At the Venice Biennale, the young dancer Alonso Nunez Quiros or improvisation in the skin

Dancer Alonso Nunez Quiros, 26, is part of a group of 16 young, highly talented performers selected from 305 applicants for the Biennale's College Danza. Arriving in Venice in May, he enjoyed three months of training (ballet, contemporary, improvisation, etc.) and masterclasses, notably with the choreographer and artistic director of the Dance Biennale, Wayne McGregor, while also participating in various creations. "First of all, the training is of high quality with great teachers and artists and it's free , he enthuses. Beyond that and the network it creates, you know that when you're accepted here, you'll be working with a great group of dancers from different places, which allowed me to observe other approaches to movement and learn a lot from them."

Born in San José, the capital of Costa Rica, Alonso Nunez Quiros started his first dance lessons late, at the age of 17. "I danced in my room to pop music, but it took me a while because it was difficult in my country to tell myself that I could become a dancer," he says. One lucky day, he learned that the Jazzgoba Dance Academy studio, "the best in Costa Rica in my opinion," located just a stone's throw from his home, was offering auditions to join the center, with a scholarship at stake. Without further ado, he signed up and won the jackpot: four years of study.

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