Sydney Hutchinson obtained her master’s degree in ethnomusicology from Indiana University and worked for several years in public folklore in New York City before returning to school at NYU in 2003. She is the author of the book From Quebradita to Duranguense: Dance in Mexican American Youth Culture (University of Arizona Press, 2007) which was recently awarded a De La Torre Bueno Special Citation as one of the best books on dance from 2007; her articles on salsa, merengue típico, ballet folklórico, and applied ethnomusicology have appeared in Ethnomusicology, CENTRO Journal, Folklore Forum, and Revista Dominicana de Antropología as well as edited volumes like El Merengue en la Cultura Dominicana y del Caribe (2006) and the forthcoming Dancing Across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos. Hutchinson co-produced and wrote liners for the Folkways CD, La India Canela: Merengue típico of the Dominican Republic (2008). Also an avid accordionist, Sydney’s dissertation focuses on trans nationalism, gender, and urban geography in merengue típico as performed in Santiago and New York City. Sydney currently resides in Berlin, Germany, and is also a Research Associate at the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona.