FESTIVAL VIDEODANZA DE PUERTO RICO



Scroll down to read all the bios in English [ENG] and Spanish [ESP




ANA SÁNCHEZ-COLBERG





[ENG] Founder and artistic director, Ana has been developing film and video work parallel to her work on stage, beginning with her collaboration with filmmaker Chris Clow in film and documentary projects that aimed to capture the intuitive and ephemeral moments that lead to works of dance. These include Mahler's fifths (2005) Holds No Memory (2005, stage 1) (2006 part 1, 2006 part 2), We: Implicated and Complicated (2007) and 45, 46, 47 The Unbearable (2010). Her current works include Love Letters to Ana (2020) selected for inclusion in the exhibition Coantivirus curated by NY20+ Nongyuan Culture in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, and is now part of the permanent collection of the channel Six Minutes Past Nine. It was an Official selection of Miami ScreenDance Festival in January 2021. 13 Variables [Now we are no longer who we were then- A dialogue with Jean Cocteau] was an Official Selection of Athens Digital Arts Festival (ADAF, 2020), an Official Selection of Miami ScreenDance Festival 2022 and an Official Selection of the Berlin International Art Film Festival and Amsterdam Indie Film Festival. The short film 13.13.13 Archaeology of a City has been recognised internationally, winner at the Berlin Indie Film Festival and Lift-Off Sessions 2022, Official selection of Niagara Shorts, LA Independent Women Film Awards, and Semi-Finalist at Florida Shorts Festival, among others. She is the author of the seminal critical essay on Bausch’s The Lament of The Empress, published as part of the publication Parallel Lines (1994), the first major collection of essays focussing on the genres of video dance and dance on film.


[ESP] Fundadora y Directora Artística del festival, coreógrafa puertorriqueña que trabaja a nivel internacional. Su trabajo en cine y vídeo se ha desarrollado de forma paralela a su trabajo en el escenario, empezando por su colaboración con el cineasta Chris Clow en proyectos cinematográficos y documentales que pretendían capturar los momentos intuitivos y efímeros que dan lugar a las obras de danza. Entre ellos se encuentran "Mahler's fifths" (2005), "Holds No Memory" (2005, stage 1), "2006 part 1", "2006 part 2", "We: Implicated and Complicated" (2007), y "45, 46, 47 The Unbearable". Sus trabajos actuales incluyen "Love Letters to Ana" (2020) fue seleccionada para formar parte de la exposición Coantivirus comisariada por NY20+ Nongyuan Culture en Chengdu, Sichuan, China. De allí pasó a formar parte de la colección permanente del canal Six Minutes Past Nine. También fue selección oficial del Miami ScreenDance Festival en enero de 2021. "13 Variables [Ahora ya no somos quienes éramos entonces- Un diálogo con Jean Cocteau]" fue Selección Oficial del Festival de Artes Digitales de Atenas (ADAF, 2020), Selección Oficial del Festival ScreenDance de Miami 2022 y Selección Oficial del Festival Internacional de Cine de Arte de Berlín y del Festival de Cine Indie de Ámsterdam. Más recientemente, el cortometraje "13.13.13 Archaeology of a City" ha sido ganador en el Festival de Cine Indie de Berlín y Lift-Off Sessions 2022, selección oficial de Niagara Shorts, LA Independent Women Film Awards, y semifinalista en el Florida Shorts Festival, entre otros. Es autora del importante ensayo crítico sobre "The Lament of The Empress" de Bausch, incluido en la publicación Parallel Lines (1994), la primera colección de ensayos centrada en los géneros de la videodanza y la danza en pantalla.



