CENTRO DE ESTUDOS DO BALÉ
ABOUT US
Created by Zélia Monteiro with the goal of developing and perfecting the teaching of ballet, through an approach based on the quality of the execution of movement.
The initiative is grounded on the classical technique of the Italian Cecchetti school and on ideas developed alongside Klauss Vianna. The purpose of the center is teaching based on movement perception, prioritizing the way in which the student executes movements and not what h (a sequence of steps). Technique is not seen as a strict training imposed on the body, but as a process that respects the individual timelines and physical constitution of each student, along with their possibilities and limitations. It is learned and perfected not only in the sense of the codification of movements – specific to a certain time and tradition – but on the physical processes necessary to its execution.
As a result, incorrect postural patterns are highlighted, allowing for better muscle-bone alignment, relaxing of muscle tensions, stretching and strengthening of weak muscles, avoiding damage to the joints.
This results in the acquisition of a precise technique, with clean lines and movement devoid of mannerisms, where the joy of dancing remains.
CEB consists of a team of teachers who are constantly studying and researching in order to perfect their metholodogies.
The center does not have fixed headquarters, operating in different areas in the city of São Paulo with continued formation projects and regular lessons for children, adolescents and adults – whether professionals, students or amateurs.
The work is overseen by Zélia Monteiro, who directs the team based on her 40 years of experience as a teacher and on two main pillars of her formation: the Italian school – Cecchetti method – that she learned from Maria Meló, and Klauss Vianna’s approaches to the awareness of movement and dance.
*Maria Meló (1910 - 1993) was a student of Cecchetti at the Scala in Milan from 1924 to 1928.
**Klauss Vianna (1928 - 1992) dance teacher, researcher and choreographer from Minas Gerais. He lived in São Paulo from 1980 to 1992.
TIMELINE
TEAM
ZÉLIA MONTEIRO
Coordinator and teacher
Dancer, teacher and choreographer, Zélia’s work as a dance teacher is based on bodily awareness as a central means for technique acquisition.
At the core of her creative and pedagogical research are the ideas of Klauss Vianna*, whom she worked with for eight years; and the classical Italian school, which she studied with Maria Melô**, whom she assisted for over ten years.
In 1993 Zélia received the Vitae Arts Scholarship for choreographic research in Paris, where she lived for four years.
She was awarded by the APCA (Association of Art Critics of São Paulo) in 1987, 1992, 1998, 2010 and 2016. In 2014 she won a Denilto Gomes award from São Paulo Dance Cooperative in the category Best Improvisation Solo and was one of the five finalists for the São Paulo State Governor Award in the Dance category.
Zélia directs the group Núcleo de Improvisação since 2003.
She is a teacher at the Comunicação das Artes do Corpo undergraduate course at PUC/SP and teaches regular classical dance lessons at Sala Crisantempo.
Zélia created Centro de Estudos do Balé in 2011 along with a group of assistant teachers, with the goal of developing the work on her technique teaching methodology.
* Klauss Vianna (1928 - 1992), teacher, choreographer and researcher from Minas Gerais, he studied ballet in Belo Horizonte with teacher Carlos Leite and in São Paulo with Maria Olenewa. He began his research on the body and dance in the 50s, when he participated in the so-called “Complement Generation” along with a group of artists (musicians, painters, writers and sculptors). That is when he started studying the relationship between the moves of ballet and the visual arts, which led him to study kinesiology and anatomy in Belo Horizonte’s school of medicine. At this time Klauss began experimenting with new ways of teaching dance, and he continued to work as a teacher and to develop his ideas and teaching methodologies throughout his entire life. During the last years of his life he lived in São Paulo, where he was a teacher, choreographer and creator. Zélia Monteiro was his student and collaborator from 1984 to 1992.
