Luis Lara Malvacías
2012 Solo Choreographer
Photo credit: Jeremy Nelson
Commissioned by Amy Behm-Thomson
Born in Venezuela, Luis Lara Malvacías is a choreographer, dancer, designer and visual artist based in New York. He is a graduate of the Instituto Superior de Danza in Caracas, Venezuela, and became a member of the companyEspacio Alterno, dancing in the works of David Zambrano, Jeremy Nelson and Mark Tompkins among others.
As a dancer in New York, he performed in the work of Jeremy Nelson (1994 - 2007) and also danced for Yoshiko Chuma, Marguerita Guergue and in his own work. Performing with the John Jasperse Company at the Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Bagnolet in Paris in 1996, he won the Group Performance Award. As a choreographer, he has presented and performed his work in several dance venues in New York and in several countries in South America, Europe and Asia. His choreographic work is presented now under Luis Lara Malvacías/ 3rd Class Citizen. He has also created work for repertory companies in Venezuela, Italy and the USA and for students at Texas Christian University, Stephen's College, University of Madison , SEAD - Salzburg, the NSCD in Leeds, England and The School of Modern Dance in Copenhagen.
He has created several touring performances -installations projects that involve his interest in collaborative multi cultural and multi-disciplinary projects presented in no- conventional spaces. In 2000 at the Asyl Gallery-NY, he presented Purchase, an interactive performance installation, that challenged the usual perspective of viewer and performer; the audience has the opportunity of choosing the dancer(s)-set-music-costumes and seeing their own performances in a chosen installation space.
He was a 1998/1999 and 2002/2003 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. He has also being in creative residences at Le Pacific in Grenoble and Labor Gras, Berlin.He has received support for the creation of his work from, among others the MAP Rockefeller Funds and The Jerome Foundation, and was the recipient of a 2006 NYFA Fellowship for choreography. He holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in New Media.
His teaching activities include Movement Research, DNA and The Greenspan Center in New York and several colleges and universities in the USA. Internationally he has taught in: Japan at the Summer Dance festival in Tokyo; Germany at Sasha Waltz & Guests, Tanzfabrik, Dock 11 and Studio LaborGras in Berlin and Tafelhalle Theater in Nuremberg; Austria at TQW in Vienna and SEAD in Salzburg; France at Christian Blaise Company in Grenoble and CND in Lyon;Belgium at Danscentrum Jette in Brussels; In Italy at UVA Dance Festival in Sicily and Perypezye Urbane in Milan; In England at The Northern School of Dance in Leeds; In Denmark at The School of Modern Dance and DansenHus in Copenhagen; In Sweden at Danscentrum in Malmo, Stockholm and Gothemburg; Brazil at Festival Internacional de Teatro in Curitiba; Argentina at IUNA in Buenos Aires and Centro Coreografico de Mar de Plata; Chile at Centro Cultural Mistral and Festival Danzalborde in Valparaiso, among others.