Today we’d like to introduce you to Bella Dorado.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia and raised predominantly in Tennessee. Growing up I was an athlete and competitive martial artist and an enthusiastic storyteller. When I began dancing at the age of 10 I found a way to pursue pleasure through both physicality and narrative and I’ve been chasing that satisfaction ever since. I am interested in vulnerability and the dark places full of risk and magic, how to soften and expand. I’ve been working as an independent choreographer, performance artist, educator, and producer in Atlanta since 2015 and have been an artist in residence with The Lucky Penny’s Work Room program since 2016.
I am honored to receive Atlanta’s 2018 Emerging Artist Award from the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. My most recent work, FAEST, was commissioned by the High Museum and presented in September 2017. In addition to producing my own work, I frequently inhabit the creations of other inspiring choreographers in the city.
Please tell us about your art.
My movement is characterized by a driving sinuous flow through which she explores vulnerability, identity, and the lovely grotesque. She is most interested in intimacy, exposure, softening, expanding, devouring; in the damp, dark places full of risk and magic. My stories live beneath the surface of my skin and I seek the telling of them in the muscles to alleviate the buzzing of my organs. I believe wholly in the power of physical thought.
Classically trained and club raised, her work exists somewhere between arabesques and ass shaking, penchés and perreo. I frequently indulge in laughing, cookies, vulgar behavior, and incredibly tragic art. You can usually find my destroying everything then meticulously piecing it all back together in new tints and forms. Over and over. Above all I am a woman of whimsy and a lover of all things fanciful, nonsensical, implausible and absurd.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
Listen to your instincts and don’t get hung up in conforming to the rigidity of the fine art world. Make work that moves you, the stuff you feel utterly compelled to create. Always stand up for your value as a working artist and demand the care that you and your work deserve.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The best way to keep up with me is on Instagram @bella_landia and through my website www.belladorado.com. On April 19th at The Bakery from 7-10pm I am presenting a multimedia installation and performance show titled Ni Aquí Ni Allá. It has been a year and a half in the making and I couldn’t be happier to finally share it with Atlanta. After that show I will be getting to work on a new project that I am really excited about but am keeping the details super-secret for now. I am fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas and you can make tax deductible donations to support my work through my website on the contact and support page.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.belladordo.com
- Instagram: @bella_landia
Image Credit:
Jamie Hopper
Kimara Dixon
Jon Dean
Brandon Polack
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