BIOGRAPHY
Manuelito Biag is an independent choreographer and the artistic director of SHIFT>>> Physical Theater, a contemporary dance company he helped found in 1998. As a performer, Manuelito has appeared in the works of many Bay Area choreographers including Nancy Karp, Eric Kupers, and Margaret Jenkins. He has created over a dozen projects for SHIFT>>>, all of which were generated through an ensemble practice where company members shared equal involvement in the development of each work. Themes examined in his dances reflect different aspects of the human experience--a first kiss, a memory of death, a difficult goodbye.
Under his direction, SHIFT>>> has received critical acclaim and performed to sold-out crowds throughout the country. He has featured projects in Dancers’ Group Local Choreographer Series, Danceworks, Westwave Dance Festival, and through the SCUBA National Touring Project. The company has been awarded grants from the American Composers Forum, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Theater Bay Area-CA$H, among others. Manuelito has been an artist in residence at ODC Theater and was the recipient of a Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange (CHIME) fellowship. In 2004, his project entitled “Giving Strength to this Fragile Tongue,” was nominated for Best Ensemble Performance by the Isadora Duncan/Bay Area Dance Awards. His evening length work, “The Shape of Poison,” was hailed in 2007 as one of the year’s top local dance events by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Independent of his work with SHIFT>>>, Manuelito has been commissioned to create original pieces for solo dance artists, companies, as well as colleges and universities including San Jose State and Stanford University. In 2009, he was recognized by Dance Magazine as one of the “Top 25 to Watch.” Manuelito has explored collaborative dance-making processes with Bay Area choreographers Kara Davis, Katie Faulkner, and Alex Ketley. Their joint project, “Terra Incognita, Revisited,” was awarded in 2011 by the Isadora Duncan/Bay Area Dance Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography.
Under his direction, SHIFT>>> has received critical acclaim and performed to sold-out crowds throughout the country. He has featured projects in Dancers’ Group Local Choreographer Series, Danceworks, Westwave Dance Festival, and through the SCUBA National Touring Project. The company has been awarded grants from the American Composers Forum, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Theater Bay Area-CA$H, among others. Manuelito has been an artist in residence at ODC Theater and was the recipient of a Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange (CHIME) fellowship. In 2004, his project entitled “Giving Strength to this Fragile Tongue,” was nominated for Best Ensemble Performance by the Isadora Duncan/Bay Area Dance Awards. His evening length work, “The Shape of Poison,” was hailed in 2007 as one of the year’s top local dance events by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Independent of his work with SHIFT>>>, Manuelito has been commissioned to create original pieces for solo dance artists, companies, as well as colleges and universities including San Jose State and Stanford University. In 2009, he was recognized by Dance Magazine as one of the “Top 25 to Watch.” Manuelito has explored collaborative dance-making processes with Bay Area choreographers Kara Davis, Katie Faulkner, and Alex Ketley. Their joint project, “Terra Incognita, Revisited,” was awarded in 2011 by the Isadora Duncan/Bay Area Dance Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography.