Who are we?
This is dantzaz
Dantzaz is team
At Dantzaz, we have a stable team of coordination, production, artistic direction and communication, and a parallel structure called Batzarra, which acts as a “council of sages” that guides our momentous decisions. In addition, we recognise that our performers are fundamental and support them in their personal and professional development to carry out our productions and residencies successfully. We strive to create a respectful and collaborative working environment that fosters their creativity and enables them to reach their full potential on stage.
Performers
Antonio Javier Aguilera Rodríguez
«We all want to be heard but dance has no ears.»
He was born in Barcelona in 2001. His interest in the body begins at the age of 8 with martial arts, trying different branches until he was 16 years old. Afterwards he starts to investigate from theatre for three years and a few months after applying to acting school, he decides to change his route and enters Fine Arts at the University of La Laguna. Here he specialises in the branch of contemporary art, and in the meantime he starts training urban dance. In the third year of her degree he begins his studies in contemporary dance, training at the Victoria Theatre for two years in classical and contemporary dance, and at the same time forming part of the Bloque Formativo and the Nómada Jóven Company. He has also taken part in various workshops related to contemporary dance and performance.
Maialen Alberro Peralta
«Dance for me is a meditation where I can find a state of presence that fulfills me and allows me to connect to myself and others in a special and a deep way»
Maialen Alberro was born in San Sebastian in 1998. She started her dance studies here in Anaiak Egia and continued her formation in the Ana Laguna Professional Dance School in Burgos. When she graduated in 2020, she joined Korpo Dance Project based in Barcelona. In 2022 Maialen joined Kamea Dance Company in Israel for the 2023-2024 season. In April of 2024 Maialen returned to San Sebastián and joined Dantzaz as a member of the company.
Oihane Aramendia
«Dance is my way of being and living, it is the path I have chosen, my language and learning»
I am Oihane and I was born in Donostia in 2003. I began my training in classical and contemporary dance at Studio 84. From 2017 to 2021 I continued my professional dance training at the José Uruñuela Conservatory in Vitoria. After, I studied 1 year at the English National Ballet School. For a year I worked with the classical and contemporary company Ballet do Douro. Between 2023/24 I have done two tours with the International Classical Ballet of Ukraine company and I have also worked with the Kon Mocion company. I have started with Dantzaz in April 2024.
Nerea Bakero
«We are born with a body that, at the mercy of dance, transforms space, time, those who move it and those who observe it»
Born in Irun in 2000, she began her training in classical dance at the Municipal School of Irun and then went on to combine different styles such as urban and contemporary dance. From 2018 to 2022, she entered the Escuela Profesional de Danza de Castilla y León, in Burgos, and graduated with a specialisation in contemporary dance. After training and participating in creations with distinguished choreographers, she joined Dantzaz in 2023.
Jacopo Bellani
«For me, dance is freedom, artistic expression that fuses body and music. And the stage is where the dancer expresses his art, creating an emotional link between him and the spectators.»
Born in Trieste in 1999, however, he begins his dance studies in Olbia (Sardinia, Italy), where he lives until the age of 20. In 2019 he enters the ZHdK Art University Zurich, where he begins his journey with contemporary dance. He finishes his studies in 2023 after a one-year internship at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven in Germany. He then starts his life as a freelance dancer for small projects while continuing his training in Reggio Emilia at Agora Coaching Project. He joins Dantzaz in 2024.
Enrico Benedet
«The dance shows every little nuance of who we really are.»
Enrico Benedet, born in Biella (Italy) in 2002, started dancing at the age of six. He studied and completed his training at Ekodance from 2018 to 2022 and participated in its company under the direction of Pompea Santoro in Turin during 2023-2024. In 2024, he collaborates with Roberta Ferrara’s company Equilibrio Dinamico and joins Dantzaz in September 2024.
Efrén Colomer Pérez
«When I dance I express the depths of my soul, is what I turn to when I feel that the world is falling apart»
Born in Palencia in 2001. He graduated with a speciality in classical dance from the Castilla y León Professional Dance Conservatory in Valladolid. In 2022 he was part of Valencia Dancing Forward (VDF). In January 2023 he entered the África Guzmán Dance Project (AGDP).
Olatz Egia Canton
«Dance is, among other things, home to contradictions. It is the most humble, fierce, sensitive, voracious, honest and vulnerable act.»
