Carolina Pahde Mallarino, the director and the choreographer of Beauty and Love, began directing in 1996 in Hannover, Germany. Since then she has been associated with several projects and productions in Colombia, Germany and in the United States as producer, director, choreographer and performer. 

In 1996, Carolina left her hometown of Bogota, Colombia, to pursue Dance studies at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Performing Dance (1999) and one in Dance Pedagogy (2001). Some of her most important Professors were Marlis Karda from Rumania and Heide Tegeder from Germany. Following her desire to deepen her knowledge of choreography, Carolina is currently seeking a Master’s of Fine Arts in Dance at The University of Michigan (2007).

She has performed in Colombia, Germany and in the United States of America. On July 1999 she was chosen to dance at the “Kokerei Project” in Essen, Germany, with the New York choreographer Steven Koplovits. In September 2000 she danced in “Ballet al Parque” a Ballet Festival that is held annually in Bogota, Colombia, with the dance company of Priscilla Wellton, who had been her childhood teacher. In 2003 she was a dancer in “My Fair Lady” at the National Opera House in Lubeck, Germany. She has also danced for many other smaller projects in all three countries.

Carolina has taught in various schools as well. From 1998 to 2005 she taught Classical Ballet, Jazz, Modern Dance and Tap at the Ballet School “Voges” in Minden Germany. In January 2000 she created the dance division at the “Kreismusikschule” in Goslar, Germany. There she taught Classical Ballet and Modern Dance for one and a half years. In Colombia she has been a guest teacher for Jazz, Ballet and Modern Dance since 2004 at Bogota’s most renowned Ballet School “Ballarte escuela de Ballet”. During these four years she has choreographed all the pieces performed by the School’s company at “Ballet al Parque” Ballet Festival.  For the 1st piece she created her own fusion of Classical Ballet and Jazz Dance.  This piece won the first price in the 2004 festival.  In 2005, 2006 and 2007, the pieces created were a fusion of Classical Ballet and Modern Dance (2005), Classical Ballet and Flamenco (2006) and Neoclassical Ballet and Contemporary Dance in 2007.

Her other choreographic work includes various solos and group pieces for other Ballet Schools and for amateur dance companies in all three countries.

Since the foundation of the “Umbigada Dance Company” with her M.F.A. colleagues in 2005 at the University of Michigan, Carolina has created various works. Most recently she choreographed a Solo Piece called “Light, Air and the Sea” as an homage to Antonin Gaudí the famous Spanish Architect, and a Group Piece called “Translating Macondo”, that deals with the influence of Cultural Identity in the Artistic Creation. In May of 2007 Carolina was invited to perform these pieces with the Company in Cali, Colombia at the II University Dance Festival at the university of San Buenaventura and the Caliendanza Festival of the City of Cali. Besides performing, Carolina taught a Master Class and gave a conference for the dancers who were participating in the Festivals.

Currently she is researching for a new project called “Beauty and Love” based on an verse romance from the Ottoman literature. The piece will be performed in Ann Arbor Michigan and at the MESA Conference in Montreal, Canada, this coming Fall.

Performer • Teacher • Choreographer
caropm@umich.edu