Paula QUINTANA
Dancer

Paula received a grant to participate in the Camping project organized by the Centre National de la Danse.

What is your artistic background ?
As an actress and dancer, I alternate my work for companies with my career as a creator based on the development of a personal language that merges the textual with dance (contemporary flamenco) with a visceral style of communication. I have been practicing classical, contemporary dance and flamenco since early childhood. After getting a degree in Dramatic Arts, I moved to Madrid where I continued my training as an actress and dancer, studying and working with important directors, dancers and choreographers who have led me to work in different audiovisual contexts, dance and theatre, within and outside Spain. In 2012, I began my career as a creator. I received the first prize III at the European Contest for Contemporary Female Creators 2016. I was a finalist at Premios Max 2016 in two categories: Best Emerging Show and Best Emerging Authorship. I received a Special Award as Best Artist/ Emerging Creator “for the maturity shown in integrating dance and theatre, producing a refined performance with big outreach possibilities”, at Feria UmoreAzoka 2015, Leioa, Vizcaya. I am now an Artist in residence at Centro de Danza de los Teatros del Canal and at the Laboratorio Rivas Cherif CDN in Madrid.   

How do you see your profession today ?
I believe that the historical context in which we are living requires the emergence of news models that meet the needs of the population. The arts, in general, have the opportunity to renew their role in society. I think it’s time that art directs its gaze and attention on itself to connect with a society that needs to regain trust, hope and empathy, a society that needs to recover feelings and values of harmony. The performing arts also allow us to recover the value of direct and emotional human connection in a society marked by the use of technology. To recover some humanity. To make society remember human feelings. I think that, as artists, we have the opportunity and the duty to assume this responsibility.   

How do you see yourself in five years ? In 10 years ?
In the next five years, I would like to continue growing in the field of creation and interpretation by researching new languages that transit through different genres and structures, with special attention to the audiovisual world. In 10 years, I would like to begin consolidating a structure of production and creation of contents and cultural projects that could operate in different fields of social life.

This interview was conducted in 2019
Photo credit: Amandine Besacier