Pau Aran
Pau Aran Gimeno (Barcelona, 1981) is a dance artist living and working between Germany and Spain. Born in a small town near Barcelona, he began dancing at the age of ten at the local school, where he trained in ballroom, jazz, modern, classical, and later contemporary dance. He completed his professional training at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza Mariemma in Madrid and subsequently at the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen, Germany. He joined the third year of the degree program in 2005, following a successful audition recommended by Malou Airaudo.
In late 2005, at the age of 24, he joined Tanztheater Wuppertal – Pina Bausch as a full-time dancer, where he worked until the end of the 2019/20 season. Over the course of fifteen years, he performed in more than 25 pieces from Bausch’s repertoire, immersing himself in the richness and complexity of her stage language. He later continued collaborating with the Tanztheater as a guest performer and became part of the transmission and rehearsal team of the Pina Bausch Foundation, contributing to the preservation and continuation of the German choreographer’s legacy. During this period, he worked closely with key figures such as Dominique Mercy, from whom he learned the importance of attention to detail, conscious use of breath, weight, and intention as sources of meaning. Despite the technical demands, Pau consistently seeks an honest, simple form of dance rooted in human essence, beyond the character.
Since 2013, alongside his work with the company, he has been developing his own universe as an independent choreographer, presenting works in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Chile, and Japan. In 2020, he began an ongoing artistic collaboration with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and has also worked with creators such as Theo Clinkard, Alan Lucien Øyen, Antonio Ruz, Stefan Jovanović, and Jorge Puerta Armenta.
His most recent works include Lettre d’amour (2020), a duet co-produced by the GREC Festival and premiered at the CCCB in Barcelona; Un cadavre exquis II (2021–2022), a solo co-produced by Steptext Tanzprojekt and Dansa Metropolitana, premiered at the Naves del Español (Madrid); and Seeking the truth (2023), commissioned by the Deltebre Dansa Festival.
Pau is currently at a pivotal point in his career, where his experience as a performer is evolving into a choreographic and pedagogical language of its own. He combines creation with intergenerational transmission, approaching pedagogy not as a side activity but as a fundamental part of his artistic process. He explores the poetics of contemporary dance theatre from a perspective centered on genuine expression, inclusivity, and the dialogue between tradition and the future. Within this framework, he promotes a deeply human practice, grounded in rigor, detail, and mutual listening, and commits his art as a tool for both personal and collective transformation.