Rakel Rodríguez Ruiz (born 17 October 1977,

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) is a Spanish

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

and actress. She is known for creating the "sign-dance" dance style, which combines

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

with dance. She is a creator and promoter of inclusive and accessible art.

Life and career

Rakel Rodríguez Ruiz was born in

(

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

). He currently resides in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

. He graduated in pedagogy at the

University of Granada The University of Granada (, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apart from the city of Granad ...

. She also obtained the title of Higher Technician in Sign Language Interpretation and interpreter guide for deafblind people. From a young age he was trained in guitar, dance, singing, interpretation, body expression and voice classes. As a teenager he began to participate in social projects and has carried out cooperative work in various places and countries such as Morocco or Peru. Committed activist and involved in social causes, she has collaborated with different associative movements and entities of people with functional diversity such as the ONCE Foundation, others that work with people with rare diseases, cancer, or in defense of childhood, among which is

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. She is a pioneer in the research and teaching of interpreting courses in

Sign Language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

in the artistic field at a European level, and she trains Sign Language interpreters in this area, in addition to teaching Signdance workshops and being a theater and dance teacher. Since 1998 she has been conducting research to merge the different sign languages with different artistic disciplines, she has participated in conferences as a speaker and has published different research articles in the university field. She founded the dance and theater company "Arymux - Somersault Soul" which she directs. She has shared the stage with singer-songwriters, writers, musicians and artists in general such as

Coque Malla Jorge Malla Valle (born 22 October 1969, in Madrid), better known as Coque Malla, is a Spanish musician and actor, frontman of the group Los Ronaldos (founded in 1985). His mother was the actress Amparo Valle, who died on 29 September 2016. Fi ...

, Fetén Fetén,

Iñaki Uranga Mocedades () is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in Eurovision Song Contest 1973, 1973 with the hit song "Eres tú". Since June 2014, ...

, El Kanka, Conchita, Mr, Kilombo, Víctor Lemes, Té Canela,

Kalakan Kalakan , is a village located in the center of Kalakan District, Kabul Province, Afghanistan. Notable People of Kalakan * Habibullāh Kalakāni, Afghan revolutionary leader who deposed the Barakzai Dynasty and captured vast swathes of Afgha ...

, María de la Flor, El Jose, Pepa Niebla. Quintet, Clarisse, Confluence or

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

. He has given workshops on Signdanza, art, inclusion and communication at the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

and other universities in Spain and Europe, the Auditorium of the

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Bilbao, Biscay, Spain. It is one of several museums affiliated to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish a ...

, Artebi, Ánima Eskola, the San Telmo Museum in Donostia, the La Alameda Dance School, Arteka, Ana Rosa Tercero Dance Center, among others. In 2016 she received the Prize for Cultural Creation from the

Ramón Rubial Ramón Rubial Cavia (28 October 1906 – 24 May 1999) was a Spanish socialist leader. He was a main leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in the Basque Country and in Spain. Revolutionary action Born in Erandio, Biscay, Rubial was a m ...

Foundation. In 2021 she has been selected by the Fair Saturday Foundation Forum as one of the 30 international leaders to speak on culture, innovation and social change. In 2022, she was awarded the 2nd Edition of the Urregin Awards for Basque Theater and the Performing Arts, with the Ametsa Award for Innovation in the Performing Arts, with special mention for her involvement in favor of inclusion and equality, for take care of the gender perspective in her works and for the creation of the concepts of Signodanza and Signoarte with which she works.

Awards and acknowledgements

Urregin Awards

* 2022, "Ametsa" Award for Innovation in the Performing Arts

Ramón Rubial Awards

* 2016, Cultural Creation Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Rakel 1977 births Living people Spanish dancers Spanish choreographers Spanish stage actresses