** Maria Melô (1910 - 1993), taught Zélia Monteiro the main principles of the step sequences and corrections of the method created by Enrico Cecchetti (1850-1928). An Italian dancer and teacher, Cecchetti renewed the teaching of ballet. He created a new system of exercise progression, which made the moves more natural and anatomical. Ana Pavlova, Vaganova, Fokine, Karsavina and Nijinski were some of his students in Russia, where he taught from 1892 to 1921. After that he returned to Italy and was named “maître de ballet” at the Scalla in Milan. Maria Melô was his student from 1924 to 1928 in Milan, and Zélia Monteiro was Maria Melô’s student in São Paulo from 1977 to 1985, when she became her assistant.
FLÁVIA SCHEYE
Member of CEB and pedagogical coordinator of Balé na Vila project.
Artist, teacher and dance researcher.
Flávia has been studying classical dance and improvisation with Zélia Monteiro since 2001. She contributed to the creation of Centro de Estudos do Balé, where she is a teacher and researcher. She is currently the pedagogical coordinator of Balé na Vila project (CEB).
Flávia has a doctorate in Performing Arts from the School of Art and Communications at São Paulo University (ECA/ USP) and a master’s degree in the same program. She got her undergraduate degree at Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC/SP) in 2008, in the course Comunicação das Artes do Corpo.
She has been a teacher in the undergraduate Dance course at Anhembi Morumbi University since 2015, and a member of Silenciosas (directed by Diogo Granato) since 2014.
Flávia has been a contemporary dancer in São Paulo since 2010. She was the pedagogical coordinator of the ballet courses organized by CEB in partnership with Hebraica from 2005 to 2012. She was also a pedagogical coordinator at the Center for Performing Arts in São Bernardo do Campo in 2015, and a dance teacher at São Paulo School of Dance from 2012 to 2014.
MEL BAMONTE
Member of CEB, pedagogical coordinator and teacher of Balé na Vila Project.
Artist, creator and dance teacher.
Mel got her undergraduate degree in dance at the Comunicação das Artes do Corpo course (PUC/SP) in 2003, and is certified as a Pilates instructor by CGPA (SP) since 2014.
She has studied with Zélia Monteiro since 2001 and contributed to the creation of Centro de Estudos do Balé. She also assists Zélia in her ballet lessons for adults and in her Functional Analysis in the Practice of Ballet course.
Mel is a member of Núcleo de Improvisação, a dance group directed by Zélia Monteiro that researches stage improvisation since 2005.
She was a teacher and pedagogical coordinator of the ballet courses organized by CEB in partnership with Hebraica from 2003 to 2007, and with UNIBES (Projeto de Dança Educação) from 2005 to 2010.
LUCIANA ELIAS
Member of CEB and psychologist of Balé na Vila Project.
Dancer and psychologist.
Luciana is an art therapy facilitator, certified by Instituto Libertas – PE, since 1996. She graduated from UFPB and Universidade Paulista- SP with a degree in psychology. She is certified in Motor Coordination by Ivaldo Bertazzo’s Motor Reeducation School, and in G.D.S Technique by the Brazilian Center for Muscle Chains since 2005. Luciana is also a member of the Institut de Chaíses Musculaires e des Techniques (I.C.T. G.D.S.) –Brussels, Belgium, since 2005.
She has studied with Zélia Monteiro since 2007 and has been a member of Centro de Estudos do Balé since 2016, where she works as a psychologist, helping with the team’s development and integration, as well as providing emotional support and behavioral guidance to students.
From 1997 to 2007 Luciana studied at Ivaldo Bertazzo’s Movement School, participating in classes and dance shows. After that she dedicated herself to teaching Conscious Movement and its relation to motor coordination and behavioral development in lessons at Sala Crisantempo (SP), in partnership with teacher Mônica Monteiro. In 2007 she started participating in research groups on improvisation and solo work development with Beth Bastos.
Also in 2007 Luciana met Butoh-Ma master Tadashi Endo (Japan/Germany), and deepend her studies in this type of dance during the project Butoh- Ma Tour, Brasil 2010 and 2012. Since then she has continued to study this practice in Brazil and in Germany with Tadashi Endo, at the Mamu Butoh Center as a dancer and resident artist, and she participates in research groups on contemporary dance and Eastern practices with Key Sawao (SP).
She also works in the development of individuals and groups through the study of classical ballet and of Butoh dancing. She oversees trainings and workships in large organizations, focusing on the integration between the physical body and the emotional realm.
