ABOUT
Vías is a transdisciplinary company based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal that challenges how live art engages the audience. Its work is anchored in the idea of art as a means of transcendence, therefore, it seeks to design transformative experiences that nurture non-rational connections and venture beyond the mundane.
Standing out for its meticulous attention to detail, Vías adopts a unique approach to each project and assembles a team of experts from different fields, inviting them to intertwine their ideas at each stage of research, creation and production. As a result, the company facilitates memorable shared encounters through multi-layered, high-quality artworks.
Vías does not seek to create along a continuous line, but to use the tools it acquires over time to freely reinvent itself and design a unique identity and aesthetic for each creation. In this way, the company eludes classifications and labels, following its call of the present with the desire to achieve depth in every research it undertakes.
In 2024, Vías was awarded the Prix de la Danse de Montréal in the "Revelation" category.
GENERAL AND ARTISTIC DIRECTION
DIANA LEÓN
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 internationally. 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 Anne Plamondon, Martin Messier, Sylvain Émard, Morgane Letiec, Louise Bédard, Andrew Skeels and Caroline Laurin-Beaucage. Diana is also a faculty member at Danse à la Carte and Les Studios of Les Grands Ballets.
PACO ZIEL
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
Bernardo Alvarado Rojas
creator
composer
performer
Siam Obregón
visual artist
filmmaker
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Tony Bougiouris - President
Diana León - Vice President
Juan Vázquez - Treasurer
Paco Ziel - Administrator
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Vías recognizes that the territory in which the organization develops its activities is indigenous territory, which has never been ceded by any agreement, or treaty, between any indigenous nation and colonizers. Tiohtià:ke, also known as Montreal, has historically been a gathering place for many First Nations, who contributed to its founding. The Kanien'kehá:ka have a strong historical and continuing presence on the territory, and this nation is therefore recognized as the guardian of the lands and waters on which we stand.
Today, Tiohtià:ke is home to a diverse population of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. It is in respect for the links with the past, present and future that we recognize the continuing relationships between First Nations and others in the Montreal community.
Photo 1, 2 and 3: Romain Lorraine