Margarita Zafrilla Olayo is an artist, dancer and choreographer, balancing across practices, contexts and forms, working with dance, performance, choreographic projects, painting, still and moving-image.
Her artwork, choreography, performance and dance have been presented internationally at Northern Sustainable Futures(Sweden), Loop Video Art Festival (Barcelona), Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome—MACRO, Tate Britain, Siobhan Davies Studios, Independent Dance, Sadler’s Wells, Tate Modern, Barbican Art Gallery (London), Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company—Meet The Snake, Tanzinitiative (Hamburg, GER), Ritratti D’Artista—Ascoli Piceno, (IT), Zona Maco 2022 (CDMX), Bauhaus University-Weimar (DE), and the 58th Venice Biennale’s Giudecca Art District flagship exhibition, Body as Home.
Since 2019, she has been nurturing a choreographic context and process entitled DaNCING𓂃BaND—an ever-expanding series of somatic exercises, artworks, experimental dances, and immersive performance iterations that activate a practice towards peaceful states within the shared space of the artwork.
Born in Madrid, she has lived and worked in London since 1999.
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photo Yanis Angel
Classically trained in ballet, flamenco, folk and Spanish classical dance at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza in Madrid, alongside independent studies with María de Ávila, she was awarded a Spain–United Kingdom scholarship to continue her training in London. She completed a BA (Hons) and a PgDip in Contemporary Dance and Performance at London Contemporary Dance School, followed by an MA in Creative Practice at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, delivered in partnership with Independent Dance and Siobhan Davies Studios in South London.
For the past 20 years, Zafrilla Olayo has led dance and movement workshops across education, art, and non-profit organisations. Most recently, she has facilitated movement-based studies exploring communication, interdependence, trust, and support at the Royal College of Art, University of Roehampton, Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Independent Dance, and the Royal School of Speech and Drama in London. Her teaching also includes programmes at the Conservatorio Profesional Superior de Danza de Málaga in Spain, The School of Hope’s international art programme for young creatives in the UK, Bauhaus University Weimar, (Re)Thinking Leadership / Big Education, as well as projects with Chris Higgins / MAP Consortium for OPPi Global and CreateCATT Developmental Play.
Margarita co-founded the experimental dance research platform Spirals & Horizontal Connections (2012–2014) with Andrea Puerta and Natalie Heller, and the artist collective La Ventana (2002–2004) with Magdalen Pirzer, Thomas Pausz, and Jamie Craggs. She also collaborated as an ID Ambassador and volunteered with the artist-led organisation Independent Dance from 2011 to 2021.
Zafrilla Olayo has also danced, performed, and collaborated on the choreographic projects of Trisha Brown and Gordon Matta-Clark (Barbican Art Gallery); Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion (Siobhan Davies Studios); Florence Peake(YSP Longside Gallery); Tai Shani (Hayward Gallery); DV8 (Tate Modern); Pablo Bronstein (Tate Britain); Lina Lapelytė (DRAFT); Carolyn Roy (University of Roehampton); Lizzy Le Quesne (Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University); Theo Clinkard (UK tour); Linda Remahl (Northern Sustainable Futures / Moskosel Creative Lab); Frauke Requardt (Sadler’s Wells, Young Vic, and The Place Theatre); Franz Erhard Walther (Frieze London); Eva Recacha(Spain tour); Aletta Collins (Opera North); Punchdrunk (site-specific / National Theatre London); Cally Spooner(Serpentine Sackler Gallery); and Richard Alston Dance Company (Joyce Theater, New York), among others.
For the past 20 years, Zafrilla Olayo has led dance and movement workshops across education, art, and non-profit organisations. Most recently, she has facilitated movement-based studies exploring communication, interdependence, trust, and support at the Royal College of Art, University of Roehampton, Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Independent Dance, and the Royal School of Speech and Drama in London. Her teaching also includes programmes at the Conservatorio Profesional Superior de Danza de Málaga in Spain, The School of Hope’s international art programme for young creatives in the UK, Bauhaus University Weimar, (Re)Thinking Leadership / Big Education, as well as projects with Chris Higgins / MAP Consortium for OPPi Global and CreateCATT Developmental Play.
Margarita co-founded the experimental dance research platform Spirals & Horizontal Connections (2012–2014) with Andrea Puerta and Natalie Heller, and the artist collective La Ventana (2002–2004) with Magdalen Pirzer, Thomas Pausz, and Jamie Craggs. She also collaborated as an ID Ambassador and volunteered with the artist-led organisation Independent Dance from 2011 to 2021.
Zafrilla Olayo has also danced, performed, and collaborated on the choreographic projects of Trisha Brown and Gordon Matta-Clark (Barbican Art Gallery); Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion (Siobhan Davies Studios); Florence Peake(YSP Longside Gallery); Tai Shani (Hayward Gallery); DV8 (Tate Modern); Pablo Bronstein (Tate Britain); Lina Lapelytė (DRAFT); Carolyn Roy (University of Roehampton); Lizzy Le Quesne (Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University); Theo Clinkard (UK tour); Linda Remahl (Northern Sustainable Futures / Moskosel Creative Lab); Frauke Requardt (Sadler’s Wells, Young Vic, and The Place Theatre); Franz Erhard Walther (Frieze London); Eva Recacha(Spain tour); Aletta Collins (Opera North); Punchdrunk (site-specific / National Theatre London); Cally Spooner(Serpentine Sackler Gallery); and Richard Alston Dance Company (Joyce Theater, New York), among others.