Tancredo Tavares

Born in the Dominican Republic, Tancredo starts his dance instruction and professional career in 1984, under the tutelage of Eduardo Villanueva. He leaves Santo Domingo in 1988, under a one year full pedagogical scholarship with the school of Ballet Nacional de México (presently the Centro de Danza Contemporánea – CENADAC – in Querétaro, México); at its term Tancredo is offered a full scholarship at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance (New York), and shortly after, he joined the Martha Graham Ensemble (presently Graham 2).

In the autumn of 1989, Tancredo is invited to join The Martha Graham Company, where he danced major works of the Graham repertory until an accident late 1993 abruptly interrupted his stage career. Subsequently Tancredo was invited by Diane Gray to integrate the faculty at the Martha Graham School, followed by Denise Jefferson’s invitation to join the faculty at the Alvin Ailey School, where he was also trusted a class for the Actors Studio and another for teenagers at The Professional Performing Arts School (PPAS); Tancredo was also invited to join in the dance faculty at Lehman College (City University of New York-CUNY).

In 1997, Tancredo moves to France, where he obtains a dispensation for the Diplôme d’État as a dance Teacher due to his confirmed experience in the field, and is invited into the faculty at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional du Grand Avignon where he taught the Martha Graham Technique until 2003. In 1999, he acquires the French nationality and became a beneficiary of the Certificat d’aptitude aux fonctions de professeur de danse, option danse contemporaine (Ministère de la Culture Française).

In September 2004, he was invited by Maurice Béjart and Michel Gascard to join the teaching faculty of the École-atelier Rudra Béjart, a position he proudly held until 2021. Presently, Tancredo resides in Paris as a freelance Master Teacher of the Graham Technique and Personal Coach.