Biography
Poliana Lima (Brazil, 1983) is a choreographer, dancer and teacher based in Madrid. Dance, for her, is a tool to talk about the human condition and the mystery of our existence. In her work, Lima explores the possibilities of a highly functioning minimalistic poetics of the body through identity and memory as the key aspects to connect with audiences. These themes also inform her pedagogic approaches to choreographing, performing and teaching. She holds a degree in Social Sciences from the State University of Campinas and trained in classical ballet and contemporary dance in Sao Paulo.
In 2011 she made her first creation, the short piece Palo En La Rueda. A year later, she began to collaborate with the Lithuanian choreographer Ugne Dievaityte with whom she created: Es Como Ver Nubes, which received the Audience Award at the 24th Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid, among other recognitions, and Flesh, a piece presented in several national and international festivals and venues such as Edimburg’s Fringe, Aerowaves’ Spring Forward Festival, Mercat de les Flors, New Baltic Dance Festival, La Ventana de La Danza (Madrid in Dance) and the Korzo Theater.
In 2013, Lima was invited to participate in the European project ‘Performing Gender’ and created the performance Body-Rag for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb (Croatia). In 2014, Lima premiered her first ensemble piece, Atávico, awarded with the first prize, the Audience Award and was the Critics’ choice at the 29th Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid. A year later she enjoyed a Dance Web Scholarship (Impulstanz Vienna) and a residency at Tanzhaus Zurich. The first version of Things move but don’t say anything was created in 2016 for Laboratorio 180, and in 2017 she premiered the solo Hueco at the Madrid Canal Theaters, a piece which toured internationally. During the seasons 2018/2020, Lima was an associate artist of the Centro Conde Duque de Madrid where she has premiered her latest piece, Here, Always. She re-worked Things move but do not say anything in 2020, which she has presented at Teatros del Canal in Madrid, the Festival Días de Dança’en Oporto and at the Center National de la Danse in Paris.
