Diana Mora
Artist statement
Through my art, I try to reconnect ballet and spirituality.
As a Bolivian ballet dancer of indigenous descent (Quechua), I find that there is a false rhetoric in today's ballet pop culture. “Ballet is outdated”,"Ballet is superficial", "Ballet is racist". These statements, while sometimes true, are very limited and lack a larger context. Therefore, much of my work has been dedicated to research into the epistemology of ballet.
And since the theory should never be separated from the practice in this subject, I dedicate another important part of my work to the creation of new experimental ballet projects.
About me
I graduated as a professional ballet dancer at the Official Ballet School of Bolivia and started immediately to work at the National Ballet Company as a corps de ballet. Parallel to my stage career in Bolivia, I studied Graphic Design in the Universidad Catolica Boliviana. After getting enough professional experience in my homeland, I decided to take the chance of making a career in Europe.
I then moved to France, engaged in academic activity in the theory of dance at the Université Charles de Gaulle Lille III, but rapidly prioritized my stage experience.
After working at Ballets de France, I moved to Berlin, where I danced at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and pursued an experimental and creative ballet path. Having visual creative necessities made me start my own projects, some of them founded by the German government. My first Ballet-infused visual poem; A poem for Giselle, a poem for a Peasant; is currently being screened at festivals in Western Europe and the US. Parallel to my freelance experimental ballet career I developed myself professionally as a Graphic Designer, crafting print and digital material.
Last but not least, spirituality and esotericism are a very important part of my creative work. From indigenous practices to ceremonial religious magic. My experience with spiritual techniques and practices knows no ethnic borders. In today's world, where most "activist" movements seek to segregate, I find it urgent as an artist to call for collective healing, and to resist segregation at all costs.
Radical self accountability, discipline and universal love above all.
Gallery
