About

Vías is a platform for artistic creation and development based on classical and contemporary dance. Its vision is intercultural, interdisciplinary, curious, and environmentally sustainable . It seeks to promote the free flow of expression, both collectively and individually, allowing art to reach transcendence; an environment where the creative act is reinvented, giving way to harmonious coexistence between tradition and innovation. Founded in 2015 by Diana León, Vías merges in 2019 with Quantum Collective, a multidisciplinary laboratory founded by Paco Ziel in 2014 and of which Diana was a member for four years. Currently Diana and Paco are artistic co-directors, integrating the research and principles developed in both projects, as well as their Mexican identity with their professional and life experiences in Quebec. The company's work has been presented in renowned Mexican venues such as the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris, National Center of the Arts, and Benito Juárez Theater; and in Canada it has been performed at Montréal Arts Interculturels, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix and at the Festival Mexique à Montreal.

artistic directors

Diana León

STRIVES FOR precision and abandonment, non verbal communication, deep connections, and learning how to live through the arts.
IS INSPIRED BY  humanity, nature, stories, words, music and folklore.

Born in Mexico City, Diana trained at Estudio de Ballet Tecamachalco, the National Ballet School of Cuba and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. She was a member of the National Dance Company of Mexico before joining Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, where she danced between 2014 and 2019, performing repertoire by Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Jean Christophe Maillot, Stephan Thoss, Edward Clug, Didy Veldman, Ken Ossola, Étienne Béchard and Uwe Scholz, among others, and touring in Colombia, France, Spain, Israel and  Canada.  Since 2016, she studies vocal techniques  with singer Mamselle Ruiz. She was a member of the multidisciplinary lab Quantum Collective  and has worked as a freelance dancer with choreographers of the Montreal scene such as Sylvain Émard, Anne Plamondon and Andrew Skeels. Diana is also a faculty member at Danse à la Carte and Les Studios of Les Grands Ballets.

Paco Ziel

STRIVES FOR  peace, awareness, connection and quality.
IS INSPIRED BY ancestral Mexican heritage, visual arts, music and nature.

Born in Mexico City, Paco started his career in classical dance at the École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec, which developed in him an early interest for a greater body awareness, bringing him to discover different ways of training such as Gaga, Rubberband method, Yoga, Feldenkrais and meditation. Since 2015, he has been a dancer with RUBBERBAND, under the direction of Victor Quijada, and has  toured with the company in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Germany and Poland. In 2014 he founded the multidisciplinary lab Quantum Collective, which was presented twice by Tangente in Montreal. Paco has worked with other Montreal based artists and companies like PPS Danse, Anne Plamondon, Andrea Peña and Martin Messier and has been a guest teacher at Springboard Danse Montreal and Domaine Forget. He is a self taught filmmaker,  photographer and electro-acoustic composer with a main focus on the human body, movement and natural landscapes.

Collaborators

Nicolás Núñez
playwright
theare director

Jérémy Galdeano
choreographer

Vera Kvarcakova
choreographer

Tom Jarvis
composer

Alejandro Loredo
intrumentalist
arranger

Clarisse Monde
lighting, costumes and set designer

Mamselle Ruiz
vocal coach

Simon Rivet
composer