ALEXEY TARAN
1970
Born, Villa Clara, Cuba
Born, Villa Clara, Cuba
EDUCATION
1980-1988
National Art School, School of Ballet, Havana, Cuba
National Art School, School of Ballet, Havana, Cuba
AWARDS & RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
2024
2024 NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) Grants, US.
Best Editing, Premio Municipal del Cine de Chacao (January 19, 2024) Caracas, Venezuela.
2023
Best Editing, The Magic of Cinema (September 2023), Barcelona - Spain.
Miami Individual Artist (MIA) Grant Program, Miami, FL, US.
Special Mention, Best Director of Photography, Cine del Mar International Film Festival, Punta del Este, Uruguay.
2022
Miami Individual Artists (MIA) Stipend Program, Miami, FL, US.
Art Studio Ginestrelle, Residency Program, Asissi, Italy.
2021
Dance Miami Choreographers’ Program Award, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL, US.
"Nostalgia di Domicella" Best Dance for Camera at Vesuvius International Film Festival Naples, Italy (2021)
2020
MIAMI-DADE ARTISTS SUPPORT! (MÁS!) GRANTS PROGRAM, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL, US.
Artist Relief - Artist Relief Cycle II, Artist Relief is an emergency initiative organized by the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, YoungArts, and United States Artists, US. Foundation for Contemporary Arts, FCA Emergency Grants COVID-19 Fund, US.
Dance Miami Choreographers’ Program Award, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL, US.
2019
Dance Miami Choreographers’ Program Award, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL, US.
2017
NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittance Travel Award. San Antonio, TX, US.
New Music USA Project Grant Award, New York, NY, US.
Knight Arts Challenge 2017, granted by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, Miami, FL, US.
2016
Winner of the ICE Project by Tigertail Production. Residency Program. Berlin, Germany.
National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, NALAC Fund for the Arts Artist/Ensemble Grant, San Antonio, TX, US.
National Performance Network (NPN) Performance Residency Program, Fundacion Divulgar - Plataforma Canibal, Valledupar, Colombia.
2015
National Performance Network (NPN) Performance Residency Program. Barranquilla, Valledupar, Riohacha and Santa Marta, Colombia.
New Times' Mastermind Award Miami, FL, US.
New Music USA Project Grant Award New York, NY, US.
Individual Artist Fellowship Award, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs Tallahassee, FL, US.
Dance Miami Choreographers Fellowship Program Award Miami, Miami, FL, US.
2014
Artistic Residency, Dance-tech AIR @ Lake Studios Berlin Berlin, Germany.
Dance Miami Choreographers Fellowship Program Award Miami, FL, US.
2012
SandBox Series Residency Program, Miami Theater Center Miami, FL, US.
Inkub8 Residency Program Miami, FL, US.
2011
Dance Miami Choreographers Fellowship Program Award Miami, FL, US.
2010
New Music USA Project Grant Award New York, NY, US.
2007
Guggenheim Fellowship, US & Canada Competition Creative Arts - Choreography John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, New York, NY, US.
1998
Author Award, Category Independent Choreographer, Young Author, “VI International Choreographic Encounters of Seine, Saint Denis” Award granted by MC Bobigny, Maison de la Culture Seine, Saint, Denis, International Center of Artistic Creation and Diffusion, Ministry of Culture, Music and Dance Division. Seine, Saint Denis, France.
1997
Winner of the US Platform VIth International Choreographic Encounters, 1997 “Austin International Platforms” Austin, TX, US.
1996
Municipal Dance Award Caracas, Venezuela.
Author Award, Category Independent Choreographer, Young Author, “V International Choreographic Encounters of Seine, Saint Denis” Award granted by MC Bobigny, Maison de la Culture Seine, Saint, Denis, International Center of Artistic Creation and Diffusion, Ministry of Culture, Music and Dance Division. Seine, Saint Denis, France.
Winner of the Latin American Platform “Movements 96” Hamburg, Germany.
Co-production of the piece “18 minutos por 2 ½ tiempos’ bolo” Award granted by Internationales Sommer Theater Festival Hamburg; Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt; Haus der Kulturem der Welt, Berlin; Tanz and Theater International, Hannover. Hamburg, Germany. Artistic Residency Kapnagel, Internationales Summer Theater Festival Hamburg Hamburg, Germany.
1994
Nominated for the National Artist Award as a Contemporary Dancer Caracas, Venezuela.
