Mercedes Quijada

Mercedes Quijada is a female creator and performer, an Andalusian cross-disciplinary artist born in Granada in 1991. She has a degree in contemporary dance from the Reina Sofía Professional Dance Conservatory (Granada, 2013/19) and Oficina Zero (Porto, 2021). From 2008 to 2015, she was a student under two major flamenco masters, Manolete and Mariquilla. She has a degree in fine arts and a postgraduate degree in artistic education from the University of Granada. She lives in Porto since 2019, researching improvisation technique in dance and its relation to visual arts, voice and dramatisation, particularly focusing on physicality. After completing her studies, she gathered stage experience with several nationally and internationally renowned choreographers: José Agudo, Jorge Crecis, Antonio Ruz, Poliana Lima, Eva Yerbabuena and Victor Hugo Pontes. She participated in the projects Let’s Dance Europe, directed by DE LooPERS-dance 2gether, and Cova Project, by Mafalda Deville. She collaborates with creators from several fields, such as visual artist Luísa Mota and artists Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti. She has been one of the artists of the production company Self-Mistake (Lisbon) since 2021. She also created the programme Perforartes, which presents pieces that intersect dance and visual arts at the gallery Artes – Mota Galiza (Porto).