Ania Varez

Movement journal from our week working at the croft, in Great Bernera. Big work dungarees, the beautiful hearts of the sheep, creatures running all around and it being quite simple, really, how the neighbour stops for tea every morning, how heavy these boots are, how quickly the weather changes and you just have to say yes. The joy of figuring out every seed is not like the others.

🌿✨ LAST DANCE WORKSHOP DROP: Contact Improvisation ✨🌿 Ease into your Sunday morning, soft, slow, and connected 💫 Contact Improvisation is a playful, grounding dance practice exploring movement through touch, shared weight, and deep listening to your body and others. It’s an invitation to move, rest, connect, and gently expand what feels possible in relation 🌊 Guided by experienced practitioners @ania_varez and @rhi.play , this session will introduce the foundations of CI, with a focus on safety, curiosity, and care 🫶 Expect a gentle space to land -  to wake up your body, meet others, and move together in an open, supportive environment 🌞 No experience needed -  just comfy clothes and your lovely self 💛

‼️📣 Calling Sheffield-based musicians from migrant backgrounds Are you interested in participatory / community-based work? Open to improvisation and collaboration? Curious about making music with everyday objects? Join TASTE — a multi-sensory, participatory performance celebrating food, culture, and community, on 25th June as part of @migmatfest This is a paid, collaborative role within an immersive, non-traditional performance setting 📩 To apply: Send a short introduction + examples of your work to [email protected] Deadline: Friday 8 May Please share with anyone who might be interested 🫶✨✨ Photos © Edward J Felton 2025 The original piece was created with amazing Bristol-based musicians @roxanavilk @hiba_elhindi @rachaeldadd and performed at Trinity Centre in April 2025

❤️‍🔥🌹 MORE WORKSHOPS DROP 🌹❤️‍🔥 @ania_varez : the one and only person in this world to bring the two words REGGAETON and CEILIDH into one phrase 💥 Yes that’s right, you're gonna be partaking in a ceilidh that is made of reggaeton moves. Yesyesyes. Ania will be leading this at the start of the event to wake up your cute lil feet and hips. And then we'll be ready to go into the big journey. Ania Varez (they/them) is a Venezuelan dance artist, community facilitator and teacher based in Bristol. You will quite likely find them bringing movement to a variety of spaces, from theatres to DIY queer nights, from community centres to schools. Since graduating from The London Contemporary Dance School, they've worked with many amazing artists and organisations, including: aKa Dance theatre, Pell Ensemble, Shotput Theatre, Laïla Diallo, Lisa May Thomas, Terrestrial and Fair Play Productions. Their own work has toured internationally (Taiwan and South Korea) as well as in the UK, including SPILL Festival. Ania is a proud member of Interval, an artist support network in Bristol. 🚨 ONLY 50 TICKETS LEFT - Link in bio 🚨 [Images description: Ania, a Latinx Non Binary human in their early thirties, on stage with tons of fake tattoos on their body, 90s-style sunglasses, a cap and black trackies and a black sport bra. Absolute vibes. They're captured mid-twerk. The video that follows shows them with their back to us on stage, with a big crowd of Qveers in the background. They're teaching the crowd dance moves. The two other images show the Qveer crowd all smiles and laughter picking up the dance moves all together.]

A little jam after teaching last week. Feet leading means ballet moves and folk jumps, a bit of drama and all that jazz, a chunk of joy.

✨Queer Contact Improv: Improvers Course 🏳️‍🌈 We’re launching a new 6-week course for LGBTQI+ folks with some CI experience who want to deepen their practice in a queer-led, supportive space. Whether you’ve joined our beginners course or been dancing CI for a while, this is an invitation to refine your skills, explore new techniques, and move in connection with queer community. Contact Improvisation is playful and dynamic practice rooted in touch, shared weight and deep listening. Together we’ll explore safe risk, responsiveness, and new ways of moving and relating. 🤸🏽‍♀️✨ Facilitated by experienced CI practitioners Ania Varez (they/them) and Rhiannon Colvin (she/they) - come play, learn and build community with us 💛 Just 3 spots left on the course! Sign up link in bio. #queerbristol #queerdancer #queercommunity #contactimprov

