Artist bio: 
Paula Higa is a Brazilian-born American choreographer who has been making dances, teaching, writing and performing for more than 30 years between Brazil and the USA. In 2011, she joined the UVM Dance Program as a part-time lecturer. Now she is an Assistant Professor and Resident choreographer in the Theater and Dance Department. She holds an MFA in Dance from UWM, a BS in Chemical Engineering in Brazil, a certification in PBT - Progressing Ballet Technique, and lots of experience within the arts field. 
In 2016, she founded my dance company, PHD - Paula Higa Dance, and Encounters-- an improvisational work of music and dance-- in collaboration with trumpeter Arthur Brooks and double bass player Anthony Santor. As a performer, she danced in the works of Mark Morris, Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), Larry Keigwin, Jennifer Monson, Tiffany Rhynard, Clare Byrne, among others. 
She is the recipient of the 2020 NEFA - New England Dance Fund Grant, UVM - Coor Collaborative Fellows Award, Vermont Community Foundation's Artist Grant, Vermont Arts Council - Artist Development Grant, and OVPR Express Grant. Her recent creation in collaboration with visual artist Jenn Karson, the dance film, The One I Wanted To Be, was twice awarded Best Screendance in Los Angeles, USA, and officially selected to the Genres and Performances Film Festival in Aveiro, Portugal, Diorama international Film Festival in India, 2022 Nukhufest in NYC, and the ARFF - Around International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany.


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Artistic statement:

As a dancemaker, I believe choreography is research. I am interested in unraveling discoveries rooted in the intersection of dance and visual arts.   My works awake my inquisitiveness by examining feminism and discriminatory issues in our society. I give voice to women by inviting my audience to reflect on power inequality, gender hierarchy, and patriarchalism. My creation process investigates the relationship between body, movement, and narrative. I create provoking dances based on the information that surrounds me. I truly believe in the power of the arts.
 
Paula Higa