Ph.D. in Theatre Studies, University Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris.
Leela Alaniz’s career has been characterized by a continual interplay between the practical and theoretical aspects of theatre. With over 25 years of experience in Theatre Anthropology and Corporeal Mime, she conducts workshops and delivers lectures in various countries and regions, including Brazil, France, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Istanbul, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Argentina.
Following a double major in Physical Education and Theater Studies in Brazil, she was awarded a scholarship to participate in UTA, a renowned center for Theatre Anthropology in Brazil. Subsequently, she established Casa de Artes BAKA, a multicultural arts center, for which she received the prestigious SATED prize in recognition of her leadership and management.
Between 1997 and 2003, she studied Corporeal Mime under the guidance of Thomas Leabhart in California and Paris, eventually becoming his assistant. In 2002, she pursued two Masters in Theatre Studies at Paris VIII University and Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III University. Her Master’s thesis, titled “The Dynamo-Rhythm of Etienne Decroux and His Successors”, has been translated into English and published online in the Mime Journal by Pomona College (California) in 2013. (For free download, please visit: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/mimejournal/vol24/iss1/2)
Her doctoral dissertation, “The Thinking Body, the Dancing Mind – The Actor in their Quest for the Lost Unity”, under the guidance of Monsieur Georges Banu, was successfully defended at Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris III in 2014, and its publication in English is forthcoming.
From 2012 to 2014, Leela served as a full-time teacher of Movement for Acting and Performance at the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) in Singapore. Currently, she holds the position of full-time Lecturer for the School of Dance and Theatre within the Faculty of Performing Arts at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore.
Throughout her career, Leela has both acted in and directed numerous plays over the past 25 years.
Workshops directed by Leela Alaniz:
The Trees and the Wind – Physical and Vocal training for actors/dancers
Character Creation – Psychophysical approach
Corporeal Mime – Technique, research, and creation
Movement and directing
Organicity and Artificiality in the work of the actor/dancer
Research and creation with materials and objects
Training: Dynamo-Rhythm and Counterweights for actors/dancers
