My training began in Venezuela with traditional Venezuelan and Latin American dances, from México to Argentina (Jarabes, Salsa, Afro-Cuban dances, Cumbias, Calypso, Afro-Peruvian dances, Samba and Capoeira). Alongside this, I studied North American Afro-Diaspora practices such as Jazz and Hip Hop. Within this experience, I participated as a dancer in Folkloric Dance Festivals, e.g. Festival de Danzas Folklóricas Internacionales from La Hermandad Gallega in Caracas, also dancing for the Mexican Embassy in Venezuela with Grupo Azteca. With this group, I learned a wide range of Aztecan descent dances from Veracruz and Jalisco, Jarabes with strong focus on footwork. Some of my teachers were Eduardo González, Mirennys Bandres and Mireya Oliveros (Escuela Mobi’s Dance). Parallel to this experience, I had theatre training at Teatro Luisela Diaz, theatre and musicals for children. In this field, I also worked as a performer, actor and choreographer in Grupo de Teatro Colibrí, Caracas.
I studied Media Communications at Universidad Santa María, Caracas. During this time I worked at U.E. Miguel Ángel López Cárdenas (primary and secondary school) as a dance teacher specialised in traditional Afro-Indigenous dances. This school was situated in one of the slum areas of Caracas. As I also studied in this school when I was a child, this allowed me to work from a student-centred perspective where the context and life experience of the students would inform their learning process.
In 2010, I began to practice Modern, Post-Modern and Contemporary Dance in Taller Experimental de Danza Pisorrojo (Universidad Central de Venezuela) and Taller de Danza de Caracas, influenced by the cultural landscape where choreographers and dance teachers working in Venezuela made their work. Some of my teachers were: Elio Martínez (Pisorrojo), Ana Elena Brito (TDC), Yuri Cavallieri (TDC), El Negro Ledezma (TDC), Feliz Oropeza (Compañía Agente Libre), Luz Urdaneta and Adriana Urdaneta (Danza Hoy), Luis Villasmil (Espacio Alterno and Templohveso), among a multiplicity of dance artists working in this field.
In 2013, I moved to Ireland and worked, amongst others, with Irish Modern Dance Theatre (John Scott) as well as the Step Up Dance Project in collaboration with Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, and with choreographers Liz Roche and Lea Anderson. In Ireland I engaged with various communities, such as the homeless community in Dublin and Cork (The Simon Community); St. Patrick’s Parade (St. Patrick’s Festival); The Dragon of Shandon Parade (Cork Community Art Link); and the Salsa Community of Dublin (Salsa Dublin).
Within my work for the Simon Community, I developed a 3 years project that focused on developing dance and performance workshops, promoting a sense of togetherness for participating homeless communities. I became part of the Participation and Development service, focused on coordinating and leading artistic programs. The work with Dublin Simon Community Dance group resulted in a production awarded by the Irish Arts Council called “Baile Bua: Sounds Like Celebration”. In this production, I collaborated with Dublin based professional dancers from various backgrounds such as Hip Hop and Contemporary Dance.
In the Salsa community of Dublin, I engaged as a practitioner, embodying the street/traditional qualities of Salsa and its history of bringing cultures together, in this case, the Latino-Immigrant, Irish and international community. We danced Salsa Casino, a form of Salsa performed in circular figures, shifting partners through rhythmical movements to the music. We shared different techniques of Salsa (NY and Puerto Rican styles) and afterwards we danced together as part of the weekly Latino festivities. These experiences strongly influenced my perspectives as a dance pedagogue, artist and choreographer.
In 2018, I moved to Frankfurt, Germany to join the Masters in Contemporary Dance Education (MA CoDE) at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. In this programme, I delved into the theory and practice of contemporary dance techniques and somatic practices from critical/pedagogical perspectives. I practiced feedback schemes, curriculum building and participated in and collaborated with various dance related events and institutions such as Tanz Kongress 2019, Reimsheid’s Academie der Kulturellen Bildung, Polka dot Foundation, Hollins University exchange, among others. An important encounter during this time was to experience the work of artist Claire Cunningham in relation to Disability Culture. This led me to write my MA thesis titled Choreography of Access (2020) where I interviewed Claire Cunningham and identified the strategies of accessibility present in her work.
After graduating from MA CoDE, the covid-19 pandemic started and the necessity for an alternative form of collective joy was developed. Consequently, I co-created Salsa Somática, which was initially taught via Zoom video calls. With the aim to investigate the Somatic aspects of Salsa, its history within the African diaspora and the poly-centrality and polyrhythmic characteristics of its movement. Using accessible teaching methods, this practice was developed as a strategy to achieve an online community that would allow people from all over the world to join. Part of the experience was documented in an article When Salsa Swipes Right on Somatics, There’s a Match published by the North American dance magazine 'INDANCE'.
The continuation of this research was presented as a Lecture and physical practice, during a seminar at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and The University of Virginia’s Dance and Culture seminar (USA). My perspective taken in these lectures focused on collective Joy, ecstatic states and re-discovering spirituality, ancestral techniques which I believe have the potential to decolonise Contemporary Dance education. This notion is also supported by historian Barbara Ehrenrich, stated in Dancing in the Streets, a history of Collective joy (2007) and supported within the concept of “moving identities” researched by the Irish scholar Jenny Roche.