2024 NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) Grants, US.
Best Editing, Premio Municipal del Cine de Chacao (January 19, 2024) Caracas, Venezuela.
2023
Best Editing, The Magic of Cinema (September 2023), Barcelona - Spain.
Miami Individual Artist (MIA) Grant Program, Miami, FL, US.
Special Mention, Best Director of Photography, Cine del Mar International Film Festival, Punta del Este, Uruguay.
2022
Miami Individual Artists (MIA) Stipend Program, Miami, FL, US.
Art Studio Ginestrelle, Residency Program, Asissi, Italy.
2021
Dance Miami Choreographers’ Program Award, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL, US.
"Nostalgia di Domicella" Best Dance for Camera at Vesuvius International Film Festival Naples, Italy (2021)
2020
MIAMI-DADE ARTISTS SUPPORT! (MÁS!) GRANTS PROGRAM, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL, US.
Artist Relief - Artist Relief Cycle II, Artist Relief is an emergency initiative organized by the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, YoungArts, and United States Artists, US. Foundation for Contemporary Arts, FCA Emergency Grants COVID-19 Fund, US.
Dance Miami Choreographers’ Program Award, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL, US.
2019
Dance Miami Choreographers’ Program Award, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Miami, FL, US.
2017
NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittance Travel Award. San Antonio, TX, US.
New Music USA Project Grant Award, New York, NY, US.
Knight Arts Challenge 2017, granted by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, Miami, FL, US.
2016
Winner of the ICE Project by Tigertail Production. Residency Program. Berlin, Germany.
National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, NALAC Fund for the Arts Artist/Ensemble Grant, San Antonio, TX, US.
National Performance Network (NPN) Performance Residency Program, Fundacion Divulgar - Plataforma Canibal, Valledupar, Colombia.
2015
National Performance Network (NPN) Performance Residency Program. Barranquilla, Valledupar, Riohacha and Santa Marta, Colombia.
New Times' Mastermind Award Miami, FL, US.
New Music USA Project Grant Award New York, NY, US.
Individual Artist Fellowship Award, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs Tallahassee, FL, US.
Dance Miami Choreographers Fellowship Program Award Miami, Miami, FL, US.
2014
Artistic Residency, Dance-tech AIR @ Lake Studios Berlin Berlin, Germany.
Dance Miami Choreographers Fellowship Program Award Miami, FL, US.
2012
SandBox Series Residency Program, Miami Theater Center Miami, FL, US.
Inkub8 Residency Program Miami, FL, US.
2011
Dance Miami Choreographers Fellowship Program Award Miami, FL, US.
2010
New Music USA Project Grant Award New York, NY, US.
2007
Guggenheim Fellowship, US & Canada Competition Creative Arts - Choreography John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, New York, NY, US.
1998
Author Award, Category Independent Choreographer, Young Author, “VI International Choreographic Encounters of Seine, Saint Denis” Award granted by MC Bobigny, Maison de la Culture Seine, Saint, Denis, International Center of Artistic Creation and Diffusion, Ministry of Culture, Music and Dance Division. Seine, Saint Denis, France.
1997
Winner of the US Platform VIth International Choreographic Encounters, 1997 “Austin International Platforms” Austin, TX, US.
1996
Municipal Dance Award Caracas, Venezuela.
Author Award, Category Independent Choreographer, Young Author, “V International Choreographic Encounters of Seine, Saint Denis” Award granted by MC Bobigny, Maison de la Culture Seine, Saint, Denis, International Center of Artistic Creation and Diffusion, Ministry of Culture, Music and Dance Division. Seine, Saint Denis, France.
Winner of the Latin American Platform “Movements 96” Hamburg, Germany.
Co-production of the piece “18 minutos por 2 ½ tiempos’ bolo” Award granted by Internationales Sommer Theater Festival Hamburg; Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt; Haus der Kulturem der Welt, Berlin; Tanz and Theater International, Hannover. Hamburg, Germany. Artistic Residency Kapnagel, Internationales Summer Theater Festival Hamburg Hamburg, Germany.
1994
Nominated for the National Artist Award as a Contemporary Dancer Caracas, Venezuela.
TEACHING
- Making visible the shadows - Improvisation Workshop, Maderos Theater, Valledupar, Colombia.
- Making visible the shadows - Improvisation Workshop, Guajira Cultural Art Center, Riohacha, Colombia.
