And Rubberbandance has never been one to shy away from conflict. If relaying the story of a suffocating relationship, strained adieus or power struggles, founder and main Rubberbandance choreographer Victor Quijada's unique, corporeal language seems custom made to reflect the human condition, life's pushes and pulls, its inevitable, unpredictably choppy ebb and flow.
"It's not hip hop mixed with ballet. It's not that. It's not ballet mixed with hip hop. It's not that. It's a very personal, unique vocabulary and language and approach to movement and theater that comes from these very profound experiences in each of these worlds." -Victor Quijada, in an interview with Exploredance.com's Rachel Levin
Nicknamed "Rubberband" after a group of rappers said he moved like one, Quijada spent the earlier part of his youth popping, locking, and breaking on the streets of hometown LA and Baldwin Hills as early as age seven. While attending the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, his talent was discovered by the likes of postmodern dance choreographer Rudy Perez and in spite of his lack of classical training, Quijada was invited to join Twyla Tharp in New York -- Tharp is a choreographer considered to be the first in the industry to toy with crossover ballet, incorporating modern dance elements to the more rigid techniques of classical ballet. By 2000, he joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, practicing ballet by day and hip hop clubbing by night until he founded Rubberbandance Group in 2002, fusing his passions into one.
Quijada co-directs the group with Anne Plamondon, who's had a significant influence on his direction and choreographies, an accomplished dancer in her own right, having joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal in 1994 and gone on to work with over 30 choreographers and dance film directors since then.
- Watch Rubberbandance Group's:
- Hasta La Proxima
- DĂ©part
- Gravity of Center
- Small Explosions That Are Yours to Keep
- Punto Ciego