Artistic Vision

Vanessa Isaac’s unique language of movement combines the boldness and aesthetic pluralism of Contemporary Dance with the rich cultural traditions of her native Brazil. Her choreography embraces both eclecticism and ancestral bonds while celebrating diversity, connection, and environmental healing and health.

Vanessa Agle Isaac 

Artistic Director

Standing with the Ocean. Photo: Vanessa Isaac by Valerie Villa

Vanessa Agle Isaac – Vanessa Isaac Dance Company Choreographer and Director

Vanessa Agle Isaac is a performer, choreographer, dance educator, producer and writer. She is the artistic director and choreographer for the Vanessa Isaac Dance Company.

Isaac’s unique language of movement combines the rich cultural traditions of her native Brazil with the boldness and aesthetic pluralism of contemporary dance. Her innovative choreography embraces both eclecticism and ancestral bonds while celebrating diversity, connection, and environmental healing and health.

In 2023 the Vanessa Isaac Dance Company premiered the dance piece “Passagens” in Europe. The work was commissioned to choreographer Vanessa Isaac by the renowned Les Ballets de Monte Carlo being presented at Fete de La Danse 2023 in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

“Passagens” is a contemporary dance piece contemplating the past, present and future. Passagens is about roots and innovation, ancestry and vision. In Portuguese a “passagem” means a hall or a bridge. A “corredor” that takes you from ‘‘point A to point B” and always connected in both directions. We are our future (and present) as well as our past: culturally, artistically, psychologically and spiritually.

In 2021 Vanessa choreographed and performed the dance films “Pandu-cada” and “Alfazema” , both works commissioned by composer Ami Molinelli for her San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Grant Raizes do Choro project.

Other recent projects include Feita de Luz, a dance film directed and choreographed by Isaac that premiered online in 2020. The project is dedicated to “the Baianas,” women of African descent who embody Afro-Brazilian culture in the Brazilian state of Bahia. A short clip of this dance work was featured in Before It Kills Us All, a film and video installation produced and directed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Margaret Lazarus.

In 2018 the Vanessa Isaac Dance Company performed Prelúdio da Saudade for the opening of an exhibit featuring works by minimalist artist Valeska Soares at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Isaac choreographed the work in collaboration with guest performers Kaita Lepore Mrazek and Tim Wood. In 2019, her choreographed duet “Levitation” was also performed in Los Angeles at the International Samba Congress.

Internationally, Isaac has served as a guest teacher for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo’s “Fete de La Danse” in Monaco, the Ecole de Danze Kim Kan and Centre Momboye in Paris, and the Mounier Center in Brussels. She has also served as a guest lecturer at UC Los Angeles.

In her pedagogy, Isaac emphasizes inclusivity, welcoming all ages, genders, and body types.

Nominated for the Brazilian International Press Award in the Dance category, Isaac was named one of the “Most Intriguing People Worth Getting to Know” by Santa Barbara Magazine for her cultural contributions to the city.