- Making visible the shadows - Improvisation Workshop, Colegio del Cuerpo, Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Cartagena, Colombia.
- Improvisation in Urban Spaces Workshop, 10th Dance & Non-Verbal Theatre Festival San Vincent, Zagreb, Croatia.
- Improvisation in Urban Spaces Workshop, National Experimental University of the Dance, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Improvisation in Urban Spaces Workshop, Tempo Ballet, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Improvisation Workshop, National Ballet of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
- Improvisation in Urban Spaces Workshop, Experimental Forming Workshop Program of the Scenic Arts, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Conference and Improvisation in Urban Spaces Workshop, Center for Dramatic Arts, Zagreb, Croatia.
- Improvisation in Urban Spaces Workshop, Conference and Performance Festival, Bytom, Cracow, Poland.
- Making visible the shadows - Improvisation Workshop, Exodos International Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Ballet workshop, Contemporary Ballet of Quito, Quito, Ecuador.
- Ballet workshop, Cuban National School of Dance, National Art School, Havana, Cuba.
- Ballet workshop, Danza Abierta (Open Dance Company), Havana, Cuba.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Bistoury Physical Theatre and Film Corp. Miami, FL, US
Founder / Artistic Director / Choreographer
DIRECTV, Miami, FL, US
Editor
Trimedia Films, Miami, FL, US
Co-Director / Producer/ Art Director/ Editor
Broward College, Central Campus, Broward, Fort Lauderdale, FL, US
Guest Choreographer
Art for Learning, Miami, Miami, FL, US
Dance Teacher
Bill Young / Colleen Thomas & Co. New York, NY, US
Guest Choreographer
Ballet Teresa Carreño, Teresa Carreño Theatre Foundation, Caracas, Venezuela
Ballet Teacher
National Experimental University of the Dance, Caracas, Venezuela
Ballet Teacher / Composition and Improvisation Teacher
Rajatabla Danza, Caracas, Venezuela
Guest Choreographer / Dancer
Zagrebacki Plesni Ansambl ZPA (Zagreb Dance Company), Zagreb, Croatia
Guest Choreographer
Neodanza de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela
Co-Director / Choreographer / Dancer
Experimental Forming Workshop Program of the Scenic Arts, Caracas, Venezuela
Co-director / Teacher
International Improvisation Festival, Caracas, Venezuela
Founder / Director
Danzahoy Company, Caracas, Venezuela
Guest Performer
Higher Institute of Dance, Caracas, Venezuela
Professor in Classical Dancing Technique
Danza Abierta, Havana, Cuba
Performer / Dance and Ballet Teacher
Cuban National Ballet, Havana, Cuba
Dancer
Cuban National School of Dance, National Art School, Havana, Cuba
Ballet Teacher
Founder / Artistic Director / Choreographer
DIRECTV, Miami, FL, US
Editor
Trimedia Films, Miami, FL, US
Co-Director / Producer/ Art Director/ Editor
Broward College, Central Campus, Broward, Fort Lauderdale, FL, US
Guest Choreographer
Art for Learning, Miami, Miami, FL, US
Dance Teacher
Bill Young / Colleen Thomas & Co. New York, NY, US
Guest Choreographer
Ballet Teresa Carreño, Teresa Carreño Theatre Foundation, Caracas, Venezuela
Ballet Teacher
National Experimental University of the Dance, Caracas, Venezuela
Ballet Teacher / Composition and Improvisation Teacher
Rajatabla Danza, Caracas, Venezuela
Guest Choreographer / Dancer
Zagrebacki Plesni Ansambl ZPA (Zagreb Dance Company), Zagreb, Croatia
Guest Choreographer
Neodanza de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela
Co-Director / Choreographer / Dancer
Experimental Forming Workshop Program of the Scenic Arts, Caracas, Venezuela
Co-director / Teacher
International Improvisation Festival, Caracas, Venezuela
Founder / Director
Danzahoy Company, Caracas, Venezuela
Guest Performer
Higher Institute of Dance, Caracas, Venezuela
Professor in Classical Dancing Technique
Danza Abierta, Havana, Cuba
Performer / Dance and Ballet Teacher
Cuban National Ballet, Havana, Cuba
Dancer
Cuban National School of Dance, National Art School, Havana, Cuba
Ballet Teacher
BIBLIOGRAPHY
...“Your feelings and knowledge, you always have it with you whether you live in Venezuela or New York,” says Alexey. “It’s very hard to live in another country as an immigrant. We are always trying to survive and adapt as an artist to these different systems and ways of living. It’s a constant metamorphosis.”
