I am a self-confessed European Mongrel Though born and raised in Spain, I have a mixed heritage: half Spanish, half German, with a bit of Polish mixed in for good measure (tired of ticking the 'white other' box on many a form, I invented the label of European Mongrel for myself). I moved to the UK in 2000 after receiving a scholarship to study the International Baccalaureate at UWC Atlantic College, going on to graduate with First Class Honours from a Drama and Theatre Studies degree (2006) at the University of Kent, Canterbury. Recently a good friend likened me to a cabinet of curiosities. Make of that what you will.
My practice is as much a hybrid as my identity. I'm live artist, performance-maker and event producer, and am co-director of Accidental Collective. I am also engaged in pedagogy, so my practice is conceptually inquisitive, and often conceived as Practice as Research. In 2005 I formed Accidental Collective with Daisy Orton. Together, and thanks to funding from Arts Council England and various local authorities, we have made full-length stage performances, promenade pieces, immersive environments, one-to-one experiences, and celebratory events; presenting our work in theatre and non-theatre spaces across the UK. Treating each project on its own terms, we’ve taken site-specific, interactive or community-based approaches in turn. In 2010 I completed an AHRC-funded PhD at the University of Kent under the auspices of Prof. Paul Allain's three-year British Grotowski Project. My research investigated the impact and influence of renowned Polish director Jerzy Grotowski on British theatre. The primary aim was to outline a historiography stretching back from Grotowski’s first contact with the UK stage in 1966, and his work with the RSC on Peter Brook’s production of U.S./US, to the practices of companies and performers who were part of the British alternative/fringe scene. The title for my thesis was: Jerzy Grotowski’s influence on British theatre, 1966 – 1980 (histories, perspectives, recollections). |
Between 2006 and 1016 I was an Associate Lecturer at the University of Kent, in Drama and Theatre Studies at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I have also taught Central School of Speech and Drama and Canterbury Christ Church University as an associate and/or visiting lecturer. Since September 2017 I am a permanent Teaching Fellow, specialising in practice, at the University of Birmingham's Department of Drama and Theatre Arts. Over the years I have developed an eclectic and embodied pedagogy, both within higher education as well as community-based contexts (i.e. Galera Performa, 2021). My areas of expertise include live art, devising, dramaturgy and new approaches to directing, contemporary ensemble practices, site-specificity, and auto/biographical performance.