DADAO 2026-2027
DADAO 2026-2027
Carla Alcantara /
TEMPO Dance & Visual Art
DRIVE is a contemporary dance performance that explores the themes of human resilience, personal responsibility, and the relentless pursuit of goals. Through evocative choreography, it reflects on the inner drive that compels us to move forward, incorporating motivational practices that symbolize the desire to shape one’s path in life.
Carla Alcantara/ TEMPO Dance & Visual Art
Carla Alcantara is an independent, Mexican, multidisciplinary, artist, dancer, choreographer, photographer, videographer, and educator. Gratefully living and working as a guest of the ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, or so-called Vancouver, since 2021.
She is the founder and co-director of TEMPO Dance & Visual Art along with Marco Esccer and has performed and participated in the creative processes of artists, choreographers, and companies internationally, including Mexico, USA, Canada, Brazil, and Malaysia. In her short time in Canada, she has presented works at Stand Festival, All Over the Map, 12 Minutes Max, NextFest in Edmonton, AB, The Dance Centre, Pop-Up Dances, Vines, IndieFest, and worked with choreographers including Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Alina Sotskova, Jennifer Aoki, Rachel Maddock, and Rachel Helten.
Carla is grateful to work at The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts as a Fine Arts Leader, teacher, and one of the choreographers for their youth and adult companies (Youth in Motion and Continuum). Her artistic interests currently focus on building community through creative collaborations, performance, and education. She believes that dance is a powerful tool for self-discovery that deepens our human connection and that can support building stronger communities.
Photo: Rodrigo Picazo
Details:
Year of creation: 2020
Choreographer/performer: Carla Alcantara. Outside eyes: Renata Monteon, Alina Sotskova
Audience Type: Youth (Gr. 8-12), Families, Young Adults, Adults, Seniors
Length of work: 9:45 minutes
Preparation time required on site: 15 minutes, and would need time to research and redesign the work on the space for at least 3 hours, ideally 5, spread in 2 rehearsals.
Technical requirements required on-site: Sound system and someone to run sound
Space required: The work can be adapted into different settings, but a staircase is required for the performance of the work.
Availability: I am available to tour and perform DRIVE throughout British Columbia and am excited about the opportunity to connect with diverse audiences across the province. One of my primary objectives is to share the work with communities beyond major urban centres, creating meaningful encounters through contemporary dance and fostering reflection on themes that are deeply rooted in the human experience.
Community Engagement
I have extensive experience designing and leading community-engaged workshops with participants of diverse ages, backgrounds, and levels of dance experience. My approach prioritizes accessibility, creativity, and meaningful participation, ensuring everyone feels welcome regardless of their prior dance experience.
A workshop connected to DRIVE could explore themes of resilience, personal motivation, perseverance, and our relationship to goals and achievement. Through guided movement exercises, reflection, discussion, and creative tasks, participants would be invited to consider what drives them forward, the obstacles they encounter, and how they find meaning in their own journeys. My goal is to create opportunities for dialogue and connection while sparking questions about the piece's themes.
Because DRIVE is deeply influenced by the spaces in which it is performed, a site-specific workshop would be particularly meaningful. Ideally, participants would engage directly with the same staircase, public space, or site where the performance takes place. Together, we would explore how architecture, landscape, pathways, and movement patterns influence our physical and emotional experiences. Participants would be encouraged to create their own responses to the space through movement, observation, and imagination, discovering how a familiar location can reveal new meanings and stories.