Separately and together, they’ve received numerous grants and awards, presenting performances, films, and improvisational events in Miami, New York, and Europe. Building community and events, wherever they are, to enable people to learn and create is central to them. Alexey reconnected with the Cuban dance community for the Improv Festival in 2017, finding a home for the event at Havana’s famed Fábrica de Arte Cubano to create bridges between the island and Miami.
“Artists are communicators,” says Alexey. “I don’t believe in frontiers. Borders are lines that go against the freedom of art.”... By Jordan Levin
...Searching for the meaning of an especially vivid dream can become all-consuming.
The way dream states can challenge common-sense certainties was the subject of Bistoury Physical Theatre’s latest multimedia work, “The Commune – Chapter 1: A commune of oranges... BISTOURY PHYSICAL THEATRE & FILM EXPLORES THE POWER OF DREAMS By Sean Erwin
..La obra plantea la necesidad del ser humano de regresar a sus orígenes, cuando la vida era mucho más sencilla que la de ahora y las personas se trataban mirándose a los ojos. Es un sueño de una mujer que luego de intentar explicárselo a su compañero, lo invita a recrear la experiencia con el público como testigo... Si usted no ha viajado por el mundo de los sueños, esta es una oportunidad de hacerlo By Arturo Arias-Polo
...“Imaginarium Life” is the story of Rueben, a visual artist who lives in his mind to avoid reality, to avoid the pain and pitfalls of his torn and tormented life, which seems to be a common theme among the living. Eschewing material and emotional attachments, Ruben constructs a mirage for negotiating life. He attempts to disconnect from the things he perceives are holding him back, pulling him under, filling his jacket with pockets full of stones, and retreats into the imaginary world where he lives (imaginarily) safe and sound from the free-floating chaos of living and loving in the real world... “IMAGINARIUM LIFE” IS FOR REAL By Neil de la Flor
...This play is a terrifying and expansive performance that is visceral and stunningly visual. Imaginarium Life exists in two separate worlds -- the projected world and the physical world. Whatever you might think of their work in the end, Taran and Forte's performances are measureless. Their craft is impeccable. Their future is blinding... ‘Imaginarium Life’: Get Ready For A Most Unimaginable Tale By Neil de la Flor
...Choreographer Alexey Taran’s inspiration for his latest dance/theater work, Tribe, is deeply rooted and very personal. Commissioned and presented by Miami-Dade County Auditorium for April 2 through 5, Tribe is an exploration of homelessness... Dance Explores Nature of Homelessness By Rebekah Lana Lengel
..You could say Bistoury’s 305 & Havana International Improv Fest, which debuts this Saturday at Miami Theater Center, has been in the works for almost 20 years. In 1999, Cuban-born choreographer Alexey Taran created the first improvisation festival in Caracas, Venezuela. Taran had already been working with improvisation techniques for almost a decade. Based in Miami since 2007, Taran and Bistoury co-director Carla Forte have created a two-city festival featuring live performance and several short films in the dance-on-camera genre... The 305 & Havana International Improv Fest Brings Dance Across the Sea By Mia Leonin
...Ella (2015), was made over the course of Maloney’s pregnancy, and we see Maloney’s physical and emotional transformation up close in the space of about fifteen minutes. Ella displays a collaboration between multiple individuals each accomplished in his or her own arena... MOVING IMAGE: SCREENDANCE IN MIAMI By Catherine Annie Hollingsworth
...Taran is originally from Havana; watching his jerky idiosyncratic movement style, it might be hard to guess that he was trained in ballet. Later he linked up with experimental Cuban dance company Danza Abierta, for whom he was both a dancer and ballet teacher. With Danza Abierta, he began to move away from the formalism of his training into something less controlled and more free... CONVERSATIONS IN MOVEMENT: THE 305-HAVANA INTERNATIONAL IMPROV FEST By Catherine Annie Hollingsworth
...Ballet, in our work, is a reference. You won't see a classical ballerina. For example in the ballet you always have a cycle. You have a coda, you have a starting point, and then you finish and start again. We work in a very similar way. We always have a cycle in our works. Speaking about structures of power, ballet has always been a dominant structure within the dance world so it's interesting that you're using it in that way. Yes, we try to use ballet to break the language of ballet and create a new kind of movement. We try to use our bodies and for example, our hands, like we are dancing a big classical ballet play. But we want to use the language in a new way... Asesinos por una Noche Gets Experimental About Cuban Politics By Catherine Annie Hollingsworth
La danse c'est une declaration d'amour, 6th Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis: International Choreographers' Gathering: Ashes, Carne en doce Escenabolos; December 9, 1997
...Carne en doce Escenabolos explores the Latin American universe of emotions where anguish, violence and disorder fuse with eroticism, dreams and mysticism...
