Photo by Molly Harrell

Miriam Barbosa | Dancer

“I believe the dancer's body needs to be sculpted and disciplined before it can fly. That is what makes dance a real work of art,” Miriam says. 

A ballet student in Brazil, Miriam set new goals after seeing a video of Martha Graham.  She went to New York, became a Graham company member, and traveled the world to perform and choreograph.

“When I work as guest artist with other companies, I really get absorbed within different cultures.” She added teaching at USC to her repertoire in 2002.  Even as she works on a project in Rome, Columbia remains her home base. 

She sees lots of opportunity here.  She recently founded the South Carolina Contemporary Dance Company and just finished directing her first documentary with the Martha Graham Center for SCETV.   “I like the rapid growth I see in the South and am grateful to be part of it.”

More from Miriam:

On Choosing to Dance
I started dancing at age 6 with the Ana Pavlova School of Ballet and I knew exactly what I wanted for life since the first performance on stage. By the age of 13, I was also studying other genres of dance such as African-Jazz and Flamenco. In Brazil, dance is hardly recognized as a career, and there was very little contemporary dance at that time to be exposed to. By age 15, I’d been awarded a scholarship to the International Dance Convention in Rio to work with all this masters of dance from America and soon afterwards my teacher showed me a black and white video of Martha Graham performing in "Night Journey" and told me I naturally moved like that. Ever since it was my goal to study contemporary dance in NY.

How Her Travel Has Influenced Her Work
Brazil is already a very international country inhabited by immigrants (very similar to America), and it might be why I feel comfortable in other countries. I have choreographed a piece named Spanish Rhapsody with strong Flamenco influence from my time spent in Spain. I have choreographed a Fado (traditional Portuguese music) in Portugal for the Lisbon Dance Company.  Mexico has influenced some of my works tremendously during the 90's. I visited there several times as my father's career transferred him to Mexico for seven years.

Her Career with the Martha Graham Company
I waited until I graduated in 1991 to come to the U.S.  I was to study for at least three months. I never left.  I felt at home immediately from the first class with the Martha Graham School.  I was awarded a scholarship, and a year later, I was apprenticing roles with the Martha Graham Ensemble with whom I performed from 1993 to 1996, also guesting with the Company for some of the seasons.  In 1997, I took on an intensive role as choreographer working for 6 months in Spain and 3 months in Brazil.  At that time, I served also as the artistic director for Dzul Dance Company.  In 1998, I was invited by the Martha Graham Artistic Director to join the company for their upcoming seasons.  

Dancers Who’ve Inspired Her
I had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest contemporary dance masters such as Pearl Lang, Yuriko Kikushi, Diane Gray, Jackie Buglisi, Donlin Foreman, Terese Capuccilli and Christine Dakin. They carry the legacy in its most profound depth, both technically and artistically, towards the next generation.  I follow their steps with high expectations of continuing the tradition as it better fits the present generation. I experienced my body changing and getting stronger through intensive training in both contemporary and classical dance. 

On Making South Carolina Her Home
I have gladly ended up in Columbia ever since Susan Anderson, USC Dance Program Artistic Director, sent me an e-mail about this position.  I was in Europe, looking for a position in Austria. . It was the birth of my beautiful daughter that changed quite a bit the course of my career, pushing me into making a jump from performer to teacher and choreographer.  I took the job to extend my experience towards this direction.