About Ariadna
My name is Ariadna Gironès Mata. I’m a Catalan dancer, choreographer and performer.
When I started ballet at four, dance was like a game to me. Quickly, it also became a vehicle to articulate and express emotions, feelings and experiences that I struggled to put into words. I discovered physicality as a means of communication, and I threw myself into it fully. I felt I could never have enough physical vocabulary to express what was inside, so I worked to expand it, studying various dance styles, then branching out into circus and physical theatre. I pushed my body’s boundaries in the hopes that breaking them would bring me ever greater release.
I eventually started getting injuries which forced me to reassess the way I was practicing and working. I realised these injuries’ source wasn’t only mechanical, that they also reflected states of mind and experiences I went through.
This took on a greater importance when I developed a health issue medical treatments could alleviate, but not solve. I began searching for ways to heal my body by focusing on my mind.
My current performance and choreographic work builds on my research in theories of non-duality and their transposition on stage. My first solo piece, So What?!, seeks to bypass the body-mind duality ingrained in most of us, through a multidisciplinary exploration of different philosophical and spiritual traditions. Using various conceptual lenses (psychological, sociological, political) and tools of expression (dance, circus, theatre), my aim is to allow both audience and performer to bridge the mind-body gap and experience a form of cathartic release.
BIOGRAPHY
I’ve worked on stage and on camera, in dance and in circus, creating and performing as well as teaching. I see dance as an instrument of self-reflection and exploration. This has been a driver of my artistic research throughout my career and, more recently, it has led me to create the solo So What?!, a deeply intimate journey into the condition of female bodies.
I’ve always sought to develop as many tools of physical expression as I could. After following a modern dance training program while in high school, I chose to study economics at Barcelona’s Universitat Oberta Catalunya while also continuing an independent and diversified dance education. I then entered the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD), and later joined its youth company Bodhi Project, where I worked with Roberto Olivan, Matej Kejzar, Milli Biterlli, Keren Levi and Oleg Soulimenko. I also took part in a research program led by Wim Vandekeybus.
On leaving the Bodhi Project, in 2011, I was cast in ErrequeErre’s dance video Rembihnútur, and created a duet with Claudio Rojas, Solo Entre Dos, which was listed at the Burgos-New York International Choreography Contest and won the people’s choice award at the Estruch Festival. From 2013 to 2016, I was based in the UK, where I created Refugees of the Septic Heart with Tom Dale Company before joining Motionhouse, with whom I went on to create Broken and perform in Scattered, Captive, Underground, Lost and Fragile. In 2017, after moving to Belgium, I took part in the creation of How to Sell A Murder House under the direction of Nicki Liszta. The following year, I joined Voetvolk/Lisbeth Gruwez, with whom I created and performed in The Sea Within.
Between 2016 and 2017, I also performed in three circus creations: Les Argonautes’ show Entre D’Eux and, on Chinese pole, Cie Lady Cocktail’s duet On-Off and Primavez Collectif’s duet Laisse-Moi.
Besides creating my solo, So What?!, I’m currently involved in two new creations: Julien Grosvalet’s M.A.D. and Alexander Vantournhout’s Contre-jour.
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Ariadna has taught throughout her performing career. Her teaching credentials include Motionhouse, NunArt and the Ecole Superieure des Arts du Cirque (ESAC), as well as assisting Laura Aris at Impulstanz and Deltebre Dansa. She also shares her own practice, Hard Candy, in workshops throughout Europe.
Use the link below to see more information about Ariadna's workshops
professional EXPERIENCE
Alexander Vantournhout | Contre-Jour | 2021 -
Julien Grosvalet | M.A.D | 2021 -
Ariadna Gironès Mata | So What?! | 2021 -
Voetvolk/Lisbeth Gruwez | The Sea Within | 2018 - 2021
Baptiste Conte | Gymnase | 2019 - 2020
Backsteinhaus Produktion | How to Sell a Murder House | 2017
Collectif Primavez | Laisse-moi | 2017
Cie. Les Argonautes | Entre d’Eux | 2016
Cie. Lady Cocktail | On-Off | 2016
Motionhouse | Broken | 2013 - 2015
Motionhouse & NoFit State Circus | R&D Block | 2015
Motionhouse | Captive | 2014 - 2015
Motionhouse | Fragile | 2015
Motionhouse | Lost | 2015
Motionhouse | Underground | 2015
Motionhouse | Scattered | 2014
Tom Dale Company | Refugees of the Septic Heart | 2013
Andrea Berth | La Traviata | 2011 - 2012
Errequeerre | Rembihnútur | 2011 - 2012
Ariadna Gironès & Claudio Rojas | Solo Entre Dos | 2011 - 2012
Keren Levi | Moving Right | 2009 - 2011
Oleg Soulimenko | Walking Chakras | 2009 - 2011
Milli Bitterli | Have You Ever Been Close to Human | 2009 - 2011
Roberto Olivan | Only Real When Shared | 2009 - 2011
Matej Kejzar | New Burlesque | 2009 - 2011