Olatz was born in Donostia in 2001. She discovers contemporary dance at the Escuela de Música y Danza de Donostia and continues her studies for another year at the Escuela Profesional de Danza Ana Laguna, in Burgos. In 2020 she moved to Copenhagen to continue her training and after graduating she took part in several projects in Sweden and Denmark, with ILdance and CPH arts collective. She joins Dantzaz in 2024.
Clara Esteban
«I love dance in all its forms. But not only dance; dance, people, teachers, growing, maturing, sharing and learning»
Born in China in 2004 and graduated from the Escuela Profesional de danza de Valladolid (2022). During this period she also worked as a dancer and actress in the Musical Billy Elliot and in several TV series in Madrid. After completing her training, she did an internship with the Thüringer Staatsballett company in Germany. In 2023, she works with Opera Zuid in a new production touring the Netherlands. In 2023 she joins Dantzaz.
Aitzol Iraola
«I find in movement the sense of my body and it is wonderful to find new senses every day.»
Aitzol Iraola was born in Sopela in 2002. He starts doing theatre at Utopía in Getxo and later he gets to know the world of dance at the Andoni Aresti Dance School. He completes his theatre studies at Dantzerti, the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático y Danza de Euskadi, while continuing to work on movement and dance with various professionals. In 2023 he creates the personal project ZIRRIBORRO in which he works on movement research and in 2024 he joins Dantzaz.
Joana Ouret
«Dance gives me the opportunity to discover myself, build relationships and gain self-confidence. For me, dance means open-mindedness, creativity and freedom.»
She was born in 2003 and lives in Ustaritz in Iparralde. She started Basque dance at the age of 6 in the Ustaritz group. Then she continued in several groups until I was 16, when she discovered contemporary dance thanks to the Zabala module at the Bayonne Conservatoire. She went on to study contemporary dance at the conservatoire, while taking part in Basque dance projects and shows. At the same time, she did 12 years of competitive artistic gymnastics. After graduating as a nurse, she auditioned to join Dantzaz and devote herself fully to dance.
Yaiza Vela
«With dance I manage to distort the limits between the mind and the body»
She was born in Pamplona in 2002. There she began studying basic dance at the Escuela Navarra de Danza. At the beginning she emphasised classical dance in her studies. However, at the age of 17 she discovered contemporary dance and in 2020 she entered the Escuela Profesional de Danza de Castilla y León in Burgos. Currently she has graduated in the speciality of Contemporary Dance.
Staff
Fernando Saenz de Ugarte
General manager, responsible for the Think Tanz area and the network and projects area
An eclectic cultural manager, Fernando Sáenz de Ugarte has extensive experience in environmental education projects, socio-cultural and socio-educational animation or human rights at an international level. During the last 25 years, he has focused his career on the performing arts sector and has been part of Teatro Paraíso, has directed the Barañáin Auditorium in Navarra for ten years and has been part of the board of directors of La Red Española de Teatros, Public Auditoriums, Networks, Circuits and Festivals. Read more…
He joined Dantzaz in 2012, assuming the restructuring and consolidation of the company and incorporating lines of work from innovation and collaborative work. It designs the annual processes of choreographic creation and production and is responsible for the launch of “Think Tanz”, an innovation laboratory that links choreographic creation with other business sectors such as tourism, hospitality, industry, sports or education. Likewise, he has promoted various mediation strategies carried out by Dantzaz in recent years that are opening new paths, and have become transversal pieces for the creation processes of Dantzaz. He accompanies the entrepreneurial processes of Dantzaz performers and other dance professionals related to Dantzaz and Dantzagunea. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Eskena and an academic of the Performing Arts of Spain, as well as a member of the Basque Council of Culture.
Adriana Pous
Artistic director, Ballet Master and responsible for artistic accompaniment
Her experience as a dancer has been forged in Europe and South America sharing the stage with artists from the projection of Nureyev, Makarova or Bujones, among others. She has been leading the Dantzaz project since 2002, giving young European dancers the opportunity to gain stage experience through creations, productions and tours. Leer más…
She teaches classes and workshops in the company and has been invited to participate as a jury in national and international dance events. As artistic director of the company, she has accompanied 60 productions for two decades and is responsible for the selection of choreographers invited to create for Dantzaz and for the coordination of these reception and residency processes with institutions around the world such as Korzo (Holland) , Dance Base (Great Britain), Danish Dance Theater (Denmark), Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Quebec (Canada) or Plesni Teater Ljubljana (Slovenia).
