DANIEL ORTIZ AMEZQUITA (Colombia)

I’m Daniel Ortiz Amézquita, a Colombian performing artist. I hold a bachelor’s degree in this field from Javeriana University in Bogotá, but beyond that, I identify as a performing artist to expand my creative possibilities. Defining myself as such is  a continuous exercise and it means recognizing the performing arts field as a multidimensional universe to which I relate through different approaches, roles, and questions.

I´m an actordancerdirectorproducerculturalmanagerstorytellerandresearcher. Most of the time, I’m all of these roles,  at times I’m just a few, or just one, sometimes I’m a mixture of some of them and there are times in which I’m none of them.

The context has constructed an idea of what performance means, of how much agency the spectator has, of what is deemed theatrical and what isn’t. These preconceptions drive me to explore how to create a caring and humane methodology for designing performances, what makes a performance alive, and the potential of the encounter in the performing arts, and so on. All of These concepts, questions and problems created a huge puzzle that inspires me to question what I’ve been taught and what’s possible, questions that I have tried to answer through laboratories and the creation of prototypes with my performance research group Cuerpos que Gritan Lab.

I construct and deconstruct, organize and disorganize my  practices and techniques according to the needs of each creative process. I borrow from contemporary dance, theatrical and danced improvisation, acting, and dramaturgy to nurture each process.

Currently, in 2025, after creating two plays—Bye Bye Fabio (Illustrated Theater) and Manifesto Against Theatre—I am exploring the boundaries of representation, the relationship between action and technology, and the creation of live devices and dispositions for performers on stage.