MÔNICA CALDEIRA
Member of CEB, teacher and financial and communications assistant for Balé na Vila Project.
Dancer and teacher.
Mônica is currently studying to get her master’s degree in Performing Arts at Campinas State University – UNICAMP. She is a certified Somatic Movement Educator by the Body Mind Movement Method (2016-2018) and has an undergraduate degree in Dance from Anhembi Morumbi University (2010-2013). She has been attending Zélia Monteiro’s classical dance lessons at Sala Crisantempo since 2012, and in 2017 she became a member of Centro de Estudos do Balé. She is currently a teacher at Balé na Vila Project (CEB).
She was a creator-interpreter in the group Menos 1 Invisíve from ...AVOA! Núcleo Artístico, as well as in Coletivo Desvelo and Coletivo dos Sonhos. Mônica takes contemporary dance, improvisation, somatic education and classical ballet lessons regularly. She has studied dance since 1996, and graduated from São José do Rio Preto’s Municipal Art School (2002-2009) and from Studio de Dança Aracy de Almeida (2010-2011).
Mônica has worked in the teaching field for tem Years. She was a teacher at Ballet Paraisópolis, Centro Cultural da Juventude, Centro Cultural da Penha, Tekohá (Grupo Xingó), Projeto Todos na Dança (UAM), Faculdade Mozarteum, Espaço Vajra, Escola de Dança Conceição Linares, Pulsarte, Builders, Colégio Jd. São Paulo, Pulsarte, Escola do Futuro and others.
MARCELA PEREYRA PÁEZ
Member of CEB and teacher of Ballet na Vila Project.
Dancer, interpreter-creator and dance teacher.
Marcela has a hybrid background in dance and theater, having graduated in Theatrical Interpretation at São Paulo University (CAC-ECA-USP) and as a classical dancer at the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) along with Cisne Negro Ballet Studio. She has developed her teaching methodology through the connection between artistic languages.
She has attended Zélia Monteiro’s ballet and improvisation lessons regularly since 2012 and became a member of Centro de Estudos do Balé in 2012. She has been Zélia’s assistant in her ballet lessons for adults since 2017.
Marcela is a member of Núcleo de Improvisação (directed by Zélia Monteiro) since 2015; and Cia. Oito Nova Dança (directed by Lu Favoreto) since 2017. She is a founder of the female collective MUMBRA corpomóvel.
She currently directs ballet lessons from TEIA de aprendizagens. Marcela was also a teacher at T CLAC (São Bernardo dos Campos Center for Performing Arts), Núcleo Sebástian for Performing Arts, Equipe Institute and Estúdio Oito Nova Dança.
PAULINA ALVES
Member of CEB
Dancer, actress and interpreter-creator
Paulina is currently studying to get her masters degree at the Postgraduate program at the Arts Institute (UNICAMP). She is a specialist in the Klauss Vianna technique (PUC-SP) and has an undergraduate degree from PUC/SP in the Comunicação e Artes do Corpo course. She i salso certified by the Bertazzo Method.
Paulina started taking classical ballet lessons at eight years old and has been studying dance ever since. She has also taken tap dancing, afro jazz, street dance, contemporary dance, ballroom dancing, modern dance and musical preparation lessons.
She has worked as a dancer in Japan (Nagoya and Osaka), South Korea (Seoul), Russia (Moscow), Uruguay (Punta Del Este) and Angola (Luanda); and has also danced in multiple shows and events in Brazil. She has been studying ballet and improvisation with Zélia Monteiro since 2006, and also assists her in her ballet lessons for adults.
Paulina contributed to the creation of Centro de Estudos do Balé – (CEB). She has been a dance teacher in dance schools and sociocultural projects since 1994. She also works as a choreographer, and is a member of Cia Queremos Saber_Artes do Corpo and of Núcleo Artístico Menos 1 Invisível, where she researches contemporary dance. She is also a member of LADCOR (Laboratório de Dramaturgia do Corpo) ECA-USP, coordinated by Helena Bastos.