Victor Quijada is the founder of RUBBERBANDance Group (RBDG) and creator of the RUBBERBAND Method. From the hip-hop clubs of his native Los Angeles to a performance career with acclaimed postmodern and ballet companies such as THARP!, Ballet Tech, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Quijada was recognized as a magnetic and expansive dancer early in his career. He has a rare perspective on a large spectrum of dance aesthetics, possessing knowledge and experience that spans from the street corner to the concert hall.
Impelled to explore his own choreographic voice, Quijada founded his company in 2002. His work eloquently re-imagines, deconstructs, and applies choreographic principles to hip-hop ideology, examining humanity through a unique fusion of expressive genres. His vision stretches into the arena of theatrical interpretation, improvisational approaches, and the visual imagery of film. He has created more than 24 short and full-length pieces both within the company structure and in commissions, and has toured with RBDG across North America, Europe and Asia.
Quijada developed the RUBBERBAND Method as a bridge to connect diverse movement styles. He teaches this technique internationally at conservatories and universities by coaching dancers to transition masterfully between opposing dance worlds, enabling them to combine balletic lines and grace, contemporary angles and distortion, with hip hop dynamics and break power-moves. Since 2011, Quijada has directed the intensive summer dance workshop at the Domaine Forget and, since 2010, has acted as choreographer at the annual Springboard Danse Montréal event. He was artist-in-residence at Usine C from 2004 to 2006 as well as the Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts (Montreal) from 2007 to 2011. He was recently named artist-in-residence at the new Kaufman School of Dance at the University of Southern California for the 2015-2016/2016-2017 season.
As a guest choreographer, Quijada is regularly invited to create new works for circus, theatre and dance companies, including repeat commissions for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Scottish Dance Theatre, and Les 7 doigts de la main. His prestigious awards include the Bonnie Bird North American Award and the Peter Darrell Choreography Award (both in 2003), the OQAJ/RIDEAU Prize in 2009, and a Princess Grace Foundation Award for Choreography Fellowship in 2010. A second price from the PGF was awarded to him with the 2016 Work in Progress Residency.
With over a dozen film credits to his name, Quijada has been choreographer, director and dramaturge in music videos, art film projects and television productions. His short film Hasta La Próxima was a finalist at the 2004 American Choreography Awards; his choreography in the k-OS music video Man I Used to Be won a 2005 Choreography Media Honor and Gravity of Center won Best Experimental Short at the 2012 CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival. He was highlighted as one of Canada’s hottest performance artists in the documentary series Freedom and featured in Dance Magazine's "On The Rise" section.
