Chunks of my personal story 

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I was born in Campo Mourão, Paraná, South-Brazil. In 1998 I started officially dancing, in a culture strongly oriented by "girls dance, boys play football". Besides that, football was in fact a huge passion. I was training weekly and going to competitions with the local team. At the age of 15 i had an appointment with both teams, the dance and the football. My father and friends wish I had chosen for the football of course, and I didn't. Although I loved football, movement as an art form had already awaked something beyond inside my heart.

 

In 2005 i was invited to be a treinee at VERVE COMPANY (www.verve.art.br). It was in this periode that I discovered the deeper meanings of dance and performance in my life. Verve was my first professional experience as dancer and interpret-creator. After my first tour i realised that that was what i wanted to do for the rest of my life. After a year of traineeship, through the guidance of Fernado Nunes and Mariusa Bregoli, I integrated the company, becoming part of their new creative process 'Feique - Em gum Lugar, porem aqui'. Where I learned to create and abstract a character, act and perform theater without words. Suddenly I was travelling around Brazil and South-America still very young at the age of 19,  learning with more experienced people, and dreaming big. Besides the company, i had my own amateur group, where I taught classes and created dance shows twice a year in the local theater. Slowly i began to discover my style, resulting from my experiences at the physical-theater company and my urban dance vocabulary.

 

  

Moving to The Netherlands

In 2009 - because my mom bravely opened the ways - I decided to move to Amsterdam. My plan was to meet a new culture, learn english, meet dancers, and just like any of us I just wanted to expand my experience of the world. My mom was living in there, and I as a Brazilian that loves adventures and is always looking for opportunities I didn't think twice before selling my motorbike, buying the tickets and saying: see you later Brazil. In love with life - and by the way with a dutch girl called Linda Wassink - I went back to Brazil to fix my visa and come back to The Netherlands for good! Meanwhile I moved to Curitiba, in the south of Brazil. There I enrolled for a periode at FAP - Arts University of Paraná (www.fap.pr.gov.pr). I was so grateful to have had the chance to learn with great inspiring people when it comes to a more progressive approach in dance, like Marilla Veloso. It was the first year FAP presented a new program, so I was lucky to enter in the right moment. It was a short but intense periode of learning, living with friends in a student three floor house, and practicing a lot with my best friend, amazing artist Ryan Lebrao.

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In july of 2011 I finally got my visa and moved to The Netherlands! In the first 6 months i lived in a Apeldoorn, a small village in the center of the country. Quite a conservative town, and it worked well for my integration since i had to learn the dutch language. I learnt a lot with my step-father Jan Wassink. However that was not my place and 6 months later my girlfriend and I moved to Amsterdam - where i finally got in touch with my friends again. It wasn't such a smooth transition because everything restarted from zero, but luckily we found a lovely temporary place at Jordaan. 

 

                                                                                         

Entrepreneurship

In 2012 I started my own organization, Lovers of Movement. In the first year i rented a gallery in the center of Amsterdam where i managed to set up classes, jam sessions and workshops. In july of the same year Bboy Neguin (Brazil) and Amy Secada (New York) gave a workshop followed by a performance evening and a party. I discovered that organising events with educational and artistic purposes takes a lot of energy but it makes me feel very fulfilled. I did it for two years and learned more about production and community. I love facilitating, bringing people together and celebrating life. Although I have stopped for moment because of my studie, I'm now graduated and feeling excited about who I'm becoming and who knows the new session, workshops and performances I'm organising in Amsterdam.

                                                         

                                                               

Internship in Indonesia

As part of my internship I've recently spent three months in Indonesia, passing through Java and then Bali. In Solo, Java I was practicing with Suprapto Suryadarmo - founder of Amerta Movement - and doing research while writing my thesis on 'Dance and Spirituality'. In Bali I studied Yoga, Capoeira and Movement with Sugeng Madeira and I could also share my practices with the community over there at Yoga Barn, Ubud - Bali. This was so far the most inspirational time of my life, because I was living completely alone, practicing with inspiring people, in a culture that has so much to teach me about basic knowledges we somehow must re-member.

 

 

Currently

Currently as a performer part of 'THE GOLDFISH COLLECTIVE'. I'm actively teaching classes and coaching at Fontys Arts Academy, Tilburg. At Chasse Studios and at Dance Connects Community,Amsterdam. Besides I have just graduated in the Performing Arts program SNDO (School for new dance development) at AHK Amsterdam School of Arts - www.ahk.nl. I have two artistic practices that I do: one is connected to movement and dancing, and the other is writing, storytelling and embodiment of stories. 

 

If you like to have me teaching workshops or performing contact me through: diegoliveira.dance@gmail.com

 

MY INSTAGRAM IS: diego_omflow