Macarena Ortuzar

Macarena Ortuzar
Macarena was born in Chile where she started her career as a dancer at the University of Chile in Santiago. After graduating from the University, she felt the need based on her responsibility as a woman artist to move out of the established cultural structures and to seek for alternative possibilities of expression. She decided to leave her country and reside in the United States (New York City), where she explored new methods of dance and exposed herself to alternative performance styles. During her two year stay in New York City, she funded her own studies; and as a independent foreign student she focused on integrating all aspects of her daily life to her work. This experience culminated with an invitation by La Mama Theater to perform in their multimedia work titled Easy.
Afterwards, she returned to Chile to work for several independent dance companies to apply what she had learned in the US and to participate in the creation of an environment open to experimentation. Her collaborations with Marisol Vargas and the Ashtanga yoga mentored by Milvia Martinez allowed her to discover a personal movement vocabulary which she has now used in her recent work with AlienNation Company in Houston, Texas, in the creation of MIRAK at DiverseWorks, and in her subsequent work and artistic explorations. Macarena currently resides in the UK.

Education

B.F.A in Dance from the University of Chile Santiago, Chile 1995

Ballet training under Octavio Cintollecci Santiago, Chile 1993-95

2 Semesters at the American Dance School Alvin Ailey New York City, USA 1995

Summer Workshop at the Martha Graham School of Dance New York City, USA 1996

Several Release Technique and Improv workshops at Movement Research New York City, USA 1996-97 with David Zambrano, Jeremy Nelson and Ivonne Meier

Ballet training at Perry Dance School New York City, USA 1997

Several Release Technique workshops at Metro2 Chile, Santiago 1997-98 with Elizabeth Rodriguez, Francisca Moran and Jose Luis Vidal

Brumachon Contemporary Dance Company workshop by audition Chile, Santiago 1998

Choreography creation workshop by Esteban Pe–a Chile, Santiago 1998 Improv workshop by Jeremy Nelson sponsored by the Univ. of Chile, Santiago 1998

Six months of daily Ashtanga Yoga training under Milvia Martinez, Chile, Santiago 1998, member of the Mintanaka Butoh Company.

Art and Technology Workshop with Johannes Birringer, AlienNation Co. Houston, USA 1999

Butoh workshop SU-EN, with Susanna Akerlund, New York City, 2000, and with Maureen Fleming in upstate NY, 2000.

Summer Body Weather workshop, led by Min Tanaka, Japan, 2000.

Collaborative work:

"VETA," by Kendra Floyd, Shahzad Ismaily, and Macarena Ortuzar. Five performances developed from the body at "23 Windows." Brooklyn, New York, 2001.

Butoh workshop led by Yumiko Yoshioka, a member of the first Japanese women's butoh dance theatre, Ariadone. La Mama Theatre, New York City, 2001.

Workshop at Theatre Artaud, led by Akira Kasai. San Francisco, 2001.

Second Summer Body Weather Workshop led by Min Tanaka, July-October, Japan, 2001.

Living and working at Dance Resources on Earth, Tokazon troupe of dance & farming, Japan. At the end of stay, performance of "Memory of the Skin," at Plan B, Tokyo, Japan. 2001.

Collaboration "VETA": "with nobody," at 23 Windows, Brooklyn, NY. 2001. "with somebody," at The Cave Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 2001.

Member of Tokason, butoh dance group led by Min Tanaka, 2002

Tokason performance at the Dance Hakushu Festival, "Last series of Goya." 2002

"Espacio Ensamblage," Collaborative dance/Music/Plastic Art and Poetry, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santiago, Chile.

Butoh Workshop with Shinishi Lova-Koga, founder of Inkboat butoh dance company. London 2006.

Body Weather workshop led by Katerine Bakatsaki, ex company member of Min Tanaka dance troupe and former director of Body Weather Amsterdam together
with Frank van de Ven. Amsterdam 2007

Attendant on a Introduction day to Dance and Movement Therapy at Roehampton University. February 2008.

Participant in ARTAUD FORUM 1, Brunel University, London, April 2011.

Recent Performances:

October 2009 : Dance solo piece “Virginia” .Presented at Diamond Night , Evening of exploration in performance hosted by Butoh oxford company cafe Reason at Drama studio, Oxford Brooks University at in Santiago de Chile.
November 2010 : “Divisions”, Dance Solo piece performed in collaboration with music by Bruno Guastalla presented at” Cohesion”, Oxford 4 Improvisers Festival at Pegasus Theatre.
December 2010: Division presented at Diamond Night

2003 "Memories of the Body," A commission from the Chilean goverment for the Arts FONDART: choregrapher and performer on a six months dance
research project, incorporating dance, plastic arts and music oollaboration in an installation work performed eight times at the "MATUCANA 100" venue

2003 "Pueblo Invisible," Collaborative work with Marisol Vargas, Nuri Gutes: Santiago, Chile

2002 ‘Series of Goya ‘ Hakushu Festival, Japan
2001 ‘Memories of the Skin’ Plan B Tokyo, Japan
2001 ‘With Some Body’ Cave Performing Space NY

Teaching:

Several workshops and classes in Oxford.
Series of “Body in Movement” , dance workshop to London Butoh Asylum .
“Movement from the Core” dance workshop given in Nov- Dec 2010.

Series of workshops ‘ Body in Movement’ for London Butoh Asylum
Master’s Thesis tutorial for students at Shimmer University in Oxford and Goldsmith ‘s Art Institute of Art in London.
Currently leading “ Body in Land" Dance Workshops, Winter Investigation, Chetwode, England.