About Sur Mundo

Making Dance Language

The Concept

Sur Mundo Ensemble is, by definition, a cross-cultural Dutch-Argentinian New Theatre formation. Sur Mundo Ensemble holds a contemporary signature in making theatre grounding in the Tango universe. Here, interdisciplinarity and cross-culturalism converge on Sur Mundo performance creations and dramaturgic-choreographic residencies. Those can be booked by independent on-site venues, theater festivals, theatre workplaces, cultural events, and as well by theater and dance congresses.

The Goal

Zuarez, in Sur Mundo’s performances, makes use of an eclectic language where the integrity of the spacial, motion, and sensorial is the cornerstone. That language gravitates tenaciously on the Tango realm, at the same time distilling its culture and crafting the ADN of this unique theatre company. The dramaturge and her ensemble work on the boundaries of the hybridizations being informed by several dramaturgical sources. The body as (choreographical) archive, dance identity, and activism, the making sense of theatre are Zuarez subjects for her theatre.
This versatile troupe Sur Mundo Ensemble is conformed by artists of diverse ages, backgrounds, and grounded experiences who work through artistic researches and residences to portray the company’s work. Influenced by the Argentinian roots and under the leadership of the dramaturge, the Sur Mundo troupe unfolds a deep bond, a strong sense of community, and earthly connective synergy.

Visualise the tango universe

In Sur Mundo Ensemble works Zuarez visualises why the universe of tango becomes “theatre” far away from the cliché of exoticism and extravagancy.

Corporeal communication

Developing performative text and dance’s presence from the genuineness of the subjective performer. The body of the tango and its raw physical principles to produce a personified language to locate the pure human emotion while shaping ‘other’ visuals for a new dramaturgy

Performances

Decrypted Argentinian culture into modernity by means of contemporary expression: resilience, exploitation, migration and diaspora, female empowerment and social- gender equality consumption and post/de-colonialism.

Artists in Collaboration

Amsterdam-based artist, Gabriela Zuarez (NL/ARG) is the dance dramaturge leader of Cie Sur Mundo Ensemble. She collaborates with musician Gerardo Agnese (IT/ARG), the film-documentalist and archivist Celeste Franco (AR) , Light designer- scenarist Marnix Alting Carpentier (NL) and the artistic producer Micaela Tettamanti (IT/ARG). Zuarez’s interdisciplinary group also includes a number of dance artists and guests gathered in The Netherlands and Argentina, who have been following the dramaturge artistic processes and ideology of the company.

Gabriela Zuarez

Artistic leader, dramaturge & choreographer
Born in Buenos Aires and based in Amsterdam…

. She is a BA dancer, teacher, and maker rooted in contemporary dance. She pursued post-graduate choreography studies at the former EDDC HKA Arnhem, and later graduated as a dramaturge, getting a MA in Theater Studies at the University of Utrecht. Zuarez studied, practiced intensively, and thoroughly traditional and new Tango forms in her native Argentina. Her passion for theatre geared her to become a dancer disciple of theatre directors Silvia Vladimisky and Salo Pasik, working at their theatre company in Buenos Aires in the late 90s. Eclecticism was already more than Gabriela’s distinguished character. Since 2002, Zuarez has worked as a freelance dance artist in the independent Dutch theatre scene and raised the Sur Mundo Ensemble company re-branding the company label several times too. Driven by her anthropological vision to look at movement while approaching the subjective dancing body, Zuarez Argentinian tango is paramount to her work as a constructive element of dance language and dramaturgy. Her sense of interdisciplinarity foregrounded the intercultural bonds between The Netherlands and Argentina making essential Zuarez's process of Sur Mundo syncretic theater. In the late years, her company received commissions and awards for creative production from local and international organizations Besides the company, she continuous teaching tailored dance-and-body training, community practices, and mentoring dancers. Gabriela is an active member of international organizations such as IDOCDE and PWN, contributing to their educative, social, and empowerment actions.

Marnix Carpentier Alting

Light designer & scenarist

. Visual Artist and scenarist Marnix Carpentier Alting's engagement with contemporary theatre acknowledges him as a distinguished master light designer in The Netherlands and abroad. Marnix has sustained a long-term collaboration with Gabriela Zuarez, compromising with her cross-cultural tango perspective of contemporary theatre within Sur Mundo Ensemble, creating the light design for Zuarez's work. For him, the importance of the light scenario relies on the organic entity of image and sound came to be. He was the creator of that singular film titled ‘Book of Light’ and co-created the light-sound setting for Maximun City at the Melkweg Amsterdam

Damian Rosenthal

Guest dancer
Argentinian dance artist…

. is a highly appreciated Tango dancer in either local or international tango communities. He grew up in a family of dancers and later studied Tango in Buenos Aires in the 90s with famous teachers of the Argentinian Tango tradition. Since 2000 when he moved to Paris, he has continuously collaborated with many prestigious Tango festivals and companies. In 2021 Damian was invited by Zuarez in collaboration with the eclectic dance company Sur Mundo Ensemble. For years Damian has been a 'maestro' at the CITA -International Argentine Tango Congress of Buenos Aires and developed his actual teaching of Tango. He lives in Amsterdam with dancer-and-life partner Vanessa Fatauros while he pursues coworking in the tango ateliers in Paris.