly feel a sense of community in the arts community in Phoenix, and I know the most important thing is to show up for each other whenever possible. I am also deeply humbled by the artists I have worked with who have helped me grow as a media maker. I continually try to remember that when we make mistakes we talk about it, see how we can improve it for next time, and keep going.

I believe that dance, music, theatre (live arts), and all forms of art (visual, culinary, film, multimedia) deserve to be documented beautifully. Not just for promotion, but to uphold cultural memories for decades to come.

That’s why Dances With Tech is built around four interconnected pathways — tech confidence, process documentation/performance videography, creative clarity, and body-based restoration. They’re designed to overlap and support the whole ecosystem of making and sharing art.

What I want the world to know is this: Movement is how we live the moment. Documentation is how we carry it forward.
Technology does not have to erase humanity. It can amplify it. We can (and should) be able to make choices in how and when we work with the digital world. And artists deserve support that honors both their nervous systems and their vision.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love this question.

If my best friend were visiting for a week, I’d start with nature. Papago Park for an easy sunset hike, or Phoenix Mountain Preserve or South Mountain if we’re feeling ambitious. For something gentler, the Japanese Friendship Garden downtown or Encanto Park.

For art: Phoenix Art Museum (especially on free Wednesday nights), the Heard Museum, Mood Room Phoenix, Rocket Space Gallery in Tempe. And WonderSpaces at Scottsdale Fashion Square is one of my favorite immersive art experiences.

For performances: Whatever show sounds intriguing. We have a lot to choose from between Tempe Center for the Arts, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Phoenix Theatre Company, Herberger Theatre, and Orpheum Theatre.

Experiences: I’m always down for an escape room experience at the Nemesis Club (and one of their milkshakes!).

For food and drink: Dark Hall Coffee, Nami, The Coronado, Cartel, The Main Ingredient, Cornish Pasty, Vovomeena, Green New American, Taco Chelo, CIBO, Welcome Diner. I could keep going.

For nightlife: The Pemberton, The Churchill, The Nash Jazz Club, Linger Longer Lounge, The Duce, Crescent Ballroom, Walter Wherehouse.

And if they’re a dancer?
Contemporary class with Zarina Medoza (Tranze Danza Contemporanea), Michaela Konzal (Upward Spiral Dance) or Bridgette Borzillo (Cazo Dance Center). Anything offered by Third Space Dance Project, Nuebox, or Pachanga Collective. Tap at MyDance101 with Emily. Hip hop at Jukebox in Mesa. Vogue with Kiki House of Paragon. Waacking with j. bouey. House wherever LaTasha Barnes is teaching. Yoga and Ampiano dance with Didi from A Movement Collective. And if you can find a contact improv jam or classes led by Angela McGinty or Nicole Bradley Browning — go.

Phoenix has a quiet but powerful creative pulse. You just have to know where to look.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people I want to shout out. My success is absolutely thanks to a community of mentors, collaborators, organizations, and friends who believed in me, invited me in, and trusted me to document their work. My work never happens in isolation. It is always collaborative.

The person who first brought me deeply into her creative mix here in Phoenix is Sumana Sen Mandala, founder of Dansense-Nrtyabodha, a nonprofit that is deeply rooted in community engagement and the performing arts. She is a Bharata-Nrityam dancer, scholar, and educator whose work bridges classical Indian dance, critical dialogue, and community engagement. We first collaborated in 2019 on a series of dance films and live performances called “Look into my Voice, Hear my Dance,” a project centering survivors of sexual and domestic violence telling their stories on their own terms. Since then, I’ve filmed, photographed, and been a documentation thought partner on many of her works. Sumana is constantly mentoring emerging artists and creating opportunities for dialogue and performance across cultures, disciplines, and audiences. Go check out her work at dansense.org, and if you’re able, donate to support the incredible work she’s doing in the community.

And I’m incredibly grateful to so many others in the Phoenix performing arts ecosystem — Liliana Gomez (BlakTinx Dance Festival), Angelica DeLashmette (Third Space Dance Project), Rachel Delovino (AZ Dance Experience), Julia Chacon (Inspiracion Flamenca), Alyssa Johnson (Paracosm Dance), Zarina Mendoza (Tranze Danza Contemporanea), Desert Dance Theatre, Nuebox, Sedona Ballet, Artlink, The Pachanga Collective, the AZ Dance Education Organization, Greybox Collective, Yes, And Productions, and so many more. This city is filled with artists who are generous, collaborative, and bold. Go follow them. Go see their shows. Donate to their organizations. Be inspired. They are the heartbeat of this place.

Website: https://www.danceswithtech.com

Instagram: @danceswithtechaz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danceswithtechaz

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dances-with-tech-phoenix

Youtube: @danceswithtech

Other: https://danceswithtech.substack.com

Image Credits
1. Suzanna Varela, dancer for Jemima Choong’s ASU MFA thesis project. Photographed by Ri Lindegren
2. j. bouey performing “A Message from Mx. Black Copper,” part of Dansense-Nrytyabodha’s NAVARANG Festival 2024. Photographed by Ri Lindegren.
3. Jerusafunk band, photo courtesy the City of Tempe. Photographed by Ri Lindegren, edited by Katie Owens.
4. ROOMS dance film behind-the-scenes, courtesy of AZ Dance Experience. Photographed by Ri Lindegren.
4. Dancers from Nayon Iovino’s SANTA FE & ESMERALDA ballet, courtesy of Sedona Choreography Retreat. Photographed by Ri Lindegren, edited by Alyssa Johnson
5. Angelina Ramirez, flamenco movement artist, part of Dansense-Nrytyabodha’s, NAVARANG Festival 2024. Photographed by Ri Lindegren.
6. Soraya Movassaghi of MOVA Managment from Dances With Tech’s Shine Sessions. Photographed by Destiny Acevedo, edited by Ri Lindegren.
7. Aswathy V. Nair, Bharatanatyam and Mohiniattam artist in her production of ‘Amba Shikhandi,’ part of Dansense-Nrytyabodha’s NAVARANG Festival 2024. Photographed by Ri Lindegren.

Ri’s headshot credit: Ri Lindegren. By Rachel Elbin/RKE Artistry