E. E. Balcos

Dance

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I’m passionate about somatic movement practice, primarily Body-Mind Centering, and its application in dance technique and performance, interdisciplinary collaboration, improvisation, contact improvisation and choreography. My work is demonstrated through a lens of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion as it applies to social and environmental justice and activism. I’m a steward of nature and the environment through decades of botanic gardening, landscaping, and tree-hugging.

E.E. Balcos, Filipino-American and native Minnesotan, is Professor of Dance at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, as well as a professional performer, choreographer, and somatic dance and movement educator. He teaches Modern Technique, Improvisation, Contact Improvisation, Choreography, Anatomy for Dancers, and choreographs for Performance Practicum. He holds a BA in Music from The Colorado College and an MFA in Choreography from The University of Iowa. He is a Registered Somatic Dance Educator and a Master Somatic Movement Educator. He is an active member of the Body-Mind Centering Association (BMCA) and the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association, (ISMETA) and is on the Board of Directors.

Balcos has been performing and choreographing for over 40 years. At the age of 18, he began studying with modern dance pioneer Hanya Holm at Colorado College. As a performer, Balcos toured nationally and internationally with Shapiro & Smith Dance (NYC), Demetrius Klein Dance Company (FL), Zenon Dance Company (MPLS), and worked with renowned choreographers including Danny Buraczeski, Ping Chong, Sam Costa, Sean Curran, David Dorfman, Joe Goode, Daniel Gwirtzman, Dwight Rhoden, David Rousseve, Stephanie Skura, Jan Van Dyke, and Bill Young. He performed and presented performances and workshops internationally including the U.S., Canada, England, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Uzbekistan, and the Philippines. For the stage, he has choreographed over 60 professional works and 40 works for dance students. His work has been presented at well known venues nationally, and at numerous dance festivals and universities.

E. E.’s YouTube Channel     

Movement Migration

Instagram: @eesential

Somatic Research and Performance

As a lead presenter at the 2023 Annual Body-Mind Centering Conference, “Being With” at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York he performed in a trio, Set Forth: Being with Synchronicity with Mariah Maloney and Margery Segal; presented an experiential workshop, Relational Beings: Resonating with the Endocrine System through Contact Improvisation; and was a featured panelist in The Nature of Comfort: a round table conversation​ with Jorge Samuel Faria, Wendy Hambidge, and Tarina Quelho.

His interdisciplinary project, The On-Going-Ness of Earth and Humankind, was a trio performed live with a composer/ pianist, Leonard Mark Lewis and video artist, Claudia O’Steen (moving throughout the stage space). This project is concerned with the human body and the natural environment, its parallels and intersections, and life-force energy. It was supported by the ASC and performed in several venues from 2022-2023.

Balcos received a Faculty Research Grant to conduct somatic research in choreography and performance with nationally recognized, Bill Evans in Port Townsend, Washington. This research involves creating a solo dance, embodied investigation, choreography and performance. It was focused on the beneficial effects that somatic movement practice has on the older dancer and the relevance of incorporating somatic methodologies into the creative process. Balcos performed Tales of the Wizard by Evans in 2021 and 2022.