Wilber Mendoza is a digital and scenic movement artist, dance film producer and dance educator. Awarded with a Full ride artistic scholarship, he graduated from Bachelor in Dance at Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Mexico (2020). He did Art and Human studies High School with minor in Theater at Centro de Educación Artística "Miguel Cabrera", in Oaxaca, Mexico (2016).
Wilber’s work is focused on improvisation practices and dance films production. It has been presented in kNOwBOX dance Film Festival (USA, KOR, MEX 2021, 2022), CAMP_iN Encuentro Escénico (MEX, 2021), Mérida Fest (MEX 2020, 2021), Festival Yucatán Escénica (MEX, 2020 y 2021), Texas Dance Improvisation Festival (USA, 2019, 2020 y 2021), Festival Internacional VideodanzaBA (ARG, 2019) and Muestra Movimiento Audiovisual (MEX, 2019).
Mendoza’s professional training and academic formation is remarked by his participation in Jacob Jonas Digital Intensive (USA, online, 2021), GALLIM Dancing with the Camera (USA, online, 2021), Gaga Intensive in Barcelona (ESP, 2019), and PERFORMÁTICA (MEX, 2018). He has also trained at Paris Marais Dance School (FRA, 2022), Henny Jurrëns Studio (NLD, 2022), La Morada Central Creativa (MEX, 2021), Texas Woman’s University (USA, 2019) and Mime Centrum Berlin (GER, 2019).
Wilber collaborates with his network to create, perform and promote dance works for both stage and screen with Coctelito de Videodanza (MEX), Proyecto: Segundo Piso (MEX) and kNOwBOX dance (USA, KOR, MEX).
Wilber is Co-Director of Coctelito de Videodanza, a platform dedicated to produce, promote and distribute dance films.
Wilber has been part of Proyecto: Segundo Piso since 2018, creating, performing and touring company’s repertory in Mexico.
kNOwBOX dance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts service organization that creates, collaborates, and discusses art with artists and the public.
Mexico | 2021 | 11 min
Through a white and endless blank space, the emptiness invites us to embody three characters who are guided by their inner impulses and by the minimalistic space around them...
Through a white and endless blank space, the emptiness invites us to embody three characters who are guided by their inner impulses and by the minimalistic space around them. It all started with a story, one sentence and a couple of words that created a unique world on each character’s mind. We selected elements that triggered movement and storytelling; and as process moved forward, we settled down on encounter points which allowed performers to improvise in between scenes. Inspired by a celebrated book, we challenge the significance of ordinary objects and symbols by taking tea consumption to an altered state of mind.
Mexico | 2020 | 7 min
The goofiness and the imaginary which represent our aesthetic, are embodied through movement, spoken word and visual motifs built from our present...
The goofiness and the imaginary which represent our aesthetic, are embodied through movement, spoken word and visual motifs built from our present. The social distancing measures of the pandemic made us embrace the distance between each of our societies and explore our present through improvisation practices. This work is a translation of the result of object personification, improvising with the juxtaposition of beach, mountain and city landscape, and having fun with popular references of our Latino Culture. We said balloons, confetti, Selena and unicorns, however, now it is all a mix of our improvised virtual conversations… somewhere swimming in the web.
Yuc. Oax. Mexico, 2020.
Mexico | 2020 | 6 min
"We never kissed" was created based on dance improvisation, following the relationships: body to body, bodies to space and space to camera...
"We never kissed" was created based on dance improvisation, following the relationships: body to body, bodies to space and space to camera. While exploring the closeness of our skins and the sharing of our weight, we took our friendship to a place where touching becomes a highly valuable experience, beyond any romantic significance. We listened the elements of nature and architecture around us to trigger our movement and corporeality. Wind and clouds were our starting point. Stone walls shaped our muscularity. We imitated the volume and the motion of the threes and the dust. We embodied the emptiness of our locations and attempted to fill them with our movement and our closeness to each other. By placing the camera in stillness and trying different angles, we allowed ourselves to be sensible and vulnerable in front of this device, considering it as one of the main communication tool nowadays. But we never kissed.
Oaxaca, Mexico. 2020.
Mexico | 2019 | 6 min
This work offers the opportunity to watch and to be part of a distorted reality in a matter of minutes, where we present contrast between the identity expression we have grown with and the one we want to live with, no boundaries, no roles...
This work offers the opportunity to watch and to be part of a distorted reality in a matter of minutes, where we present contrast between the identity expression we have grown with and the one we want to live with, no boundaries, no roles. The #pretty body, reflections, colors, brightness, textures, music and space shake on screen, questioning and staking out the #pretty and #suitable according to the binary society.
Puebla, Mexico. 2019.
Performer | Creative collaborator | Mexico | 2021
"The Buffalo" arises from an indeterminate and unpredictable set of circumstances. It arises from impossibility, longing and resistance...
"The Buffalo" arises from an indeterminate and unpredictable set of circumstances. It arises from impossibility, longing and resistance. From not wanting and wanting too much at the same time. From theoretical and practice based research, and dreams. From stepping aside... But above all it arises from a generous collaboration between those involved. This is a fundamentally improvisational work. The improvisational state is approached as value system of the process, and as a generative, open and permeable state. Full of possibilities. We appreciate the opportunity to gather today to become aware of the things that remain. Of the things that refuse to perish in these strange, complicated and lonely times.
Director | Performer | Mexico | 2021
It is said that frogs know how to swim. Between waters and swamps, this toad decides to jump. Like toads advancing, together we move forward...
It is said that frogs know how to swim. Between waters and swamps, this toad decides to jump. Like toads advancing, together we move forward. "The story of a frog" is a work based on improvisation inspired by listening and the support of the other. Together we build our puddle, where water, wind, light moves us. This work had its premiere on November 19, 2021 at the Festival Yucatán Escénica, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. It is currently still in process and has a duration of 13:00 min.
Dancer | Mexico | 2021
The Chairs is a movement project that explores architecture, lighting and objects through the body and its moods. It allows the viewer to live within the memories created by the performers and live as if it were a reality itself...
The Chairs is a movement project that explores architecture, lighting and objects through the body and its moods. It allows the viewer to live within the memories created by the performers and live as if it were a reality itself.
Project supported by the Arts council of Puebla (MEX) in the category Creators - Montage. It is inspired by the tragic farce "The Chairs" by Eugène Ionesco.
The work enjoys to explore adaptation, and architecture has the possibility of shaping the choreographic composition of the piece.
Performer | Creative collaborator | Mexico / USA. | 2019
The Max shows the part of our long-term choreographic research to find the unconscious moment when you are in the process of moving in space...
The Max shows the part of our long-term choreographic research to find the unconscious moment when you are in the process of moving in space. The work has three scores to improvise: begin by becoming a snake, clean the space, and find the connection from individual body to multiple bodies in a free score by reacting music scores. The results of the performance depending on each dancer background, training and movement ideas. This is a dance laboratory in real time happening on stage.
Original idea: YeaJean Choi
Cast: Alfonso Carrillo Molina, Arturo Wilber Mendoza Chavez, Bertha Cecilia Mariana Duran Partida, Eder De Jesus Arrasquito Barrios, Natalia Katherine Quezada Shrimpton, Valentina Renteria Coronado.
Music: El Búho - Al tianguis, Rodrigo Gallardo - Agua de La Tierra. Da Bracamontes.
kNOwBOX dance