Iván Pérez 

My name is Iván Pérez and I am currently based in Heidelberg, Germany. Since September 2018, I am working as the Artistic Director of Dance Theatre Heidelberg at Theatre und Orchester Heidelberg. I am a choreographer too, creating big scale works, often with new orchestral music and/or interdisciplinary collaborations. I also support the development of dance in the city by curating the Tanzbiannale Heidelberg and the residency program of the Choreogaphic Center Heidelberg. Lastly, I am committed to engage in artistic relationships with the new generation of dancers via two apprentice positions in the company and through cooperations with dance universities in Europe and beyond.  

My pathway into the professional field has been a lucky one, but also one of work and scary decisions. I started as an apprentice in NDT 2 thanks to a scholarship that I won during a competition; I was lucky! There, I was surrounded by great talents which inspired me to search for my own voice as a dancer. My choreographic career started very young too, full of naivety and big dreams. Thanks to that dreamer’s mind though, I never stopped trusting in the process, responding to each failure as a learning opportunity and searching within me for the curiosity that fuels my creativity. One day, I started saying out loud what I wish to become: a choreographer, a director…Slowly, I could feel how the universe was guiding me along the way. Always trusting in ‘work’, and thanks to the support system of friends and family. I learned, thanks to Eckart Tolle and his book "The power of now", that the present moment has a lot to offer. Learning from today, to build the tomorrow. I am still looking at my career as a learning curve, with ups and downs, but full of fulfilment. It’s all an ongoing self-reflective process! 

In one's bio, one always portrays the successful self, the achievements and memorable events that become landmarks in our careers. But what is hidden in the back stage, the ups and downs of one’s own journey, is an important and crucial part of the process. Many times I found myself crying because I felt limited, insecure or simply not as talented as my peers. How difficult can 'jealousy' be of an emotion! But there is learning within it, realising that the truth within yourself is the only thing that can help you grow. Appreciating the work of others can be inspiring and necessary, but never to bring you down. Self love and self care is crucial. Trust yourself!

Time is another big mysterious master of events, but we usually are too impatient to understand it properly. If you want to understand something that is challenging you, time will be necessary. If you want to get to know yourself, you need time by yourself. If you want to grow, you need time for it too. And one day, you’ll realise that time slowed down for you, to help you take time. It will help you to breath, to listen to the moment you are in and to learn from it. You never know who is watching you along the way, who could help you, never forget that. Trust in yourself and the ones that support you, their love will give you so much energy and life. You will do this by yourself, but you are never alone! 

My advice to a graduating student would be to never wait for the invitation to dance, do it for yourself, whenever you can. To discover your true love for dance is a personal journey, but it’s more fun with people around you, too. Invite other to dance with you, join others that are dancing, take the initiative! And when you feel that the world turns the back on you, dance your tears! Find shelter in dance, explore your intellectual curiosity through it as well. Search for the connection between dance and the world, it is everywhere! If you are reading this, it is because Dance is in you already. Enjoy it, it is a present!

My advice in this very moment would be to stay present and observe your environment, come into contact with the people around you and the place that you are in. Build from there! Don’t think about the future as something scary, but full of potential. You are not alone! 

I believe that, the future for dance after this unprecedented year 2020, will be a more conscious and humanitarian one. I think that the world will recognise the relevance of Dance as everyone in the past months has experienced in their own skin the social choreography of interpersonal space, the body as a container and/or the human need for contact. Dance is based on these topics amongst others, and it will continue to resonate on people’s consciousness from now on. Dance is today more relevant than ever before.