ConCuerpos

INCLUSIVE DANCE COMPANY THE NETHERLANDS

ConCuerpos works to dismantle barriers to participation, challenge conventional notions of dance, and contribute new ethics and aesthetics to the socio-cultural landscape.

Our Work

ABOUT

ConCuerpos is a groundbreaking dance company that develops artistic, educational, and research projects with dancers with and without disabilities. With a dual presence in Colombia and the Netherlands, ConCuerpos has been at the forefront of inclusive dance since 2009. In 2023, the company expanded its reach with a new branch in the Netherlands, extending its innovative work on accessibility beyond borders.


Rooted in a strong political commitment, ConCuerpos works to dismantle barriers to participation, challenge conventional notions of dance, and contribute new ethics and aesthetics to the socio-cultural landscape. With a focus on agency and the celebration of difference, the company creates poetic, moving, and thought-provoking professional productions featuring highly committed artists.


At the heart of ConCuerpos is ongoing artistic research into how to apply the concept of Universal Accessibility to dance. This involves integrating elements such as Sign Language, audio description, and creative subtitles into the dramaturgy and sound universe of its works. These accessibility tools are expanded as expressive means, allowing individuals with visual and hearing impairments to engage with the performance autonomously.


With its growing international presence, ConCuerpos continues to inspire and connect with diverse audiences, fostering a deeper appreciation for accessibility and artistry across borders.

Dance Company

Through creative laboratories and creation processes, ConCuerpos is developing artistic research on how to apply the concept of Universal Accessibility to dance. This involves integrating elements such as Sign Language, audio description, and creative subtitles into the work’s dramaturgy and soundscape. These accessibility tools expand as expressive means, enabling visually and hearing-impaired individuals to experience the work independently.

The Netherlands-based cast launched a creative laboratory in 2023 called Trees & Balloons, led by Laisvie Ochoa in collaboration with dancers Kamee Frieling, Dennis Massar, Anneloes van Schuppen, composer Marc Nukoop, and designers Alexander Petrounine and Anna Underowicz. This process allowed the group to meet on the dance floor, explore inclusive practices, and develop ideas on integrating Sign Language with choreography.

Project documentation:
Trees & Ballons

In 2024, the group had a two-week residency in Slovakia, deepening their exploration of the intersection between Sign Language and choreography, culminating in a 15-minute work.

Project Documentation:

https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/2824641/2824642

In 2025, ConCuerpos embarks on an international creative venture, co-producing with the esteemed Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogotá.

The proposal is to create a dance work uniting ConCuerpos’ dancers from Colombia and the Netherlands in an exchange of creative knowledge and practices. Both casts will come together in Bogotá for three weeks of intensive creative work.

To maximize exposure and impact after its premiere in Colombia, we propose an innovative, adaptable strategy: a modular format, enabling the presentation of either the full international cast or individual segments in each participating country. This approach allows exploration of the same theme from unique perspectives, under the direction of two outstanding choreographers: Diana León, who will create her part with Colombian dancers, and Laisvie Ochoa, who will lead the Dutch cast.

Inclusive Dance Class at DCU

On Mondays from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM, our Director Laisvie Andrea Ochoa teaches an inclusive dance class at Danscentrum Utrecht.

News

Team

LaisvieAndreaOchoaCC

Laisvie Andrea Ochoa

Director
Colombian-Lithuanian choreographer, inclusive dance expert, and video artist. She is the leader of ConCuerpos an international dance company where mixable dancers come together to develop artistic, educational, and research projects. She studied Psychology and a Specialization in Multimedia Creation in Colombia. In the Netherlands, she studied the Master in Choreography COMMA (CODARTS / Fontys) and the Embodied Life Art Program (ELAP), a somatic-based trajectory of 2 years. She trained in dance mainly at Danza Comun Academy in Bogota and has been a dancer in the Netherlands for the companies Tinaninani, Plan D, and Misiconi, and for the Colombian companies La Arenera (Dir: Margarita Roa), Tercero Excluido (Dir: Natalia Orozco), Korpe (Dir: Edwin Vargas), La Gata Cirko (Dir: Felipe Ortiz and Luisa Montoya). Laisvie is a member of the performing arts magazine El cuerpoeSpin and she has co-written 2 books in the field of Inclusive Dance. Laisvie has worked as a choreographer and/or video artist in Colombia, Argentina, and The Netherlands. Her creative exploration is based on working from subjectivity, developing bodily intelligence from a state of listening and finding creative freedom from the abundance of imagination. Laisvie addresses political and human issues in her works, creating multimedia performances that often involve live video projection. Currently, Laisvie is developing an artistic research on accessibility in dance, seeking to create a stage language that allows the autonomous participation of people with visual and hearing impairments as an audience. This means integrating elements such as subtitles, audio description, and Sign Language within the dramaturgy of the work with the interest to use these tools as means of expression. At the moment she moves between Colombia and the Netherlands, continuing her work with ConCuerpos, being a dancer, teacher, and maker.
Anneloes

Anneloes van Schuppen

Anneloes van Schuppen is a versatile dancer, choreographer, community artist, teacher and coach from the Netherlands. After studying Liberal Arts & Sciences, she graduated Cum Laude from Codarts Rotterdam in Dance in Education. Anneloes is driven to seek connections everywhere and promote creative collaborations. As a choreographer, she creates a wide range of performances with people of all ages, both with and without dance experience. She firmly believes that dance is a language everyone speaks, bringing people closer to themselves and each other. Her work includes creating performances in (special) education, working with dancers with and without disabilities, with elderly people in care homes, (advanced) amateur dancers, and students in preparatory dance programs. In addition to her work as a creator, Anneloes performs in various projects and for diverse companies both in the Netherlands and abroad (e.g. Sweden, United States, Greece, Japan). As a teacher and researcher in didactics and (critical) pedagogy, she currently works for two dance universities in the Netherlands (Codarts Rotterdam and Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de kunsten). Besides this, she teaches contemporary, improvisation and instant composition in multiple dance schools. She also offers dance workshops in the corporate sector to encourage people to be less in their heads and more in their bodies and provides one-on-one dance coaching for those looking to develop creatively and personally. Anneloes has been involved in Con Cuerpos the Netherlands from the beginning as a creative dancer and teacher.
Dennis Massar Small

Dennis Massar

D
Dancer, dance teacher, maker and advocate. He is born and raised in Rijswijk ZH, the Netherlands and currently based in Arnhem, The Netherlands. He is also deaf and has two CI’s (cochlear implants). Dennis is trained in contemporary dance (ArtEZ Artist Educator in Dance) and is also training in housedance. As a dancer and maker everything he does is somehow connected to communication. For example, he uses sign language as an inspiration, tool and way of moving in his dance. He not only uses it for making movements, he also adds it into the pieces. By doing this he combines the two worlds, dance and deaf together. Recently he also made a piece about online miscommunication. Which was performed on a secondary school. Dennis is currently active as a dancer/performer in different projects. Also he joins projects for different companies and participates in LAB’s. In these projects (national and international) Dennis brings in his background as a deaf person. Dennis is active in the dance inclusion field. He believes dance is for everyone and everyone has the ability to move, so to dance. Every body is different and they all bring something new to this world. That is the beauty of dance inclusion, the variety of people. In the future, Dennis will be focussing on working with people with hearing impairments.
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