Volmir Cordeiro (born 1987) holds a doctorate in dance from Paris 8 University. He initially studied theatre before working with Brazilian choreographers Alejandro Ahmed, Cristina Moura and Lia Rodrigues. In 2011, he joined the “Essais” programme at the National Centre for Contemporary Dance (CDNC) in Angers, under the direction of Emmanuelle Huynh, where he obtained a masters in performance and choreography.

In Europe he has performed in productions by Xavier Le Roy, Laurent Pichaud & Rémy Héritier, Emmanuelle Huynh, Jocelyn Cottencin, Vera Mantero, Zeena Parkings & Nadia Lauro, Latifa Laâbissi and Rodrigo García. As a choreographer, his first cycle was composed of three solo works: Sky (2012, created at the Angers CDNC), Inês (2014, created at the Actoral Festival in Marseilles) and Street (2015, created at the Louvre museum in collaboration with the Paris International Contemporary Art Fair – FAIC). In February of 2017, he choreographed a piece for four dancers: “The eye, the mouth and the rest”, in Brest, Brittany. At that time, he also created a video installation of the same title on the poetics of the face in the history of dance for the Passerelle contemporary art centre, as part of the 40^th anniversary celebrations for the Centre Pompidou. In 2019, Volmir Cordeiro created Sidewalk, a work for six dancers, presented at the Actoral Festival in Marseilles and the Paris Autumn Festival.

He teaches regularly in choreography programmes, such as the Exerce Master (ICI-CCN Montpellier, France) and the Drama Master (Kask Conservatorium, Gand, Belgium), P.A.R.T.S. (Brussels), the Ménagerie de Verre (Paris) and also during the Camping Festival at the Pantin National dance centre. He is the author of “Ex-Corpo”, a book on marginality in contemporary dance and the notion of the artist-researcher, a continuation of his doctoral research at Paris 8 University, which he completed in November of 2018.

In 2021, Volmir will revisit the Ballets Suédois, a dadaist dance troupe based at the Théâtre de Champs-Elysées from 1920-25, with his new performance Erosion, created for the Nancy Ballet de Lorraine national choreography centre. His next solo work Metropolis will be created in November 2021 as part of the Paris Autumn Festival.

Volmir Cordeiro is an associated artist at the Cergy-Pontoise national theatre, Points Communs, and at the Briqueterie, Val-de-Marne’s national dance and choreography centre in Vitry. His company Donna Volcan takes the notion of the volcano, which combines earth, air, fire and vital force, as the basis for creation. It is supported by the Regional directorate for cultural affairs (structuring assistance). In 2021, Cordeiro won the SACD Society of Author’s prize for young choreographers.