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.
Staff
Adriana Pous
Co-director, 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
Co-director, 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.
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.
Laura G. Latasa
Mediation
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.
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.
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.
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.