Viveca Vázquez is a Puerto Rican

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

, performance artist, and

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contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. In 1979, she co-founded Pisotón, the first

experimental dance Intelligent dance music (commonly abbreviated as IDM) is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints.''"…the label 'IDM' (for avant-garde, 'intel ...

group in Puerto Rico and, shortly after, Taller de Otra Cosa, of which she became the first director. Vázquez has produced and performed experimental dance events in countries including the

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, and

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. In 2013,

Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art The Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art, often abbreviated to MAC, is a contemporary art museum in Santurce, Puerto Rico. History The museum was founded by artists and sponsors of the civil society and was officially instituted on October ...

hosted a 30-year retrospective of Vázquez's work.

Biography

Vázquez trained at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, where she explored the "geographical schizophrenia of many Puerto Rican New Yorkers by dividing her time between the island" and the

. In 1979, she co-founded Pisotón, the first

group of Puerto Rico and, shortly after, Taller de Otra Cosa, of which she became the first director. Through the Taller de Otra Cosa

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

she presented her choreographic work and produced events such as ''Rompeforma'' (co-produced and co-directed with Merián Soto), a key festival in the development of the experimental dance scene in Puerto Rico. Her work examines "human relationships" and has been noted for using "fragmented movement in conceptually risky ways." Since 1984, Vázquez has produced and performed experimental dance events in the United States,

, and

, among other places. As a teacher she has developed a

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and Developmental psychology, psychological development of le ...

model based on body conscience and improvisation. In 2013,

hosted a 30-year retrospective of Vázquez's work entitled ''Choreography of Error: CONDUCT''. For the exhibitions concluding performance, ''This is NOT a Viveca Vásquez piece/ Esto NO es una pieza de Viveca Vázquez,'' Vásquez engaged with elements from her prior work in a guided choreographed work performed throughout the museum. In 2018, Vásquez participated as a mentor in a

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initiative to rebuild arts programs in Puerto Rico following

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

, alongside other Puerto Rican artists including Awilda Sterling-Duprey. The initiative was funded by a $500,000 grant from the

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pitts ...

List of works

* Choreography of Error: CONDUCT (2013) * Mascando Inglés (2007) * Maroma Nada That Ver (Composiciones Escénicas Sobre el Yo) (2006) * Plagio (2004) * ¡Uy! Opera of Terror (2003) * The Película Extranjera (1999) * Riversa (1997) * Miss Puerto Rico o The Isla That Replaces (1996) * Kan't Translate / Tradúcelo (1992) * Malajuste Sui-We (1990) * Gente o Agent Tower of Fuerza (1988)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vázquez, Viveca Living people Puerto Rican dancers Year of birth missing (living people)