Mercedes Pedroche
Born in Madrid (Spain), 1974.
Master in Theater Creation with Honors (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid), directed by the playwright and theater director Juan Mayorga, working with professors such as Pablo Messiez, Álvaro Tato, Enzo Cormann, Mateo Feijóo, José Sanchís Sinisterra, José Luis García Barrientos and Sol Picó.
She developed her dance training in Madrid (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, Carmen Senra Professional Dance School, Conservatorio Superior María de Ávila), New York (Steps, Broadway Dance Center), Rome (Istituto Addestramento Lavoratori dello Spettacolo) and Vienna (Impulstanz). She furthers her training through specific workshops with Mark Tompkins, Mónica Valenciano, Daniel Abreu, Iñaki Azpillaga, Germán Jaúregui, Josef Frucek, Linda Kapetanea, Roberto Olivan, Guillermo Weickert, Aitana Cordero, Ángela Rodríguez, Chevi Muraday, Rebeca Falcón, Mónica Runde y Teresa Nieto.
Bachelor Degree in Business and Economics (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and Degree in Classical Guitar (Real Conservatorio de Música de Madrid).
She begins her professional journey as a performer in 1995 under the direction of the spanish musician and composer Nacho Cano, in the “A world separated by the same God” musical tour. She has moved within a number of different dance environments at the hands of contemporary dance choreographers such as Ángela Rodríguez, Ramón Oller, Sol Picó, Chevi Muraday, Juan de Torres, Daniela Merlo, Stephan Boko and Richard Siegal. She has also worked in musical theater (“Grease”, “Peter Pan”, “La Magia de Broadway”), films (“20 centímetros”, “Los Manager”, “Una hora más en Canarias”), commercials, and for spanish and italian television (TVE1, A3, Tele5, RAI1- Italy, Mediaset-Italy).
From 2005, she channels her professional career towards creation and teaching. Since then she has premiered the pieces: “Terrario [La tierna indiferencia del mundo]“/ Terrarium [The tender indifference of the world, “Artificios y Leopardos” / Leopards and Devices, “Árido, Seda“/ Arid, Silk, “Parámetros“/ Parameters, “Cambio curso de discusión avanzada por asiento con vistas“/ I exchange a course of advanced argumentation for a seat with a view, “Réquiem al 33“/ Requiem at 33, and “Grita“/ Shout. Her pieces have been presented at festivals and theaters such as: Festival Internacional Madrid en Danza, Teatros del Canal, Teatro de la Abadía, Teatro Pradillo (Madrid), Festival Dansa Quinzena Metropolitana (Barcelona), Festival Ellas Crean, Lekuz Leku (Bilbao), Mes de Danza de Sevilla, Auditorio La Mutant (Valencia), Auditorio de Tenerife, Cartografías de la Danza, Gatadans, Festival 3D, Festival Encuentros en Asturias, Nerja Danza, Huellas-Danza en paisajes insólitos, ACT Festival (Bulgaria), Festival Al borde and Festival Endanzante (Colombia).
She has been a resident company at the Centro Coreográfico Canal in 2011, 2021, 2022 and her productions have received support from the Ayudas a la Producción Coreográfica de la Comunidad de Madrid and the Becas de Creación de la Alcaldía de Medellín (Colombia).
Best Performer Award at the IX International Choreography Contest Burgos – New York, Special Jury Prize and First Prize in Contemporary Dance at the IV and IX Dance Marathon of the Teatro de Madrid (2006, 2010). Her piece “Artificios y Leopardos” won the Research and Creation Residency A GATAS and was supported by the Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Conde Duque, the Teatro de la Abadía and the Real Escuela de Arte Dramático de Madrid. She has been awarded for this piece with the prizes for Best Interpretation and Best Staging in XIII CENIT 2021 (Contest of New Theatrical Researchers of Seville). She has also been nominated for the Max Awards for the Performing Arts 2021 as Best Newcomer Authorship and Best Female Dance Performer. Her last creation “Terrario [La tierna indiferencia del mundo]” was premiered at the Teatros del Canal in September 2022, receiving the support of the Centro Coreográfico Canal, the Compañía Nacional de Danza, the Centro Coreográfico La Faktoría, the Espai de Creació L’Obrador and the Centro Cultural Paco Rabal.
She has combined the creation of contemporary dance pieces with commissioned choreographic designs for films and corporate events such as the Opening Ceremony of the IX South American Games Medellín 2010 (Colombia), the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 55th San Sebastian International Film Festival, the show Cutty Sark/ Shanghai-London, the Ceremony of the Efficiency Awards and several works for companies (Ericsson, Randstad, Energy System, Axe, Balay, RTVE). Under the direction of the filmmaker Manuel Palacios she collaborates as a choreographer and performer in the documentary “Sin vendas en la memoria“/ No more bandages in our memory, commissioned by the Basque Government as a tribute to the victims of terrorism.
Between 2011 and 2016 she has developed her professional work in Colombia as a professor in the Bachelor of Dance at the Universidad de Antioquia/ Medellín and also directing ÁRBOL, a creation and training platform that has promoted interdisciplinary links and performances in museums and public spaces. She has also been a member of the jury of the Dance Creation Aids of the Instituto Distrital de las Artes de Bogotá and the Ministry of Culture of Colombia.
In conjunction with her work as creator, she is also involved in pedagogic activities. She teaches in the professional dance training at Danza 180º and at Estudio 3 (Madrid). She also conducts scenic research workshops in national and international institutions: Broadway Dance Center-Tokyo (Japan), Instituto de la Cultura y Patrimonio de Antioquia, Ballet Folklórico de Antioquia, Ballet Metropolitano de Medellín (Colombia), Conservatorio de Danza Comandante Fortea (Madrid, Spain), Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Valencia (Spain), Elephant in the Black Box Dance Company, Escuela Carmen Senra (España), Descalzhina Danza y Estudio 3 (Madrid, Spain).
During 2023 she is collaborating as a choreographer at ArtEZ University of the Arts (Netherlands) with the creation of a piece as part of their Bachelor of Dance. At the same time she is one of the invited creators in the “Proyecto Materia” of Descalzinha Danza (Madrid) and will direct a Creation Residency at Ballet House (Colombia), within the IBERESCENA programme.