Why did we decide to make our intensives every two years?

As we approach a new phase in the journey of VALLETO, we have important updates to share with our dedicated community of dancers, instructors, and supporters.

Transition to a Biennial Format: After careful consideration, we've decided to transition our dance summer intensive from a biannual event to a biennial one. This change, effective immediately, means that instead of holding the intensive twice a year, it will now occur every two years.

Reasons for the Change:

Enhanced Planning and Budgeting: The new biennial schedule allows more time for thorough budgeting and financial planning. This is crucial for maintaining the quality and accessibility of our program, ensuring that every intensive is a remarkable experience for all participants.
Director Preparedness and Fresh Content: With more time between each intensive, our director can gather fresh, innovative ideas and information, enhancing the curriculum and overall experience. This ensures that each intensive remains cutting-edge and impactful.

Focus on Sustainable Funding: VALLETO is constantly exploring new funding opportunities to support our programs. As a creative organization, securing consistent funding is challenging, yet essential for our growth and sustainability. We aim to provide an environment where art and expression through dance can thrive without financial constraints.

Looking Towards Our 10th Anniversary: As we look ahead to our 10th year, we are filled with anticipation and excitement. This milestone is not just a celebration of our past achievements but also a launching point for future ambitions. We hope to mark this special anniversary with a truly memorable intensive, embodying the spirit and passion that VALLETO has always stood for.

Our Commitment: These changes reflect our commitment to excellence, sustainability, and the continuous evolution of our program. We deeply appreciate your understanding and support as we embark on this new chapter. Together, let's continue to celebrate the power and beauty of dance.

Winter Intensive 2025

Heal + Artistic Experimentation Edition

We are excited to offer an intensive workshop uniquely crafted for movement and visual artists seeking a nurturing environment for artistic growth and experimentation. Our program is tailored to those who are delving into their artistic journey, offering a safe and supportive space for exploration, dialogue, and constructive feedback.

Participants will engage in various activities throughout the workshop, including movement exercises, durational processes, and in-depth discussions. We aim to foster an environment where artists can question, understand, and delve deeper into their creative 'why'. The program includes an immersive study of human expression within the realm of performance art, allowing participants to both learn from others and discover their own distinctive practices.

Key Details:

* The workshop requires a minimum of 10 participants to proceed.

* Ages from 18 and up

At the heart of our workshop is the freedom to express oneself authentically.

* Participants are encouraged to embrace their emotions openly, with the assurance that the experiences shared within the workshop remain confidential.

* This is a journey of personal research, and while individual exploration is respected, sharing insights and experiences with fellow participants is integral to the collective growth of the group.

Our Core Values: Vulnerability, Self-Expression, Trust, Safety, Empathetic Listening, Radical transformation

Our intentions are:
• To create a supportive and loving community.
• To connect with our intuition, our inner self, our truth & our power.
• To express ourselves fully, and be witnessed with love.
• To reclaim our voice and find our WHY? as artists.
• To design our year so we start with a clear plan of action.

Summer Intensive 2025

VALLETO Summer Intensive fosters a supportive and non-judgmental environment for dancers to build unique perspectives about their movement language while refining their technique and unleashing their creative potential. Under Valeria Gonzalez's direction, attendees will have the chance to collaborate, learn new choreography, and receive individualized mentorship to their needs and aspirations. Build lasting relationships, gain new perspectives, and contribute to the dance world with your unique voice!

Fellowship Program Opportunity:

VALLETO's Fellowship Program offers a fully-funded opportunity for a dancer to participate in our two-week intensive, focusing on professional growth and fostering creativity. The selected dancer will not only attend all classes and contribute to the Performance Project but also work closely with VALLETO Director, Valeria. This collaboration will include discussions, feedback, exploring creative possibilities, and observing classes.

The program encourages a flexible approach, enabling the dancer to immerse themselves in the experience through various means, such as videography, choreography, collaboration, observation, or photography. The Fellowship Program aims to provide dancers with the freedom to delve into their creative interests in a supportive and non-judgmental environment.

PHOTO BY DÉ RANDLE

SESSIONS

VALLETO COMPANY CLASS

BODYDRAMA

Valeria's classes take you on a physical and sensorial journey to awaken the unconscious, and emotional inner knowledge. Valeria cultivates a safe space for the students to have a deeper connection to the movement practices. Her workshops also focus on exploring partnering dynamics, undoing old movement habits, and unveiling the psyche through a variety of contemporary dance methodologies, improvisation, and acting methods. Her goal is to invite the students to have more awareness of their bodies, their minds, and their spirits to find freedom in the uncomfortable. Valeria encourages her dancers to tap into their imaginations, and their desires for unapologetic self expression.

She also includes:

ºHolistic Approaches (Meditation)

ºEmbodiment Practices

ºDialogue

ºDiscovering What Is Your Artistic Statement (Journaling)

PHOTO BY SARAH ANNIE NAVARRETE- COURTESY OF UT AUSTIN

VALLETO CHOREOGRAPHY/CREATIVE PROCESS

Valeria’s choreographic process excavates deep emotional states and memories through movement research, shapes, geometry, voice, the outer and inner world, sound, curiosity and collaborative exploration. She safely invites her dancers to be vulnerable and allows them to unveil the many layers that our collective consciousness hides.

Valeria is interested in the creature we all hold within. Her goal is to awaken and allow uninhibited self-expression in all aspects of the process to happen.