..Mr. Taran's "Doble," performed superbly with uninhibited energy by Ms. Rojas and Astrud Angarita, begins with one woman on the floor, another suspended in the air in a chair. A blast of music by Steve Reich gives way to tapes by the Kronos Quartet and Sigismundo D'india. The woman in the chair flails around and sometimes hangs upside down until she is lowered to the ground. The woman below has lain crumpled, only to bounce up in a different convulsive fit. When the two finally make contact, the contrast between them diminishes, and both become marionettes, attaching elastic bands to their bodies... Dance in Review By Anna Kisselgoff
Tribe, their latest project, translates the world of the homeless into a new language through body gestures and includes participation by the Miami homeless community… Shelly Davidov, Miami New Times. Read more »
This is a workshop of improvisation and choreographic composition based on experience 'Tribe' which had excellent results, both in the staging, and audience reaction… Andreina Bandera, El Pilon. Read more »
The result is a powerful and impressive performances… Hrvoje Ivanovic, Slobodna Dalmacija. Read more »
TRIBE. Bistoury Physical Theater Company. Nagari Magazine, Eduard Reboll. Read more »
Local Fellowship Gives Dancers a Bar To Lean On... Juan Carlos Pérez-Duthie. Read more »
Teatro Piccolo Arsenale, MARATHON OF THE UNEXPECTED... Read more »
Taran crafted a precise movement vocabulary with Tribe that was both intense and specific… Artburst Miami, Rebekah Lanae Lengel. Read more »
This play is a terrifying and expansive performance that is visceral and stunningly visual… WLRN, Neil de la Flor. Read more »
Bolo Planeta Maquinal Vs Acción Intro-Guetho... Heyevent. Read more »
Alexey Taran, Fellow: Awarded 2007, Field of Study: Choreography, Competition: US & Canada. Read more »
Darkness and light exist in equal measure, despite the instinct to seek happiness, and Asesinos por una Noche revels in the worst that life has to offer, as a matter of honesty perhaps. It belongs in the same category as a Lars Von Trier film… Annie Hollingsworth, Miami New Times. Read more »
Taran’s Asesinos Por Una Noche is enigmatic… Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice. Read more »
Shared Movement… José Roversi. Read more »
Program 16. Tjedna suvremenog plesa… Read more »
La danse et ses paysages articules et changeants… Read more »
"18 minutos" shows the fundamental dependence of man on (abstract) powers and (concrete) objects. The 60-minute long piece that was created with the help of German co-producers such as the Mousonturm and the Kampnagelfabrik in Hamburg, developed both a psychological and a political dimension that constantly rouses associations with arrests, imprisonment and torture in the Latin and South American dictatorships while watching , In pale neon light dipped, the stage is an inhospitable place. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Gerald Siegmund. Read more »
IMAGINARIUM Life results from the necessity to create; it is the exploration of a work with meaning, a questioning challenge to our preconceived notions of how dance must be and look. Read more »
The overtones are dark, even surrealistic, more reminiscent, however, of Goya than of Salvador Dali in their protests against mental and real prisons… Anna Kisselgof, The New York Times. Read more »
EXPLORING THREE-DIMENSIONAL SPACES. A PRESENTATION BY CARLA FORTE, ALEXEY TARAN, AND RONALD BAEZ. Read more »
Miami Beach Premiere Performance! IMAGINARIUM LIFE. A Dance Theatre and Film Fusion. Performed Live! Read more »
On Thursday, the Neodanza group, founded in Caracas in 1987, performs its fusion of dance and theater. His choreography, `` 18 Minutes for 2 1/2 Tiempos'Bolo ", authored by Alexey Taran, explores the power of images. Read more »
"Neodanza, uma companhia experimental de Caracas, mescla o poder dramático do teatro-dança politico com uma surpreendente expressividade que deriva de movimento físico puro. As imagens são som brisa, até surrealistas, lembrando mais Goya que Salvador Dali, em seus protestos contra prisões mentais e reais". Read more »
Separately and together, they’ve received numerous grants and awards, presenting performances, films, and improvisational events in Miami, New York, and Europe. Building community and events, wherever they are, to enable people to learn and create is central to them. Alexey reconnected with the Cuban dance community for the Improv Festival in 2017, finding a home for the event at Havana’s famed Fábrica de Arte Cubano to create bridges between the island and Miami.
