Ana Continente
Dancer, Choreographer and Teacher
In my
training as a self-taught artist and dancer
I have always sought to integrate the diverse performing arts and
techniques and disciplines that no single school could offer.
I studied
theatre with Jaques Lecoq in Paris and took various classes with
masters such as Lee Strasberg. I took lessons in the Alexander
technique and I trained as a voice artist at the Escuela Sincrotake in
Zaragoza. I have worked as an actress with theatre companies such as Teatro del
Alba and El Silbo Vulnerado.
For many
years I studied contemporary dance with Paul Grey Watts from the
Alvin Ailey Company, with Anne Mielhorse (Graham), Gerald Collins (Limón) and Carolyn
Carlson. I took classical ballet dance classes with Emilia Bailo
at her studio in Zaragoza. I delved into the art of flamenco dance with
Antonio Canales and “el bailaor” Jesús Rondeño. In Senegal I studied african
dance with Germain Lacogny,
Mamadou Fall and Karo Diallo and was a dancer of the Senegalese band Makumba Beat.
In this
physical, mental and spiritual quest of mine the practice of yoga makes
the transformation of body and mind complete, all of which has lead to a very
personal movement style seeking to express the truth hidden beneath a
trained body and mind.
I have been
working as a teacher for over 12 years, teaching workshops not only in Spain
but also Brazil, South Korea and Finland.
For many
years I was part of the dance company ABCDanza until I founded my own
dance company in 2005 - Ana Continente Danza.
Currently
we are touring with our new performance RETRATO
REVELADO.
Teaser:
The answer is unity
Being aware
of your thoughts and transform them into
movement, analyze movement in
order to master it, these are my goals. Technical perfection is just a means to
unveil your soul. In my work improvisation is the main creative force as it
helps me break the limits and develop a more authentic movement.
Since dance
as a purely stylized exercise doesn't interest me, I tend to merge dance
techniques with tools of the theatre art such as character interpretation as
they connect movement to the will to express the
primordial. Dance is the quality and execution of movement while theatre is the
means by which they materialize on stage to express our innermost truth. When I
speak of quality I mean intensity, rhythm, mood, accent, harmony, prosody,
acceleration, pauses, symmetry and dissonance of the movement.
When I
dance or when I create a choreography I am very much interested in the relation
with the performing space, the music and the audience as emotional and rational
stimuli.
African
dance has been very important in my pursuit of meaningful movement since it
opened a door to spirituality and put me in contact with parts or my interior
that had been locked away and blocked by culture and education. It helped me
unblock my nervous system and get through to the sensitivity and awareness of
the body and the space that surrounds it.
