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Artists
Daughter of a violinist and conductor, Deborah Colker was born in 1961 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She played the piano for 12 years, studied psychology and was a professional volleyball player before beginning her professional dance career.
Between 1980 and 1988, she became a performer with Coringa, directed by the Uruguayan Graciela Figueiroa, an important dance company in Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s. In 1984, she was invited by the renowned Brazilian actress Dina Sfat to choreograph the movement scenes of a play. This was the beginning of what would be her professional career for the next 10 years. She continued to collaborate with the most important directors and actors in Brazil in more than 30 plays.
She founded her own company in 1994 and has created a dozen shows since then. Her works Vulcão, Velox, Mix, Rota, Casa and 4 por 4 are celebrated by the public and critics.
In addition to dance performances, she also choreographs music and video shows, and works for film, circus and fashion. She collaborated several times in the famous parade of the samba schools, a major event of the Rio carnival. During the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany she created the only dance piece to be included in the cultural activities program, Maracanã, which was later integrated into the repertoire of Cia Deborah Colker under the title Dínamo. In 2009 Colker became the first woman to direct and choregraph a Cirque du Soleil show, OVO. Another highlight of her career has been the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics which she choreographed for 6,000 dancers.
In 2001, Deborah Colker was the first Brazilian artist to win the Laurence Olivier Award (UK), for her show Mix.
The Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker was founded in 1994 and went on stage for the first time with Vulcão (Volcano). Although a beginner, the company was invited to open the “O Globo em Movimento” Festival in Rio’s Municipal Theater, one of the most important theatres in Brazil. The explosion happened the following year with Velox. The show, famous for its scene on a climbing wall, became a pop phenomenon.
In 1996, the company had its first world premiere outside of Brazil. Staged especially for the prestigious Lyon Dance Biennial, Mix (a mix of Vulcão and Velox) launched the company internationally, and five years later the show received the stamp of excellence by the Society of London Theatre, receiving the 2001 Laurence Olivier Award, in the category "Outstanding Achievement in Dance", an honor never before granted to a Brazilian artist or group.
Since then, the Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker has toured the four continents, performing on some of the most important stages in the world, such as the John F. Kennedy Center (Washington, EUA), Joyce Theater and New York City Center, Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Canada), Barbican Centre (London, England) Birmingham Hippodrome (England), The Play House and Festival Theatre (Edinburgh), Maison de la Dance (Lyon, France), Centro Cultural de Belem (Lisbon, Portugal), Admiral Spalatz (Berlin), Stopera Muziektheater (Amsterdam), Esplanade Theatre (Singapore), Hong Kong Cultural Grand Theatre, Macau Cultural Centre (China), Kanagawa Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan), Tel Aviv Opera House, Royal Opera House Muscat (Oman), Westpactrust St James Theatre (Wellington, New Zealand), Teatro Nacional Cervantes e Opera Allianz (Buenos Aires, Argentina), among many others.
Research on the relationship of body and space resulted in Rota (Route) (1997), Casa (House) (1999) and 4 por 4 (4 by 4) (2002). Parts of Velox and Rota were joined in 2016 to make Vero, a production that became the key-piece of the repertoire.
With Nó (Knot) (2005) and Cruel (2008), Deborah entered a phase she considers more existential, touching on themes such as love and desire. Between the two she created Dínamo, which was still called Maracanã when it was included in the programming for the 2006 World Cup, in Germany.
Approaching literature became the next challenge. Tatyana (2011) was based on the novel in verse Evguêni Oniéguin, by Russian Alexsandr Púchkin. And Belle (2014) was freely inspired by Belle de jour, by the Franco-Argentine writer Joseph Kessel – and transformed into film by Luis Buñuel.
With Cão Sem Plumas (Dog Without Feathers), in 2017, the company sets out for another relationship with words, now the poetry of João Cabral de Melo Neto, confirming continual transformation.
Cão Sem Plumas received the Benois de la Danse Award 2018 at Moscow for its choreography.
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