“Artists are communicators,” says Alexey. “I don’t believe in frontiers. Borders are lines that go against the freedom of art.”... By Jordan Levin
...Searching for the meaning of an especially vivid dream can become all-consuming.
The way dream states can challenge common-sense certainties was the subject of Bistoury Physical Theatre’s latest multimedia work, “The Commune – Chapter 1: A commune of oranges... BISTOURY PHYSICAL THEATRE & FILM EXPLORES THE POWER OF DREAMS By Sean Erwin
..La obra plantea la necesidad del ser humano de regresar a sus orígenes, cuando la vida era mucho más sencilla que la de ahora y las personas se trataban mirándose a los ojos. Es un sueño de una mujer que luego de intentar explicárselo a su compañero, lo invita a recrear la experiencia con el público como testigo... Si usted no ha viajado por el mundo de los sueños, esta es una oportunidad de hacerlo By Arturo Arias-Polo
...“Imaginarium Life” is the story of Rueben, a visual artist who lives in his mind to avoid reality, to avoid the pain and pitfalls of his torn and tormented life, which seems to be a common theme among the living. Eschewing material and emotional attachments, Ruben constructs a mirage for negotiating life. He attempts to disconnect from the things he perceives are holding him back, pulling him under, filling his jacket with pockets full of stones, and retreats into the imaginary world where he lives (imaginarily) safe and sound from the free-floating chaos of living and loving in the real world... “IMAGINARIUM LIFE” IS FOR REAL By Neil de la Flor
...This play is a terrifying and expansive performance that is visceral and stunningly visual. Imaginarium Life exists in two separate worlds -- the projected world and the physical world. Whatever you might think of their work in the end, Taran and Forte's performances are measureless. Their craft is impeccable. Their future is blinding... ‘Imaginarium Life’: Get Ready For A Most Unimaginable Tale By Neil de la Flor
...Choreographer Alexey Taran’s inspiration for his latest dance/theater work, Tribe, is deeply rooted and very personal. Commissioned and presented by Miami-Dade County Auditorium for April 2 through 5, Tribe is an exploration of homelessness... Dance Explores Nature of Homelessness By Rebekah Lana Lengel
..You could say Bistoury’s 305 & Havana International Improv Fest, which debuts this Saturday at Miami Theater Center, has been in the works for almost 20 years. In 1999, Cuban-born choreographer Alexey Taran created the first improvisation festival in Caracas, Venezuela. Taran had already been working with improvisation techniques for almost a decade. Based in Miami since 2007, Taran and Bistoury co-director Carla Forte have created a two-city festival featuring live performance and several short films in the dance-on-camera genre... The 305 & Havana International Improv Fest Brings Dance Across the Sea By Mia Leonin
...Ella (2015), was made over the course of Maloney’s pregnancy, and we see Maloney’s physical and emotional transformation up close in the space of about fifteen minutes. Ella displays a collaboration between multiple individuals each accomplished in his or her own arena... MOVING IMAGE: SCREENDANCE IN MIAMI By Catherine Annie Hollingsworth
...Taran is originally from Havana; watching his jerky idiosyncratic movement style, it might be hard to guess that he was trained in ballet. Later he linked up with experimental Cuban dance company Danza Abierta, for whom he was both a dancer and ballet teacher. With Danza Abierta, he began to move away from the formalism of his training into something less controlled and more free... CONVERSATIONS IN MOVEMENT: THE 305-HAVANA INTERNATIONAL IMPROV FEST By Catherine Annie Hollingsworth
...Ballet, in our work, is a reference. You won't see a classical ballerina. For example in the ballet you always have a cycle. You have a coda, you have a starting point, and then you finish and start again. We work in a very similar way. We always have a cycle in our works. Speaking about structures of power, ballet has always been a dominant structure within the dance world so it's interesting that you're using it in that way. Yes, we try to use ballet to break the language of ballet and create a new kind of movement. We try to use our bodies and for example, our hands, like we are dancing a big classical ballet play. But we want to use the language in a new way... Asesinos por una Noche Gets Experimental About Cuban Politics By Catherine Annie Hollingsworth
La danse c'est une declaration d'amour, 6th Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis: International Choreographers' Gathering: Ashes, Carne en doce Escenabolos; December 9, 1997
...Carne en doce Escenabolos explores the Latin American universe of emotions where anguish, violence and disorder fuse with eroticism, dreams and mysticism...