LYDIA "PUCHI" PLATÓN





[ENG] Lydia Platón Lázaro, Ph.D. is an independent professor, curator, writer, performer, cultural producer, and promoter. She is part of the work group of Taller Comunidad la Goyco, a community collective, developing cultural projects for peaceful co-habitation in the Machuchal neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She received an Andy Warhol Curatorial Research Fellowship (2019) for her project Novenario (MAC MUSEUM, SJ,PR), a reflection on the arts and mourning practices in contemporary art of Puerto Rico, stemming from the Hurricane María experience. She hosted a curatorial platform at Taller Comunidad la Goyco, called: “Nos conocimos en los 90” with the Puerto Rico Arts Initiative, a Mellon Foundation and University of Austin, and Northwestern University funded project. Her publications include Defiant Itineraries: Caribbean Paradigms in American Dance and Film (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015); Ecos Huecos (La Impresora, 2021) and articles about Dance, Theater, and Performance in journals and anthologies, such as "Screaming Soundscapes: The Sounds of Puerto Rican Contemporary Performance in the Work of Teresa Hernández and Ivette Román” Writing the Body; Staging the Other.(Macfarland press, Brynn Shiovits Ed., 2018) and, “The Possible from the Unknown: Transformations in the Present-Present of Improvisation.” Inhabiting the Impossible, Dance and Experimentation in Puerto Rico (University of Michigan Press, Susan Homar and Nibia Pastrana, Ed., 2023).


[ESP] Lydia Platón Lázaro, Ph.D. es profesora independiente, curadora, escritora, performer, productora cultural y promotora. Forma parte del grupo de trabajo del Taller Comunidad la Goyco, un Centro comunitario y cultural para la convivencia pacífica en Machuchal, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Obtuvo una beca Andy Warhol Curatorial Research Fellowship (2019) por su proyecto Novenario (Museo MAC, SJ,PR), una reflexión sobre las artes y las prácticas de duelo en el arte contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, derivado del huracán María María. Fue anfitriona de una plataforma curatorial en el Taller Comunidad la Goyco, llamada: «Nos conocimos en los 90» con la Iniciativa de las Artes de Puerto Rico, un proyecto financiado por la Fundación Mellon, la Universidad de Austin y Northwestern University. Entre sus publicaciones figuran Defiant Itineraries: Caribbean Paradigms in American Dance and Film (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015); Ecos Huecos (La Impresora, 2021) y artículos sobre Danza, Teatro y Performance en revistas y antologías, como «Screaming Soundscapes: The Sounds of Puerto Rican Contemporary Performance in the Work of Teresa Hernández and Ivette Román» Writing the Body; Staging the Other.(Macfarland press, Brynn Shiovits Ed., 2018) y, “The Possible from the Unknown: Transformations in the Present-Present of Improvisation”. Inhabiting the Impossible, Dance and Experimentation in Puerto Rico (University of Michigan Press, Susan Homar y Nibia Pastrana, Ed., 2023).





JAVIER DE FRUTOS





[ENG] Javier De Frutos, acclaimed Latinx director, choreographer and designer (born in Caracas, Venezuela) whose work extends across multiple arts disciplines – dance, installation, film, and music theatre. He was named one of the most influential people in the UK by the Evening Standard in 2016. In addition, he is one of only three artists in the history of the Olivier Awards to have received nominations in all dance categories. His awards include the 2007 Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreography for CABARET, the 2011 Evening Standard Award for THE MOST INCREDIBLE THING (in collaboration with Pet Shop Boys), two 2005 Critics Circle Awards for MILAGROS (Royal New Zealand Ballet) and ELSA CANASTA (Rambert and Scottish Ballet), the 2004 Time Out Award for SOUR MILK (Candoco Dance Company), the 1997 South Bank Show award for GRASS, and the Prix de Auteur in the 1996 Concours de Seine-Saint Denis in Paris. His work in film has been recipient of awards and recognitions including a nomination for best choreography from the 2012 UK Music Video Awards for his collaboration with Jake Nava in Delilah’s INSIDE MY LOVE. Most recently, two of his short films THE BURNING BUILDING and WHOEVER YOU ARE have been internationally recognised in several film festivals, gathering an impressive list of accolades including Best Indie, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. De Frutos is currently in development on a stage adaptation of Daniel Karslake’s seminal documentaries FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO & FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. Here he is seen in his most recent success, the award of Best Experimental Short Film for WHOEVER YOU ARE at the Indie X Film Festival at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood.


