Lisi Estaras
Begins to dance in Cordoba, Argentina (su ciudad natal). After combining her studies in social work with professional dance training , she leaves Argentina at age of 19 to study at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. Quite soon afterwards, she joins the ranks of the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv.
After five years in Israel, Lisi moves to Europe and starts her career with les ballets C de la B in 1997. She creates and dances Iets op Bach, Wolf, VSPRS, Pitié!, C(H)ŒURS and Tauberbach by Alain Platel, Tempus Fugit by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Learning how to walk by Benny Claessens (NTGent).
In the mean time, and under the umbrella of les ballets C de la B, she choreographed Patchagonia, Bolero, The Gaza Monologues, primero-erscht and Dans Dans, a coproduction with het KIP (Ghent).
Through the years, she starts to make her own work, independently from les ballets: she creates and dances Bartime with Einat Tuchman (Campo), Cocina Erotica, No Wonder & Hillbrowfication with Constanza Macras (Schaubühne & Gorki Theater, Berlin), Leche (Passerelle) and A distancia (Teatro Real, Córdoba).
Lisi hace coreografías para obras de teatro y entrena a otros artistas/compañías. Trabajó en Hiob de Sandra Strunz (Theater Bonn), Das Brennende Haus de Emilio Garcia Wehbi y Maricel Alvarez (City Theatre Bern), The speech for dancer Irene Russolillo (Festival Equilibrium, Rome) y recientemente Het Hamilton Complex de Lies Pauwels (HETPALEIS Amberes), que también tuvo una edición alemana en el Staatstheater Bochum.
En 2015 crea y baila el solo La Esclava junto a la coreógrafa Ayelen Parolin (La Biennale de Charleroi, les Brigitinnes, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles (Paris), Le Gymnase (Roubaix), Julidans (Amsterdam).
In 2016, she creates the performance Monkey Mind with three dancers with down syndrome for Platform K . This creation was significant for her later choreographic work as the dance material offered by the dancers with disabilities reinforced her artistic direction, the principle of the ‘Monkey Mind’ referring to “the endless chatter in your head as you jump from one thought to another, like a monkey jumping from tree to tree”. The method uses the change of thoughts and its translation into movements and words. For the research into her ‘Monkey Mind’ method, Lisi was granted a scholarship by the Flemish Government. This research concentrated on the themes of kinesthetic, empathy and the mirror neurons. It is related to art (dance) brut and will be further explored and developed in the projects to come.
In Ghent, she co-creates with Alain Platel and Quan Bui Gnoc, Le Sacre du Printemps which brought more than 200 people dancing in the streets of Ghent for the Day of the dance 2018. Teatro Calderòn of Valladolid (E) invited Lisi and Quan to do a remake in their city in 2019.
Early 2019, Lisi created The Jewish Connection Project in collaboration with Ido Batash, a piece for five dancers and a soprano (première 14 & 15 February, Campo Ghent).
In October 2020, Bibliomaniacs premièred. A dance piece Lisi made with 6 female dancers of the Itinerant Dance Ensemble, in a production of Dorky Park I Constanza Macras (Berlin). On the occasion of her 50th birthday, Lisi will make a solo that is given the title #THISISBEAUTY.
In 2021 and 2022, Lisi is frequently asked in as guest choreographer , amongst others by Mercat de les Flors (Barcelona), Raumstation 12 gbr (Berlin) the Flemish Opera (Ghent) and Napoli Theatre.