Ecuador is a country in which, in a relatively small territory, a crucible of landscapes, races and customs live together; an ample racially mixed cultural wealth is born there, with a strong Andean character.
The first expressions of Ecuadorian stage dance appeared in the decade of the 70’ s with the arrival of foreign teachers who brought the techniques of classic and modern dance. At that time institutions subsidised by the State like the Compañía Nacional de Danza and the Ballet Ecuatoriano de Cámara were created; these institutions were in charge of the formation of the dancers and choreographers that were the pioneers of the modern and contemporary dance in Ecuador. Dance has been developing for more than 30 years thanks to persistence and independent management. It has been marked by the inheritance of the classic and modern techniques with a strong folk influence.
In the last decade new perspectives for dance have been opened with the creation of different international festivals and the presence of young artists who have completed their training in other countries. Nevertheless there is a lack of support for production; lack of spaces for thought, a lack of theoretical study and update of the information.
Contemporary dance is developed in a continuous way in the capital, Quito as as well as in the coastal cities of Guayaquil and Manta. In Cuenca, in the south of the country, the first career specialized in dance was recently created. In the rest of the country the activity is basically concentrated on folk dance. In the past years small cities like Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Ibarra and Ambato have begun to develop related activities to contemporary dance.
In 2002 the circuit of performing arts festivals is created impelled by three cultural associations in Quito, Guayaquil and Manta. The circuit organizes two annual seasons: one season of performing arts that happens in September with the festivals Spondylus de las Artes de Quito, Festival de Artes Escenicas de Guayaquil and the Festival Internacional de Teatro de Manta and another season of dance in June/July with Encuentro de Coreógrafos in Quito, Fragments de Junio in Guayaquil and Encuentro the Internacional Manta por la Danza.
This initiative that arises with the aim of stimulating the circulation of national and international artists in the country has been well received by all the cultural sectors and is now being extending to other cities of the country.
Other festivals to be highlighted are the Festival Internacional de Teatro Experimental de Quito-FITEQ, created in 1997; the Festival Alas de la Danza that is celebrated in Quito since 1998 in an extensive format with presentations every two months; the festival Mujeres en la Danza, an international festival that programs different styles of dance and that is well accepted by the public. In Guayaquil the Festival de Solos y Duos “De mis amores en danza” is celebrated, organized together with the Alliance Française with a programme of Ecuadorian groups.
These festivals arise from the initiative of artists and independent managers and count on limited resources from some local institutions and private companies.
The stable groups that count on their own theatres organise seasons of national groups as well as foreign ones within their plan of diffusion through the whole the year. Also they realise small festivals and internal cycles like those organized by the Frente de Danza Independiente: Festival de Jóvenes Coreógrafos and the Ciclo de Video Danza.
The main theaters of the country are the Teatro Nacional de la Casa de la Cultura, the Teatro Bolívar, the Teatro Nacional Sucre, the Teatro del Centro Cultural Sarao and the Museo de Antropología y Arte Contemporáneo - MAAC. There are other spaces and alternative venues that program dance seasons throughout the year. The most representative are: Sala Mariana de Jesús del Frente Independiente de Danza, the Teatro de la Asociación Humanizarte, and the space from Asociación Humboldt (dependent on the Goethe Institute). In Quito there is a Network of Theaters that is expanding little by little to other venues in different cities.
One of the most important groups for the Ecuadorian contemporary dance is the FDI - Frente de Danza Independiente, with a trajectory of more than 24 years of creative, research and experimental work using different languages. The FDI has carried out an important job of forming the new generations. There are 2 companies that depend on the state: the Compañía Nacional de Danza and the Ballet Ecuatoriano de Cámara. These companies are dedicated to stage mainly works of ballet and of modern dance, some of its interpreters and choreographers are foreign.
In the last years careers in dance in the universities of Cuenca and Guayaquil have been created and the San Francisco University in Quito has a sub-specialization in dance and theater. The incorporation of dance in the university is very recent and is focused mainly on the technical training of dancers, having left aside much of the reflective and theoretical approach to dance like the aspects of creation and direction.
There are schools for the formation of dancers dependant on the State companies, as it is the case of Metro Danza (Ballet Ecuatoriano de Cámara); Escuela de la Compañía Nacional de Danza; Instituto Nacional de Danza; Escuela del Ballet del Centro de Artes en Guayaquil, etc. Among the independent schools we can highlight the Frente de Danza Independiente, Grupo SARAO and the independent groups in Manta, Cuenca, Ambato and Santo Domingo de los Colorados.
The recent formation of the Ministry of Culture in 2007 in the present government raises the possibility of generating growth for culture in general and dance in particular. Therefore first calls for scholarships and subsidies for cultural projects for 2008 are taking place now.
Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, in spite of not counting on funds for its creation or diffusion, continues its work of culture promotion through its nuclei located in the different provinces
The production of documentation and theoretical activity are rare, it is possible to mention books, by Natasha Salgueiro “Nace una danza” (2002), on the beginnings of the modern dance in Ecuador and “Wilson Pico 40 años en escena” (2007), a compilation of interviews with the choreographer Wilson Pico. The monthly magazines El Apuntador www.elapuntador.com and Ochoymedio www.ochoymedio.net must also be mentioned.
Institutions like the Goethe through the Humbold Association, Alliance Française, German School and Casa España, among others, sometimes offer support to cultural projects.
Text by: Josie Thamar Cáceres and Tamia Guayasamín, November 2007