..Mr. Taran's "Doble," performed superbly with uninhibited energy by Ms. Rojas and Astrud Angarita, begins with one woman on the floor, another suspended in the air in a chair. A blast of music by Steve Reich gives way to tapes by the Kronos Quartet and Sigismundo D'india. The woman in the chair flails around and sometimes hangs upside down until she is lowered to the ground. The woman below has lain crumpled, only to bounce up in a different convulsive fit. When the two finally make contact, the contrast between them diminishes, and both become marionettes, attaching elastic bands to their bodies... Dance in Review By Anna Kisselgoff
Tribe, their latest project, translates the world of the homeless into a new language through body gestures and includes participation by the Miami homeless community… Shelly Davidov, Miami New Times. Read more »
This is a workshop of improvisation and choreographic composition based on experience 'Tribe' which had excellent results, both in the staging, and audience reaction… Andreina Bandera, El Pilon. Read more »
The result is a powerful and impressive performances… Hrvoje Ivanovic, Slobodna Dalmacija. Read more »
TRIBE. Bistoury Physical Theater Company. Nagari Magazine, Eduard Reboll. Read more »
Local Fellowship Gives Dancers a Bar To Lean On... Juan Carlos Pérez-Duthie. Read more »
Teatro Piccolo Arsenale, MARATHON OF THE UNEXPECTED... Read more »
Taran crafted a precise movement vocabulary with Tribe that was both intense and specific… Artburst Miami, Rebekah Lanae Lengel. Read more »
This play is a terrifying and expansive performance that is visceral and stunningly visual… WLRN, Neil de la Flor. Read more »
Bolo Planeta Maquinal Vs Acción Intro-Guetho... Heyevent. Read more »
Alexey Taran, Fellow: Awarded 2007, Field of Study: Choreography, Competition: US & Canada. Read more »
Darkness and light exist in equal measure, despite the instinct to seek happiness, and Asesinos por una Noche revels in the worst that life has to offer, as a matter of honesty perhaps. It belongs in the same category as a Lars Von Trier film… Annie Hollingsworth, Miami New Times. Read more »
Taran’s Asesinos Por Una Noche is enigmatic… Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice. Read more »
Shared Movement… José Roversi. Read more »
Program 16. Tjedna suvremenog plesa… Read more »
La danse et ses paysages articules et changeants… Read more »
"18 minutos" shows the fundamental dependence of man on (abstract) powers and (concrete) objects. The 60-minute long piece that was created with the help of German co-producers such as the Mousonturm and the Kampnagelfabrik in Hamburg, developed both a psychological and a political dimension that constantly rouses associations with arrests, imprisonment and torture in the Latin and South American dictatorships while watching , In pale neon light dipped, the stage is an inhospitable place. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Gerald Siegmund. Read more »
IMAGINARIUM Life results from the necessity to create; it is the exploration of a work with meaning, a questioning challenge to our preconceived notions of how dance must be and look. Read more »
The overtones are dark, even surrealistic, more reminiscent, however, of Goya than of Salvador Dali in their protests against mental and real prisons… Anna Kisselgof, The New York Times. Read more »
EXPLORING THREE-DIMENSIONAL SPACES. A PRESENTATION BY CARLA FORTE, ALEXEY TARAN, AND RONALD BAEZ. Read more »
Miami Beach Premiere Performance! IMAGINARIUM LIFE. A Dance Theatre and Film Fusion. Performed Live! Read more »
On Thursday, the Neodanza group, founded in Caracas in 1987, performs its fusion of dance and theater. His choreography, `` 18 Minutes for 2 1/2 Tiempos'Bolo ", authored by Alexey Taran, explores the power of images. Read more »
"Neodanza, uma companhia experimental de Caracas, mescla o poder dramático do teatro-dança politico com uma surpreendente expressividade que deriva de movimento físico puro. As imagens são som brisa, até surrealistas, lembrando mais Goya que Salvador Dali, em seus protestos contra prisões mentais e reais". Read more »