Bertha Bermúdez
Project development and documentation manager
After a career as a dancer with choreographers of the prestige of Maurice Bejart, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Rui Horta, Paul Solvin Norton, Gregory Colbert and Emio Greco| Pieter C. Scholten, Bermúdez directs his professional career towards the field of transmission, research and documentation of dance, coordinating and directing various mediation and study projects for the ICK Amsterdam Choreographic Center, Amsterdam Hoogschool, the Music and Arts Archive Performing arts from Navarra, Gipuzkoako Dantzagunea and Dantzaz. Leer más…
He collaborates closely with different European research groups focused on the analysis of dance, documentation and digital media and has worked, since 2016, in Dantzaz from the coordination of the Red Atalak project, in the development of projects and in the accompaniment of choreographers and choreographers.
Iker Bengotxea
Responsible for the administration area
Curious specimen in whose cultural trajectory he has had to be immersed in the dark world of numbers, accounting, invoices and justifications, and on stage in his work as an actor and singer. Such an unusual profile helps us break the usual barrier between offices and stages, achieving the necessary empathy and understanding of those on one side and the other. Leer más…
Trained in Business Sciences and Cultural Management (Master in Direction and Management of Cultural and Creative Industries from the Miguel de Cervantes European University), he joined the Navarra Theater Network in 2018, where he launched the Performing Arts Circuit. As a result of this work, he became a sporadic advisor to the culture team of the Government of Navarra and managed some of its programs, such as 948C / Kultura. In parallel, he becomes part of the Dantzaz team to contribute to improving and professionalising the entity’s financial management.
Sofía Alforja
Coordinator of Dantzagunea
Trained at the Navarra Theater School in 1988, she received a scholarship to study production at the Albeniz Theater in Madrid together with Teresa Valentin. After developing her internship at the National Center for New Trends in Madrid, directed by Guillermo Heras, she produced different shows for the Basque companies Bederen-1 and Tanttaka. Leer más…
In 1991, she worked as technical coordinator of the Auditorium of La Cartuja (EXPO’92) during the Pre-Expo, and in 1992 she was production coordinator of the STREET ANIMATION programme for the company HISPANO’92 at EXPO’92 (Seville).
From 1993 to 1995, he was the production manager of the different shows produced by ARTESZENA, Teatro Público de Gipuzkoa, associated until 2000 with the production of the Maiatza Dantzan festival of the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa.
From 1995 to 2000, she worked in the Quincena Musical de Donostia production department.
From 1998 to 2002, she worked in the production department of Zinemaldi, the Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival.
From 2003 to 2014, she was production manager at Dantzaz.
Since 2015, she coordinates Dantzagunea, the Dance House of Gipuzkoa.
Ainhoa Uribarri
Communication and management
Born in Gasteiz, she has always been interested in the world of dance. She started doign Basque dance as a child, at school, then continuing at the Folklore Academy in Gasteiz and Jare dantza taldea.
Her carrer, however, has followed a different path. She has a bachelor’s degree in Audiovisual Communication and a master’s degree in Cultural Management.
After working at several companies and festivals, she has combined her interest for dance and the knowledge acquired during her career, and is now in charge of communications at Dantzaz, also participating in the management of european projects.
Laura G. Latasa
‘Mediaciones’
Born in Bilbao, Laura began her professional dance training at the Escuela Superior de Danza de Euskadi, Dantzerti. After two years, she decided to continue her career at the Centro Andaluz de Danza in Seville. In 2020 she joins Dantzaz, where for three years she has had the opportunity to participate in different creative processes working with choreographers such as Gil Harush, Hilde Koch, Carmen Larraz and Giovanni Insaudo among others. In addition, as a performer, she has been in projects of MDV Danza and Eva Guerrero and currently co-directs her own dance collective, Diskordia Kolektiboa, with Iñigo Rementeria.Leer más…
In 2021 she starts to be part of the ‘mediaciones’ team of Dantzaz, being able to bring dance to different contexts and realities. At the same time, she studies Social Education at the UNED, which has helped her to complement and enrich the necessary tools as a mediator. She has also taught dance classes to all ages in Bilbao, Seville and now in San Sebastian.
