John Henry Gerena Forero

Colombian choreographer and playwright based in Canada with over twenty-five years’ artistic experience. He holds degrees in Art Education and Advertising, in addition to having done a Master of Arts at York University of Toronto. In 1997, he participated as a dancer in the Colombian-French project entitled "The Bridge". From 1998 to 2014, he was a member of the Company L'explose, taking on a number of roles and performing at renowned festivals and theatres around the world.

In 2005, he was awarded a "UNESCO Ashberg" Bursary for Choreographers, having been selected by the Jean-Pierre Perreault Company – and this is what brought him to undertake choreographic work in Montreal, Canada. In Canada, he had the opportunity to work as a guest dancer with companies such as ParBleux, Newton Moraes Dance Theatre, Kaha: wi Dance Theatre, Alejandro Ronceria and Olga Barrios Contemporary Dance; as well as working as a visiting professor in the Dance Department at McMaster University.

As a choreographer, he has produced multiple pieces and has been invited into collaborations and commissions in Canada, Brazil, Colombia and Spain – among others. His work is characterised by his research into the quality of movement and its unique aesthetics; something that he himself defines as “Dance Installations”.

He is currently working as an independent choreographer and his interest focuses primarily on the creation of pieces with emphasis on the visual design and composition being in very close dialogue with other arts disciplines and with the idea of finding new way to conceive dance.