🌹💥 LINE UP ANNOUNCEMENT ROUND 1: WORKSHOPS At KINDOM @ania_varez will be hosting an iconic reggaeton ceilidh (previously seen at @soft_butch_ ) alongside a Queer Contact Improvisation workshop with @rhi.play 🏳️‍🌈🪭 Ania (they/them) is a Venezuelan dance artist, community facilitator and teacher based in Bristol. Their work brings movement into a wide range of spaces - from theatres to queer nights, community centres to schools. A graduate of The London Contemporary Dance School, Ania has worked with artists and organisations including aKa Dance Theatre, Pell Ensemble, Shotput Theatre, Terrestrial and Fair Play Productions. Their own work has toured across the UK and internationally. 🎟️ Tickets link in bio 🎟️ [Image description: Photo of Ania, a Latinx Non Binary-presenting human with a buzzcut and brown eyes. They wear a light denim boiler suit and look to the left with their arms extended out, in soft movement. The photo is framed by a thorny pastel yellow line at the top and bottom of the image and text that reads: “Ania Varez” at the bottom.]

In preparation for our 5th birthday celebrations in December, we're looking back at some of the work we've made over the last five years - next up, this brilliant piece of participatory dance performance from 2021! IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS - a poetic exploration of edges: of bodies, cities, languages, and belonging. Created by Canadian-born dance maker Laïla Diallo, in collaboration with Venezuelan artist Ania Varez and local migrant communities, the work invited reflection on difference, ambiguity, and change. How do we hold space for each other? How are we changed by being together? Performed by two professional dancers and a group of community participants, the piece was created to evolve in every place it visits, shaped by local voices and stories. At its heart: a shared exploration of difference, ambiguity, and connection. IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS was part of WE ARE THE STORIES — a trilogy created by migrant theatre makers in the summer of 2021 that explored the boundaries between co-creation, participation, and performance. This work was developed with generous support from @marlowetheatre @aceagrams and @farnhammaltings 📸 David Oxberry

We’re excited to announce our first ever Queer Contact Improv Jam in Bristol! 🌈✨ An open, welcoming space for LGBTQI+ folks with some experience in CI or partner dance to explore, move, and connect. We’ll begin with a guided warm-up led by @ania_varez and @rhi.play followed by an open jam to move, play & discover together. We’re looking forward to building queer CI community with you here in Bristol 💫 🎟️ Tickets just £5 - link in bio. #queerbristol #contactimprov #queerdance

Interval is taking over the Cube!! Join us for an afternoon and evening of performances, films, workshops and discussion created, performed, and facilitated by our members 🧡 Interval is a Bristol-based collective of performance artists: we share space, knowledge and resources in our home above St Nicholas Market. It’s been a minute since the last takeover, so this is our chance to come together again and share our work with the lovely people of Bristol. Expect: experimental noise, subjective map-making, a quick opera, rageful storytelling and more. Interval is: @nanakorn_moving @hannsullivaan @ed_rapley @jo_hellier @a.messy.human @sab.o.tage @rachaelclerke @apollohelo @jobannonlive @anastasia_dahl @vikibrowne @danny7prosser Christopher Fairall @shacklockkarla @kit__hall @gemma_paintin @janleeuk @howlyuan @rhi.play @ania_varez and @bkulvichit 🎟️ Tickets are on Headfirst — link in bio! 🎟️

✨Our Autumn course is live ✨ An eight-week course for LGBTQI+ people who want to learn the foundations of Contact Improvisation in an accessible and inclusive space. Contact Improv is a lively dance style that explores movement through touch, sharing weight, and physical awareness. It’s a relational practice that brings out new ways of moving, playing with safe risk, and connecting to your body and others. Facilitated by two experienced CI practitioners Ania Varez (they/them) and Rhiannon Colvin (she/her), we will focus on the foundations of this technique, so no previous experience is needed! To learn more and sign up, go to link in bio🌈 #contactimprov #queerbristol #queerdance

The world is full of pain these days and I’m feeling very very lucky to be touring shed-ache with @akadancetheatre I’m always so replenished by sharing the joy in this show with kids all around! Grateful to be part of something that is both meaningful and really funny at the same time. There’s lots of silliness and plenty of shows to come. Hope you can catch shed-ache somewhere soon! 🌞🪴 Choreography: @akadancetheatre Dancers: @joegarbettdance @georgebishopdance @annie_kelleher_dance @ania_varez Set design: @hannah_sharp_props Photo: @jakegphoto Producer: @ellenmarybooth