EntreCuerpos: Intentions & Research
EntreCuerpos Creative Process
The choreographic process of EntreCuerpos developed through a practice-based exploration combining photographic studio research, writing, improvisation, costume as narrative material, and collaborative composition with the musicians.
Studio Research: Images and Sketches
Part of the research began directly in the studio through a photographic practice. Working with the bata de cola, I filmed myself while exploring poses, silhouettes and shifting physical states. From this material I extracted images that allowed me to observe the body from another perspective and identify shapes, gestures and physical presences that could later be developed choreographically. Some of these images were later translated into quick sketches as part of the compositional process.
Mapping the Feminine Mutations
Alongside this visual research, I developed notes, fragments and reflections connected to feminine identities and the different states the body could inhabit throughout the work. This writing was a way of mapping the conceptual and emotional bodyscape and atmosphere, and became a compositional tool for engaging with the musical structures of the various flamenco palos.
Improvisation and Embodied Exploration
Improvisation remained the central method of research throughout the entire process. I spent long periods freestyling to different flamenco palos, allowing the vocabulary of Vogue to respond intuitively to rhythm, gesture and musical atmosphere. Through this embodied exploration, the body gradually revealed points of resonance between the languages of Vogue and flamenco.
Costume as Narrative Anchor
Costume also became a narrative anchor within this exploration. Working with the bata de cola opened a poetic field of transformation for the body. The fabric allowed the body to move through different states and imaginaries, at times protective and almost knight-like, at others fragile, metamorphic or playful. These explorations generated images and physical states that informed the visual and dramaturgical development of the piece.
Later in the work, other costume elements, the red gloves, the bolero and the final red garment, continue this transformation and help structure the progression of the performance.
Musical Dialogue and Dance Writing
Music forms a central pillar of EntreCuerpos. The work developed through continuous musical dialogue and collaborative composition with guitarist Bryan Reyes, percussionist Ago Hernández and cantaor Carlos de Luisa. The music evolved in direct dialogue with the movement phrases unfolding in the studio.
Writing also became a choreographic tool in relation to the musical and lyrical structures of the different flamenco palos. I wrote down elements of the cante, the phrasing of the voice and the internal organisation of the musical form to situate choreographic material within specific rhythmic or lyrical sections of the composition. At times this writing took the form of precise movement sequences; at others it consisted of movement intentions organised through action verbs, qualities of movement and compositional blocks linked to the unfolding of the music.
In the Tarantos section, sonic textures drawn from the salida (introduction) contributed to evoking a mineral quality of awakening within the movement shaped through iterative dialogue with the guitarist Bryan Reyes, shaping the musical narrative according to the movement intentions and language. The passage inspired by the geisha walk led us to explore tremolo textures on the guitar, creating a suspended and delicate atmosphere.
I worked closely with the structure of the letras (lyrics): I wrote down parts of the lyrics and developed choreographic intentions for different sections of the verse, paying particular attention to the intonations of the voice and to the narrative quality carried by the cante (singing). Movement material was organised in relation to these vocal phrases, allowing the choreography to respond not only to rhythm but also to the expressive trajectory of the singing.
In the Seguiriya section, I worked closely with the percussionist to explore the rhythmic structure through the cajón. I wrote down each beat of the seguiriya and experimented with positioning specific movement structures in relation to that rhythmic architecture. This process allowed the vocabulary of Arms Control to enter into a precise dialogue with the musical structure of the palo.
The Tangos de Granada section operates with a more open dynamic while still drawing on traditional structures of the palo - tapao, letras/llamadas, falseta, coletilla, cierre. Within this framework, choreographic intentions were developed for each section while preserving a greater space for improvisation between dancer, guitarist and singer. This allowed the hybrid language of New Way Vogue and flamenco to unfold through listening and response in the moment.
Improvisation mainly unfolded within a clear structure. Certain passages were precisely written, while others were organised through movement intentions linked to specific rhythmic or lyrical sections of the music. This allowed improvisation to remain anchored in the musical architecture of the composition.
Development Phases
The piece evolved through several stages of development.An initial version was presented at Chisenhale Dance Space curated by Mind the Gap as part of the Scratch Renaissance programme. The work was later developed during a residency at English National Ballet as part of the Shared Ground Space Scheme programme, where extended studio time with the musicians allowed the choreographic and musical material to deepen.
Throughout the entire process, improvisation remained the central method of research, gradually revealing the three states that structure EntreCuerpos: awakening, empowerment and celebration.
Artistic Context
Ballroom and Vogue demand a constant refinement of the body. They continually push me to refine my movement language and expand my physical vocabulary through lines, angles, face framing, rotations, posing and contortion, and through the articulation of the arms and hands that allow the body to frame space and carry narrative. Through New Way Vogue and Arms Control, ballroom becomes a space where sovereignty is experienced through the body.
Within this practice, I began questioning how my own vogue language could deepen and what my personal movement vocabulary could become.
I was drawn to flamenco through the braceo and through its posture of pride and empowerment, the articulation of the arms and hands carried by a strong upright presence that resonates with the expressive language of vogue. My first encounter happened through a drag performance in Madrid that blended flamenco with queer artistry, opening a doorway into a hybrid performative territory.
In vogue, categories such as Hand Performance or Arms Control place a strong emphasis on the articulation of arms and hands. In flamenco, the braceo organises the movement of the arms as a continuous sculpting of space.
I began exploring flamenco repertoires and freestyling vogue expression on flamenco music - soleás por bulería, seguiriyas, farrucas, tonás. I found myself particularly drawn to the ancient palos jondos. Through this embodied exploration, resonances began to surface between the delicacy of the hands, the upright presence of the body and the sculptural quality of the arms. What emerged was not similarity but a shared intensity of gesture. Both expressions are rooted in histories of marginalisation, resistance and resilience.
Gradually, the encounter between these languages began to take shape through the body. This intuitive practice became a space where I could observe how these two languages might coexist within the same body and how I could engage with flamenco music and rhythm.
The first output in my improvisation based exploration was a short piece titled Vogueadora, developed on a seguiriya.
From there, the need to deepen this inquiry emerged. I travelled to Spain and developed a self-directed and ongoing practice-based research, learning about repertoires, their histories, embodiments and rhythmic structures.
These experiences became the ground from which EntreCuerpos emerged.
As an artist coming from ballroom culture, I encounter flamenco through my ballroom lens, a living heritage that becomes a space of creative inquiry.
In ballroom culture, each ball unfolds around concepts and creative narratives expressed through categories - Old Way, New Way, Vogue Fem, European and American Runway, Realness, Hand Performance, Arms Control, Fashion Killa, among others - which performers inhabit through their own presence, attitude and imagination.
The intention is not to fuse these practices but to let them encounter each other through the body as a space of exploration and transformation.
Another strong resonance appeared through fashion and costume, which became an important field of experimentation within EntreCuerpos.
In ballroom culture, garments shape silhouette, attitude and presence. Fashion is fundamental to performance. In flamenco, costume also plays a central role in the construction of the image and the narrative of the body.
Flamenco carries a highly constructed aesthetic. The poses, lines and presence of the body are almost photographic. When working with the bata de cola, the garment becomes both fashion and choreography, an extension of the body that transforms the silhouette and the architecture of movement while echoing the photographic aesthetic present in ballroom culture.
These elements enter my practice as living materials within the body, resonating through my movement language and expanding its narrative and poetic possibilities.