Photo by Kevin Jones
Irma Villafuerte is a Central American dance artist, emerging choreographer and educator based in Tkaronto (the place in the water where the tress are standing) located in Turtle Island. She is a first-generation of refugees from Nahuat Pipil Territory Kuskatan (place of Jewel necklaces), post-colonial El Salvador.
Irma has been immersed into her choreographic practice and development; through mentorships and dance residencies for emerging choreographers with Dance Makers through their Peer Learning Network Program, Toronto Dance Theatre’s Emerging Voices Program, George Brown Dance, and as of late with Aluna Theatre. Her artistic mission is embodying cultural, social-political and migrant narratives of oppressed communities. As a daughter of refugee, her passion for social justice, human rights, and political art making, is the driving force for creation in Irma’s choreographic and performance work. In 2017, she premiered a new work in progress “Desconocida” at Aluna Theatre’s Caminos Festival - New Works in Progress by Latin American artists in dance and theatre, which was one of the groundbreaking creative moments that set her choreographic journey. Most recently she has presented a new solo in process, “nudoDESnudo”; which at its developed stage has had the honour to present in Austin, Texas, El Salvador and recently in Toronto through Citadel & Co Nigh Shift 2020 Festival.
She currently sits on the board of Adelheid Dance Projects and is on the faculty at Casa Maiz’ Semillas Latinas summer camp for Latin American children since 2013 as a dance instructor and choreographer; she currently teachers Voice, Text and Movement at Randolph College for the Performing arts and is a tdsbCREATES resident artist.
She is graduate of George Brown Dance from the Dance Performance Studies program. Her experience and training extends to Latin, Caribbean and Cuban Contemporary technique. She’s had the honor to perform, train create in various arts festivals and workshops across the Americas and overseas, such as The Rhubarb Festival, DanceWeekend Ontario, Aluna Theatre’s Panamerican Routes Festival, RUTAS, Panamania 2015 at Nathan Phillips Square, La 12 Bienal de la Habana 2015 for (IN)DISCIPLINAS, Vanguardia Dance Projects Festival, Danza Corpus Annual Open Space Temporada in Matanzas, Cuba, International Dance Meeting by Danza Libre in Guantanamo, CounterPulse Performing Diaspora in San Francisco, Mayworks Festival for Working People, to name a few. She has been part of choreographic works by Santee Smith (Kaha:wi Dance Theatre), Alejandro Ronceria, Roshanak Jaberi (Jaberi Dance Theatre), Victoria Mata, Karen Kaeja (Kaeja D’dance), Aria Evans (Political Movement), Michael Caldwell, Ryan Lee, Derek Sangster, Tina Fushell, Arsenio Andrade, Sharon B. Moore, Darryl Tracy, Malgorzata Nowacka (Chimera Dance Projects and Company B), Jose Angel Carret (Danza Corpus), Esteban Aguilar (Danza Fragmentada, Cuba).
