Luis Pereyra

Life

Luis Pereyra was born to a humble working-class family, in the province of Santiago del Estero. At the early age of five he danced in folk groups. At the age of eleven he made his first professional appearance as a member of the ballet Argentino directed by Mario Machaco and Norma Ré. He made his first appearance on stage at the legendary Caño 14, where the famous bandoneón player Aníbal Troilo appeared at the same time. Later Luis Pereyra became a member of the Ballett Salta, directed by Marina and Hugo Jiménez.

Luis Pereyra studied choreography under Maestro Carusso direction in Teatro Colón, the opera house of Buenos Aires, and at Escuela Nacional de Danzas. He took studies with renowned maestros such as Santiago Ayala "El Chúcaro", Hugo Jiménez, Mario Machaco, Héctor Zaraspe, Irene Acosta, Ana Marini, Wasil Tupin and Mercedes Serrano. His professional education comprises Modern Dance, classical ballet, jazz dance, folklore, tap dance and he studied music.

He took part in all of the outstanding tango productions, e.g., Forever Tango, Tango Pasión and – from 1987 to 2000 in the musical Tango Argentino, produced by Claudio Segovia and Héctor Orrezoli. It was here that Luis Pereyra was nominated for the Tony Award He went on tour through the U.S.A., Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Austria, Switzerland and France. In 2001 he danced the solo part in the opera Orestes – Last Tango, directed by choreographer Oscar Araiz, produced on the occasion of WMTF Festival, the Netherlands. In the course of his career he danced on the important stages e.g., Gershwin Theater on Broadway, Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, Aldwych Theatre in London´s West End, Cologne Philharmonie, Alte Oper in Frankfurt am Main and Deutsches Theater München (Munic). In 1994 he danced for Paramount Pictures and was presented by Al Pacino. In 1995 he danced in the Castro Theater in San Francisco on stage with Robin Williams and Peter Coyote.

Luis Pereyra´s choreographic work is influenced mainly by his Argentinian origin. His works are always closely related to popular and folkloric dances and show a pure choice of elements. His oeuvre is based on his principle: "Unity. What belongs together, should not be separated." He regards the culture of Argentine as a unity, and Tango Argentino as an integral part of Argentinian folklore. From his very start he has followed this principle. It is his aim to unite all of Argentine's dances on one stage: Tango, Chacarera, Milonga, Milonga Sureña, Zamba, Gato and Malambo, the Gaucho dance, just to mention a few of them, being on the same level, in connection with each other and creating a picture of the country Argentine as a whole, as one unity. Luis Pereyra considers music as genesis of all dance. For this reason he chooses carefully strong and expressive compositions of original Argentinian music and cares about authentic instruments, as Bandoneón, Cajas, Bombo, and others.

Tom Noga wrote on 19 August 2004 in Frankfurter Rundschau, German daily paper: "El Sonido de mi Tierra is a revue of dance and music. A declaration of love to Argentine, her people and landscapes."

In most of his productions Luis Pereyra personally takes part as a dancer. Among his last productions you can find Café de los Angelitos – El Tango as well as all of the productions of his music and dance company El Sonido de mi Tierra (The Sound of my Earth).

Since 2001 Luis Pereyra has been collaborating with his partner under the name of Nicole Nau & Luis Pereyra. The company he created in 1996 is named El Sonido de mi Tierra - The Great Dance of Argentina. In 2016 he renames his company in El Sonido de mi Tierra - VIDA! ARGENTINO

Appearances as choreographer and dancer: a selection

Awards

DVD and CD