In collaboration with Linda Waldhoff, I co-developed the Connecting Communities Dance Project. This project began in 2019 in Lippstadt’s Werkstatt für Behinderte Lippstadt GmbH. The work centres on connecting persons in disability contexts to their social environment through choreographic movement scores and encouraging, uplifting activities.
Beyond my professional training and experience, the values I practice in my work come from my family and the culture I was raised in, their movement rituals, their sense of togetherness and celebration, even in the most troubling times. The memories of growing up in a context where dance is family inform my movement identity. They move with me in every dance.
I studied Media Communications at Universidad Santa María, Caracas. During this time I worked at U.E. Miguel Ángel López Cárdenas (primary and secondary school) as a dance teacher specialised in traditional Afro-Indigenous dances. This school was situated in one of the slum areas of Caracas. As I also studied in this school when I was a child, this allowed me to work from a student-centred perspective where the context and life experience of the students would inform their learning process.
In 2010, I began to practice Modern, Post-Modern and Contemporary Dance in Taller Experimental de Danza Pisorrojo (Universidad Central de Venezuela) and Taller de Danza de Caracas, influenced by the cultural landscape where choreographers and dance teachers working in Venezuela made their work. Some of my teachers were: Elio Martínez (Pisorrojo), Ana Elena Brito (TDC), Yuri Cavallieri (TDC), El Negro Ledezma (TDC), Feliz Oropeza (Compañía Agente Libre), Luz Urdaneta and Adriana Urdaneta (Danza Hoy), Luis Villasmil (Espacio Alterno and Templohveso), among a multiplicity of dance artists working in this field.
In 2013, I moved to Ireland and worked, amongst others, with Irish Modern Dance Theatre (John Scott) as well as the Step Up Dance Project in collaboration with Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, and with choreographers Liz Roche and Lea Anderson. In Ireland I engaged with various communities, such as the homeless community in Dublin and Cork (The Simon Community); St. Patrick’s Parade (St. Patrick’s Festival); The Dragon of Shandon Parade (Cork Community Art Link); and the Salsa Community of Dublin (Salsa Dublin).
Within my work for the Simon Community, I developed a 3 years project that focused on developing dance and performance workshops, promoting a sense of togetherness for participating homeless communities. I became part of the Participation and Development service, focused on coordinating and leading artistic programs. The work with Dublin Simon Community Dance group resulted in a production awarded by the Irish Arts Council called “Baile Bua: Sounds Like Celebration”. In this production, I collaborated with Dublin based professional dancers from various backgrounds such as Hip Hop and Contemporary Dance.
In the Salsa community of Dublin, I engaged as a practitioner, embodying the street/traditional qualities of Salsa and its history of bringing cultures together, in this case, the Latino-Immigrant, Irish and international community. We danced Salsa Casino, a form of Salsa performed in circular figures, shifting partners through rhythmical movements to the music. We shared different techniques of Salsa (NY and Puerto Rican styles) and afterwards we danced together as part of the weekly Latino festivities. These experiences strongly influenced my perspectives as a dance pedagogue, artist and choreographer.
In 2018, I moved to Frankfurt, Germany to join the Masters in Contemporary Dance Education (MA CoDE) at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. In this programme, I delved into the theory and practice of contemporary dance techniques and somatic practices from critical/pedagogical perspectives. I practiced feedback schemes, curriculum building and participated in and collaborated with various dance related events and institutions such as Tanz Kongress 2019, Reimsheid’s Academie der Kulturellen Bildung, Polka dot Foundation, Hollins University exchange, among others. An important encounter during this time was to experience the work of artist Claire Cunningham in relation to Disability Culture. This led me to write my MA thesis titled Choreography of Access (2020) where I interviewed Claire Cunningham and identified the strategies of accessibility present in her work.
After graduating from MA CoDE, the covid-19 pandemic started and the necessity for an alternative form of collective joy was developed. Consequently, I co-created Salsa Somática, which was initially taught via Zoom video calls. With the aim to investigate the Somatic aspects of Salsa, its history within the African diaspora and the poly-centrality and polyrhythmic characteristics of its movement. Using accessible teaching methods, this practice was developed as a strategy to achieve an online community that would allow people from all over the world to join. Part of the experience was documented in an article When Salsa Swipes Right on Somatics, There’s a Match published by the North American dance magazine 'INDANCE'.
The continuation of this research was presented as a Lecture and physical practice, during a seminar at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and The University of Virginia’s Dance and Culture seminar (USA). My perspective taken in these lectures focused on collective Joy, ecstatic states and re-discovering spirituality, ancestral techniques which I believe have the potential to decolonise Contemporary Dance education. This notion is also supported by historian Barbara Ehrenrich, stated in Dancing in the Streets, a history of Collective joy (2007) and supported within the concept of “moving identities” researched by the Irish scholar Jenny Roche.
In collaboration with Linda Waldhoff, I co-developed the Connecting Communities Dance Project. This project began in 2019 in Lippstadt’s Werkstatt für Behinderte Lippstadt GmbH. The work centres on connecting persons in disability contexts to their social environment through choreographic movement scores and encouraging, uplifting activities.
Beyond my professional training and experience, the values I practice in my work come from my family and the culture I was raised in, their movement rituals, their sense of togetherness and celebration, even in the most troubling times. The memories of growing up in a context where dance is family inform my movement identity. They move with me in every dance.