I am an artist in the field of performing arts, especially dance and theater. My interests have always been to investigate, discover and create ways of expressing ourselves in movement, both on stage, in life and in the relationships that shape and build us both as human beings and as social artists.
I am interested in exchanging experiences and ways of thinking about movement in artistic actions that inter-react with what happens in diverse social and cultural contexts. I am intent on artistic research that denounces visible injustices in human relationships and which also reveals the unequal forms of colonization. Through artistic creations this will allow us to value our cultural differences.
Furthermore, I seek to communicate and find these forms of scenic construction in the spaces I inhabit by giving visibility to the imagery that as a woman, artist, citizen and human being demonstrate I have my personal, social, cultural and artistic history to be told and performed.”
Amalia Herrera
Master in Performing Arts, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, UNI RIO • Bachelor of Performing Arts, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, UNI RIO • Dancer, teacher, choreographer and researcher in theater, education and contemporary dance
Amalia Herrera has been working in the creation and research of movement for more than 25 years. After an education and master’s degree in performing arts in Brazil, Amalia developed a career in contemporary dance and theater collaborating with various international choreographers in Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Quito, Hasselt, and Maastricht.
Her experience in creating performances for dance-theater and film, as well as her experience in participatory multidisciplinary research projects have involved her in various artistic projects, leading her to live in Brazil, Ecuador and then to continue to develop her work in various European countries.
Recently (2024) she presented “Pachamama” performance (or: how some of you unexpectedly became a potato) . During the MuseumNacht, visitors were able to witness the performance of the Uruguayan artist, dancer and performer Amalia Herrera and the Dutch artist, performer and director Woody Richardson Laurens in Marres, Huis voor Hedendaagse Cultuur in Maastricht.
(2023) Direction of the play “Ubu Rey” by Alfred Jarry with students from Alles is Drama, International Association of Performing Arts at Maastricht University. Play presented at the Het Magisch Theatertje in Maastricht, Netherlands.
(2023) she participated in the International Physical Theater Laboratory and Conference organized by the New International Performing Arts Institute at Laubegg Castle in Austria together with artists, teachers, researchers, performers from various parts of the world. This event was supported by the Culture Moves Europe project and the Goethe Institute.
(2023) she presented “Lila” in Stanza Bookshop, The Hague, The Netherlands. In this performance, the dancer Amalia Herrera presents us a tribute to all those women who build us.
(2022) she participated in the concept, choreography and creation of the videodance “Soy Semilla”, directed by Lila Penagos. This work was selected to participate in the 2nd International Ecoperformance Festival held in Brazil, by the FRICC (Festivalito Rodante Internacional de CoreoCinema Uruguay) and also Dança em Foco Festival Internacional vídeo & dança, Brazil.
She also shared with prominent international artists the HET LAB – Artistic Exchange Laboratory with Akram Khan Company, run by rehearsal director Nico Ricchini in the city of Hasselt, Belgium.
She is currently a teacher of the dance and theater courses for Alles is Drama, Student Association of the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands.
She was selected as a live arts teacher within the Circulation of Teachers project of the National Institute of Performing Arts of Uruguay. As a conclusion to this project, she directed the Exhibitions open to the public at the Florencio Sánchez Theater and La Casa de la Pólvora, Cerro, Montevideo, Uruguay (2021,2022).
Amalia participated in the PUSH creation project for young audiences, together with 14 artists from Belgium, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark and Norway, in an artistic creation and reflection laboratory in Dublin on the idea of migration for children and adolescents.
She worked in Uruguay not only as a dancer and choreographer, but in areas of artistic education in schools and public educational institutions and also in the development of art projects in the interior of the country.
Furthermore, she has participated in the virtual InterNos Festival organized by Juan C. Tajes’ Microteatro Studio in the city of Amsterdam with the solo “Bach in the garden” (2020).
Also, she leads workshops, facilitates collaborative research and physical theater. Amalia recently participated in HET LAB Hasselt, Belgium working on the performance “Azul” for Krokusfestival (2019).
She directed and created “What comes from the river” with the Uruguayan dancer Mariana Torres, a performance presented at the aan Het Vrijth of AINSI Theater in the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands where she currently resides (2018).
Additionally, Amalia has participated in Labra-Danza 2017, an international residence of contemporary dance creators in the city of Maldonado, Uruguay with the Portuguese choreographer Miguel Pereira, and also in Colaboratorio 2017 in the city of Pamplona, Spain at the Huarte Center in conjunction with the DNA Festival of Contemporary Dance.
She directed and participated in the performance “Puente em construção” presented at the Cacilda Becker Theater in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, awarded by Iberescena Uruguay (2011) as well as participating in the film “Blindness” by Fernando Meirelles.
Amalia directed and performed the play “Um amor amarelo” together with the dancer Mariana Torres (Uruguay), presented at the Sala Zitarrosa Theater in Montevideo, Uruguay(2008).
She created the dance theater solo “Todo lo que no te digo” presented at the Sala Zitarrosa Theater in Montevideo, Uruguay (2004).
Amalia participated as an actress and dancer in the performance “Extrema Urgencia” directed by the choreographers Martín Inthamousu and Natalia Coirolo, with the support of the Uruguayan Dance Association (2003).
On top of this she won the award in the special category of the jury at the “Festival II apresente sua cena” for the solo “A flower that opens at night”, a creation of her own in the city of Niteroi, Brazil (2000).
She participated in the 1st Carioca Dance Circuit at the FINEP space in Rio de Janeiro with the Contemporary Dance Company Inversos.
Amalia participated as an actress / dancer in the performance “Bodas de Sangre” directed by the director and choreographer from Rio de Janeiro Denise Telles at the Laban Choreographic Theater Company of Rio de Janeiro (1998-1999). She has a degree in corporal mime from the Mimonaras Company of Uruguay with which she presented several performances in Montevideo (1995-1996).
Languages
Spanish • Portuguese • English
Skills
Theatre • Contemporary dance • Ballet • Pilates • Salsa • Aikido
Read my full CV [download pdf].