[ESP] Aclamado Latinx director, coreógrafo y diseñador (nacido en Caracas, Venezuela) cuyo trabajo abarca múltiples disciplinas artísticas: danza, instalación, cine y teatro musical. Fue nombrado una de las personas más influyentes del Reino Unido por el Evening Standard en 2016. Su trabajo en el cine y artes digitales ha sido galardonado con múltiples premios y reconocimientos, incluyendo nominación a la mejor coreografía de los premios UK Music Video 2012 por su colaboración con Jake Nava en INSIDE MY LOVE de Delilah. Recientemente, dos de sus cortometrajes THE BURNING BUILDING y WHOEVER YOU ARE han sido reconocidos internacionalmente en varios festivales de cine, reuniendo una impresionante lista de galardones que incluyen Mejor Película Experimental, Mejor Director y Mejor Guión Adaptado. De Frutos se encuentra actualmente en desarrollo de una adaptación teatral de los documentales de Daniel Karslake PORQUE LA BIBLIA ME LO DICE Y PORQUE NO SABEN LO QUE HACEN.



AWILDA RODRÍGUEZ LORA





[ENG] Awilda Rodríguez Lora is a remarkable queer woman artist and culture manager whose transdisciplinary performances challenge prevailing notions of gender, sexuality, and self-determination. Harnessing the mediums of movement, video, and sound to explore the intricate terrain of the "economy of the body", Awilda daringly brings the private into the public sphere as a strategy to humanize the experience of art consumption. Born in Mexico, raised in Puerto Rico, and working across North and South America and the Caribbean, Rodríguez Lora's performances traverse a rich tapestry of geographic histories and realities. Her work fosters progressive dialogues concerning the enduring legacies of hemispheric colonialism and the fluid boundaries of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Awilda has been welcomed in several Artist Talks and Residences at esteemed institutions such as the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD), the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Dance Center, and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). Nominated for a US Artist Fellowship in New York, she possesses a vast academic experience and has issued several publications and catalogues. Founding collaborator of La Rosario in Santurce, she dedicates herself to her life project; La Mujer Maravilla, while serving as the Academic Leader for the Dance Program at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico. With over a decade of experience as an artist, curator, mentor, and academic leader, she remains committed to exploring how artistic economies can be harnessed to support alternative ways of life rooted in community, creativity, and social justice.


[ESP] Awilda Rodríguez Lora es una destacada artista y gestora cultural queer cuyas actuaciones transdisciplinarias desafían las nociones prevalentes de género, sexualidad y autodeterminación. Aprovechando el movimiento, video y sonido para explorar el intrincado terreno de la "economía del cuerpo", Awilda traslada audazmente lo privado a la esfera pública como estrategia para humanizar la experiencia del consumo de arte. Nacida en México, criada en Puerto Rico y habiendo trabajado en América del Norte, del Sur y el Caribe, las actuaciones de Rodríguez Lora conforman un rico tapiz de historias y realidades geográficas. Su trabajo fomenta diálogos progresistas sobre los legados duraderos del colonialismo hemisférico y las fronteras fluidas de raza, género, clase y sexualidad. Awilda ha sido bienvenida en varias charlas de artistas y residencias en instituciones tan reconocidas como la Academia de Artes y Danza del Bronx (BAAD), el Instituto de Arte de Chicago, el Centro de Danza del Columbia College y la Universidad de Michigan (Ann Arbor). Nominada a U.S. Artist Fellowship en Nueva York, posee una vasta experiencia académica y cuenta con varias publicaciones y catálogos. Fundadora de La Rosario en Santurce, se dedica a su proyecto de vida: La Mujer Maravilla, mientras se desempeña como Líder Académica del Programa de Danza de la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón en San Juan, Puerto Rico. Con más de una década de experiencia como artista, curadora, mentora y líder académica, sigue comprometida a explorar cómo aprovechar las economías artísticas para apoyar formas de vida alternativas arraigadas en la comunidad, la creatividad y la justicia social.







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