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 Ollér, Sol Picó, Chevi Muraday, Juan de Torres, Daniela Merlo, Richard Siegal y Stephan Boko. 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 focuses her work on contemporary creation and teaching. Since then she has premiered the pieces: “La invención de la realidad“/ The invention of reality, “Terrario [La tierna indiferencia del mundo]“/ Terrarium [The tender indifference of the world], “Artificios y Leopardos“/ Artifices and Leopards, “Árido, Seda“/ Arid, Silk, “Parámetros“/ Parameters, “Grita“/ Shout, “Réquiem al 33“/ Requiem at 33, “Que paren la tierra que me subo a una canica“/ Stop the Earth, I´m gettting onto a marble y “Cambio curso de discusión avanzada por asiento con vistas“/ I exchange a course of advanced argumentation for a seat with a view. Her pieces have been presented at festivals and theaters such as: Festival Internacional Madrid en Danza, Teatros del Canal, Teatro de la Abadía, Auditorio La Mutant (Valencia), Festival Dansa Quinzena Metropolitana (Barcelona), Teatro TNT (Sevilla), Festival Ellas Crean, Teatro Pradillo (Madrid), Lekuz Leku (Bilbao), Mes de Danza de Sevilla, Auditorio de Tenerife, Cartografías de la Danza, Gatadans, Festival 3D, Festival Encuentros en Asturias, Nerja Danza, Huellas-Danza en paisajes insólitos, ACT Festival (Bulgaria), ArtEZ University of the Arts (Países Bajos), Festival Al borde y Festival Endanzante (Colombia).
She has been a resident company at the Canal Choreographic Center in the years 2011, 2021, and 2022, and her productions have received support from: Choreographic Production Grants from the Community of Madrid, Teatros del Canal, A GATAS Research and Creation Residency (promoted by the Conde Duque Contemporary Culture Center, Teatro de la Abadía, and the Royal School of Dramatic Art of Madrid), National Dance Company (Spain), La Faktoría Choreographic Center, L’Obrador Creation Space, Paco Rabal Cultural Center, and the Dance Creation Scholarships from the Mayor’s Office of Medellín (Colombia).
Her piece “Artificios y Leopardos” was awarded the Best Performing and Best Staging Awards at the XIII CENIT 2021 (Seville’s Contest of New Theatrical Researchers) and was a candidate for the 2021 Max Awards for Performing Arts as Best Emerging Authorship and Best Female Dance Performer. She received the Best Performer Award at the IX Burgos-Nueva York International Choreography Contest and the First Prize in Contemporary Dance at the IX Dance Marathon of the Madrid Theater (2010) for “Parámetros” and the Special Jury Prize at the IV Dance Marathon of the Madrid Theater (2006) for “Cambio curso de discusión avanzada por asiento con vistas”
She combines stage creation with choreographic designs for events and film such as the Opening Ceremony of the IX South American Games Medellín 2010 (Colombia), the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 55th San Sebastián International Film Festival, the Cutty Sark /Shangay-London show, the Efficacy Awards Ceremony, and various stage productions for companies (Ericsson, Randstad, Energy System, Axe, Balay, TVE1). 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 was professor in the Bachelor of Dance at the Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia) and also director and driving force behind 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.
She is a guest choreographer for various productions at: ArtEZ Bachelor of Dance (Netherlands), Descalzinha Danza (Madrid), Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia), and the María de Ávila Higher Conservatory (Madrid). She teaches contemporary dance lessons and scenic research workshops at national and international institutions: Broadway Dance Center-Tokyo (Japan), Institute of Culture and Heritage of Antioquia (Colombia), Ballet House (Colombia), Comandante Fortea Dance Conservatory, Professional Dance Conservatory of Valencia, Elephant in the Black Box Company, Carmen Senra School (Spain), Danza 180º, and The Place Dance Studio-Madrid.
In 2024 she begins the research process for a new piece, “Haz arder mi leño“/ Set my log on fire as a resident company at the Canal Choreographic Center and the María Pagés Choreographic Center (Madrid).