Batzarra
The Batzarra meaning in Basque designates the assembly, the meeting… in general, of people whose knowledge and experience illuminate and accompany a community. In Dantzaz, our batzarra has been accompanying us since our beginnings and is made up of people of great wisdom such as:
Iñaki Arregi Artano
President
With a degree in Economics and Business Sciences, he has linked his professional career to the field of technology, first at the multinational Bull and then at the Entelgy company until his retirement in 2019. Fascinated by dance since he was young, he was part of the Lizar-Makil group of Andoain, de Goizaldi and the Argia group, where he participated as a dantzari and dance teacher in different projects led by J.A. Urbeltz. Also interested in classical and contemporary dance, he joined the Batzarra of Dantzaz in 2010.
Jon Bagüés Erriondo
Secretary
Degree in Art History (1977) and Doctorate (1990). He studied Archives and Documentation in Madrid (1982-83), as well as musical studies at the conservatories of Donostia, Barcelona and Madrid. He is the author of two monographs and more than 60 articles on music history and music documentation. He was the first president of the Spanish Association for Music Documentation, a branch of the International Association of Music Libraries, of which he was also vice president. After twenty years as director of ERESBIL, the Basque Music Archive, he retired in 2020. He founded the early music group Capilla Peñaflorida in 1985.
Xabier Zaldua Olabeaga
Financial secretary
He is a journalist; firstly on the radio (1976, SER Donostia), but mainly for Euskal Telebista. Since its inaugural broadcast (1982), he participated in all kinds of programmes, both in front of and behind the camera, until his retirement. For four years, he worked in the publishing sector (ELKAR). As a child, he met the ANEXA group, a pioneer of contemporary dance, when they were called “experimental”. He learned traditional Basque dances, first with GOIZALDI, and then with KRESALA, during Gene Yurre’s time. For the last ten years, he has been a member of the board of DANTZAZ.
Andoni Mutiloa
He is a journalist and creator. He took his first steps in Basque dance at the school of Juanito Sanchiz (Hernani). As a teenager, he entered Eskola Dantza Taldea, where he spent almost 15 years. He studied journalism (Leioa, UPV) and worked as an editor in different ETB programs. From 2001 to 2007 he was a radio announcer for Gaztea. He later joined Euskadi Irratia and was editor and presenter of several programs for eight years. In 2017 he decided to take a leave of absence from Euskadi Irratia, and since then he has focused his activity as a creator on the performing arts. Recently, he created the “Esnatu Naiz” cabaret.
Camila de Epalza Azqueta
With a degree in Sociology and Political Science, specialising in Political Sociology from the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), and a Post-Graduate Diploma in European Affairs and International Relations, and after 6 years working for the United Nations (UNICEF Costa Rica, and UNDP Guinea-Bissau), Camila de Epalza has been a member of the technical team of the Basque Government’s Delegation to the European Union since 2004. As a Higher Technician in External Action, she focuses on European policies in the field of education and specialisation; cultural and creative sectors and industries; development cooperation and international agendas; along with advising agents, socio-economic stakeholders and Basque public authorities on those policies, and building bridges with European partners and opening up opportunities on the European agenda. By way of example, she collaborates with and forms part of the Basque KIC EIT, along with being on the “Creative Euskadi” steering group of the PCTI (Basque Country’s Science, Technology and Innovation Plan 2030) and KSIGUNE. She co-lead the European Regional Initiative for Culture and Creativity (RICC) network and is involved in the initiatives that the European Commission drives as part of the Pact4Skills.
Oskia Ugarte Abarzuza
She holds a degree in Art History from the University of the Basque Country and is an expert in cultural production from the point of view of feminist criticism. She works in the direction, coordination and support of contemporary art projects on issues such as feminism, territory, located knowledge and collective practices. Since 2016, she has run the Huarte Center, in a direction initially shared with three other agents of the artistic community and now alone. She has work in curatorship, communication, cultural management and exhibition coordination with institutions such as the Oteiza Museum, the Kubo Hall of the Kursaal or the Moisés Pérez de Albéniz Gallery.
In 2011 she created, alongside four other creators, the collective and creative space Sala de máquinas. She is head of art section of the UEU (Basque Summer University) and the delegation of the IAC (Institute of Contemporary Art) in Navarre. In addition, she has been the scientific director of the Cultural Rights: Policies for Participation and Governance project. at Eusko Ikaskuntza. She has participated in juries and commissions such as the advisory commission for the purchase of works for the collection of the Government of Navarre, the Department of Public Works of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Basque Government’s Sorgune or the Babestu grants of Azkuna Zentroa.