Introducing Daniel Fetecua Soto
A native of Bogotà, Colombia, Daniel is a New York-based dancer, choreographer, educator, and producer. Daniel has been a soloist member of the Limon Dance Company for ten years (2006-2016) dancing lead roles in Jose Limon’s master pieces and has appeared as guest artist in Pina Bausch’s Rite of Spring and Tannhäuser.
Daniel is a master teacher of the Limon technique and reconstructor of Limon’s repertory, faculty member of the Limón Institute and founder member of Limon4Kids program. He is the founder and artistic director of two dance companies: Pajarillo Pinta’o, a dance company that preserves and promotes the Colombian traditional dances through dance performance, workshops and classes and D-Moves, a contemporary dance project that combines Colombian traditions, Modern Dance, and German Tanz-Theater.
Daniel is a longtime collaborator of Colombian composer and musician Pablo Mayor. Together, they have created “Amalgama and El Barrio Project” and the educational residency Cumbia For Kids/Cumbia For All. Since 2008 has work with Native-Choreographer Rosalie Jones/Day Star for her work “Wolf: A Transformation”, from whom Daniel has the rights to the piece for the performance, preservation and promotion. Daniel is Member of Movement Migration an international collective of seasoned dance artists directed by Kim Jones. He is the producer and artistic director of LATITUDES DANCE FESTIVAL, a NYC based platform to promote and present Latin American and Native companies and choreographers from around the world.
Daniel has collaborated as a choreographer and guest teacher with REvolucionLatina and Salgado Productions both under Luis Salgado direction since 2011. Most recent project C.A.V.E.S with world renown dancer Blakeley White-McGuire is touring National and International in collaboration with local dance companies.
Daniel is currently resident choreographer and board member of ID Studio Theatre a not-for-profit organization led by Colombian actor German Jaramillo. He is also a resident choreographer at Teatro SEA directed by Manuel Moran for which he has choreographed “Sueño”- a Caribbean take of Shakespeare Midsummer Night Dream and “La Gloria: A Latin Cabaret”. For La Gloria, Fetecua won a HOLA award for Best Choreography. Daniel is adjunct dance professor at Hartford University.
Who makes up your art circle?
Dancers, musicians, actors, actresses, puppeteers, poets, theater directors, choreographers,
educators, kids, youth, elders. All from different back grounds, from Latinx, Afro-Latinxs
Indigenous communities from the South, center and North America, Europeans, African and
Asian artists.
How do you expand your art circle?
The world of artists is a small one specially in dance but overtime where there are workshops,
master classes, residencies, performances, I try to get to know the artists that are involve in
this projects and try to get to know them. I also look for local foods, music and dance events,
traditional gatherings, contemporary concerts and socials.
What value do you see in having a creative community?
A community that creates is the most powerful tool to grow and support the spirit of humanity, it is not only about one individual it is about the community and how we come together and weave those roots to create something bigger than one with acknowledgment and respect. It is like the palms in the beach holding the sand so that the ocean remains in place.
How does your artistic approach contribute to your community?
As I continue this artistic practice and continue to dig into “Who am I, and what do I dance
about” a quote from one of my mentors, the pioneer Native American Modern Dance and
drama, choreographer Daystar/Rosalie Jones, I look deeper into my teaching with kids and
young adults, deeper into my collaborations with other choreographers as Blakeley and deeper
into my own work trying to be conscious of the contemporary world we live in, conscious with
mother earth and conscious of everyone that I share my art, time and attention with.
-Daniel
Our weekly Art Circle series profiles artists throughout the community and is sponsored in part by Lafayette Visitor Enterprise Fund managed by Lafayette Travel
C.A.V.E.S. Project/entre el cuerpo y la naturaleza
(between the body and nature)
ARTISTIC MISSION STATEMENT
C.A.V.E.S. Project/entre el cuerpo y la naturaleza is a performance-based platform centered in
spaces both inside and outside of traditional theater. We create diverse ecosystems of live
performance including movement languages, music, theater and visual art. In our original
repertory we play and explore themes of care, trust, sensuality and vulnerability developed
from our lived experiences in both North and South American Nature and cultures.
As creative artists we continue to build upon our internationally celebrated careers within the
iconic modern dance lineages of Martha Graham, José Limón and Pina Bausch, and also
transcend the genre through innovation and development of new creative processes. Our
commitment to collaboration and to live performance is vital. C.A.V.E.S. Project/entre el cuerpo y la naturaleza received the 2023 O’Donnell/Green Grant for Dance and Music as well as commissions from ID Studio, Ballet Metropolitano de Medellín, Comfama Medellín, University of Louisiana, Buglisi Dance Theater, Movement Migration, NYC Office of Arts and Speci Projects and Fei Tian College. At the heart of our work is a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and access across international barriers; to creating art and conversation across borders and cultures. C.A.V.E.S. Compassion in Art making, Vulnerability in collaboration, Emotion in creating and Sensuality in performance.
