About DeNada Dance Theatre

DeNada Dance Theatre is a UK based dance company that exports, explores and subverts Hispanic and Latin culture in Britain and beyond. Directed by choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra, it entertains, provokes and inspires through vigourous physicality, extravagant theatricality, and the blending of dance vocabularies that creates its distinct style, offering work that is accessible, humorous and passionately poignant.

The company, which was recently nominated for the 2016 UK Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards in the category of ‘Best Independent Company’, currently performs work by Pons Guerra, and is on its second national tour of the triple bill, Ham and Passion. Formed by an international cast of dancers, of which a majority are of Hispanic or Latino descent, it takes a unique place in the UK dance scene as a company representing Latino culture and aesthetics, with a strong commitment to defending cultural, gender and sexual equality and diversity. It works within the choreographic vocabularies of contemporary dance, classical ballet, flamenco and Latino dance forms to devise unique and innovative narrative productions which are tainted with dark humour, irony and sensuality, always with strong subversive and reflective undertones. It has performed internationally, across the UK, Europe and recently the Caribbean, at key international events and venues. Highlights include the International Dance Festival of Santo Domingo, International Dance Festival Birmingham, the No Ballet International Choreographic Competition (Frankfurt), Homotopia Festival, Agitart Festival (Spain), and Sadler’s Wells’ Flamenco Festival.

“Small, bold outfits like DeNada are hot right now, delivering with an urgency that larger contemporary ensembles are not.”

Luke Jennings, for The Observer.

DeNada is headed up by Artistic Director, Carlos Pons Guerra, born in Gran Canaria, Spain, who has been creating dance since 2012, year in which he founded DeNada Dance Theatre. Nominated for the Best Emerging Artist category at the National Dance Awards 2015, he has been described as a choreographer "of innate intelligence and theatricality" by Dance Europe Magazine.

For DeNada Dance Theatre, Carlos has created the three works that form Ham and Passion, a gender-bending triple bill that explores the intrinsic drama that is being Spanish, and which The Observer describes as "Funny, sexy and flamboyant". Funded by Arts Council England and supported by a range of national and international dance organisations, Carlos choreographed Young Man! (2012), O Maria (2013) and Passionaria (2014). Currently on its second national tour of the UK, with sell-out performances in cities like London andBirmingham, these works have also been performed independently at several international venues and events; highlights include the Palacio de Bellas Artes of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) Theater im Pfalzbau (Germany), The Place (London), International Dance Festival Birmingham,  Homotopia Festival (Liverpool), Agitart Festival (Cataluña) and the Eduardo Urculo Theatre (Madrid). Ham and Passion received two nominations for the 2016 UK Critics' Circle National Dance Awards: Best Independent Company and Outstanding Female Performance (Modern) for Marivi Da Silva's role in his Young Man!.