Iván Pérez | NDT, Paris Opera & Artistic Director of Heidelberg Dance Company | Artist Talks 14

Artist Talks by Deep Dive Dance presents a deep conversation with Spanish choreographer and artistic director Iván Pérez — a leading creative voice whose work spans Netherlands Dance Theater, Paris Opera Ballet, BalletBoyz, and Dance Theatre Heidelberg.
Iván began his professional journey with IT Dansa in Barcelona before joining the world-renowned Netherlands Dance Theater, where he performed works by Kylián, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Alexander Ekman, and many others.
His choreographic debut Flesh premiered at NDT in 2011, launching a career that quickly expanded throughout Europe.
Iván is former Artistic Director of Dance Theatre Heidelberg (Germany), at the moment of filming this interview, where he creates large-scale works exploring emotion, trauma, memory, masculinity, collective behavior, and what it means to be a millennial artist in the 21st century.
In this intimate conversation, Iván speaks openly about the early discovery of dance, the painful loss of both parents at a young age, the healing power of movement, and how these experiences shaped his creative path.
We dive into his collaborations with BalletBoyz, Paris Opera Ballet, Palomo Spain, and explore the deeper layers of his acclaimed Millennial Trilogy: Impression, Dimension, and Oscillation.
If you’re a dancer, choreographer, teacher, or simply someone curious about the artistic mind — this talk is for you.

00:00 Introduction
02:20 Discovering dance
03:34 Joining NDT – scholarship story
04:25 Working with legendary choreographers
06:13 Inspirations today – Marina Mascarell
07:13 Losing both parents while at NDT
09:38 How choreography began
11:35 Creating Flesh at NDT
12:31 Paris Opera – working on The Male Dancer
16:14 Being Artistic Director – challenges & responsibilities
17:47 Values he hopes to pass to dancers
18:50 What kind of dancers inspire him
19:20 Dream collaborations & interdisciplinary work
20:55 The Millennial Trilogy – Impression, Dimension, Oscillation
25:20 Advice for young dancers & choreographers
26:35 Why dance matters today

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