Dance as “The Movement”

From the beginning of her dancing journey, Vanessa Agle Isaac always understood that dance is a connecting and transformational art form. Vanessa Agle Isaac is a bridge-builder, an environmentalist, a movement lover, an art maker and community catalyst. Known for her multidimensionality, her inspiring performances and her inclusive movement workshops in her community and internationally, Vanessa invites all to embody movement as an instrument for personal and global transformation.

In 2020 she premiered online her short Dance Film entitled “Feita de Luz” a tribute to Bahia and the Baianas (Bahian Women of African Decedence). “Before It Kills Us All” is a film and video installation of Cambridge Documentary Films, produced and directed by the Academy Award Documentary Film Producer Margaret Lazarus and includes the work of several dancers including Vanessa Isaac’s “Feita de Luz”.

In 2020 as the pandemic hit, Vanessa created two dance films, Panducada and Alfazema. Both dance works were commissioned by composer and musician San Francisco based musician Ami Molinelli for her project entitled “Raizes do Choro” (Roots of Choro Music). The project was funded by an Individual Arts Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission awarded to Ami Molinelli. The dance portions were partially made possible by a Rental Subsidy Grant from American Dance and Music, Inc awarded to Vanessa. Both work premiered online in May 2021.

In 2020 the Vanessa Isaac Dance Company received a commission from Les Ballets de Monte Carlo “Fete the la Danse” to create new works with her company to be presented in Monaco. As the company started the process of creation, the pandemic hit and the project was postponed. In 2023 the company made it’s International debut at the same festival in Monte Carlo.

With a legacy of inclusion and healing Vanessa’s work has impacted, and continues impact, positively her hometown and community of Santa Barbara. In 2002 she was named by the Santa Barbara Magazine as one of the “25 People to Watch” for her artistic and social contributions to the city.

Roots and History

Vanessa Isaac was born in Brazil. Her early childhood was in Bahia, the Afro-Brazilian land. Her Mother and Grandmother, who Vanessa had a deep connection with, are both from Bahia. The Afro-Brazilian land of Bahia has been a fountain of tremendous inspiration in Vanessa’s work and movement. “The smell of the food, the beautiful Baianas dressed in white and the graceful and rhythmic way they moved, the music in the streets. I can’t help but this is part of me and has stayed with me” Vanessa says.

Vanessa has a B.A. in Journalism from Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brasil. She says her love for doing “research” for her dance pieces and work is in part influenced by her training in Journalism. While in College she also pursued her interests in theater, studying and performing at the Cultural Center Martin Cerere and dance with diverse schools and groups including the Quasar Cia de Dança and Studio Dançarte. At this time she explored many movement styles as classical Ballet, contemporary, jazz, Afro-Brazilian Roots, Samba and Capoeira (the Afro-Brazilian martial arts).

After graduating, Vanessa moved to the United States, setting roots in Santa Barbara, CA. She started teaching dance at the Dance Warehouse under the direction of Julie McLeod. For her first teaching class in Santa Barbara, she had three students, and within a couple of years, her class was so popular that many could not get in due to space availability. At this time she started renting a bigger studio space at then Diane Knowles Studio and holding classes with live music by Panzumo.

"Everywhere that I turn, I bump into another of Isaac's dedicated students: at parties, at concerts even in the hall's of the Indy... Isaac's success has a lot to do with her warmth, charm and knack for making people feel at ease, but it is her skill and knowledge of the culture that truly brings to her students an authentic experience", the Santa Barbara Independent wrote.

While teaching in dance studios, Vanessa also started teaching at University of California Santa Barbara as part of their Arts and Lectures program. Meeting and mentoring the University dance student s from UCSB’s Dance and Theatre department, Vanessa always encouraged dancers to explore diverse movement traditions in addition to classical Ballet.

Vanessa co-founded her first dance company, Danza Alegria, with choreographer and dancer Andriana Mitchell and together they opened doors to dancers in the community to train and perform. Their show From Africa to the Americas began with sounds of African drummers, evoking the journey of movement and culture that influenced today’s dance vocabulary and styles such as the Jazz, Hip Hop, Samba, Contemporary, African and Afro Brazilian Dance styles.

In the early 2000 Vanessa took three trips back to Bahia, Brazil, to the state capital Salvador. She went back to research deeply the Afro-Brazilian traditions. She took dance classes with the late Mestre King (considered the Father of Contemporary Afro-Brazilian Dance) as well as with Gilmar Sampaio, Pakito Lazaro, Rosangela Silvestre, Tania Bispo, Vera Passos, Emilia Biancardi at the Fundação Cultural da Bahia and at the Teatro Villa Velha. She visited and attended lectures at Pierre Verger Foundation and Museu Afro-Brasileiro.

At the same time Vanessa co-founded Hip Brazil, a Brazilian music and dance Company with her then husband, musician Randy Tico. This was a period of great exploration in music and dance for her. She served as the producer, choreographer, dancer and singer. Performances included jazz clubs, festivals and theaters.

Besides working with her professional company she encouraged dancers and non-dancers alike to explore movement as a healing tool and as form of community connection. For more than 20 years she directed the Hip Brazil Community Ensemble (An educational community extension of her company) for the annual Summer Solstice Parade. This project always starts with two months of dance and music immersion and training and ends with a community performance and participation in the festival.

This project consistently brought together over 100 people of all backgrounds annually to participate including children, women and men of all ages, local and international musicians, students and professional performers. Musicians from the Santa Barbara community joined but also from Seattle, Boston, New York, San Francisco to name a few places. For this project she always collaborated with musicians such as Budhi Harlow, Chalo Eduardo, Matt Wright and Marcus Santos. Vanessa collaborated with diverse other groups for this annual event including Capoeira Sul da Bahia under Contra Mestre Chin and Jennifer Yanella and Cris Basimah’s dance group.

Many expressing that this experience was transformational. It taught them to appreciate their bodies, expand their sense of connection and community and gave them an outlet for their creativity. From this group many others were born with performers calling her Community Ensemble the “mother ship”, since many community performing groups sprang from it and it served as a model for community building.

In 2002 Vanessa co-created her first dance video entitled “Brazilian Dance Video” inspired by the New York City Ballet release of their fitness series. She pursed the idea of producing a dance video for all and sharing her culture. Her video was produced with live drumming led by renowed Brazilian percussionists Cassio Duarte and Jibi dos Santos. This work was made with the intention of promoting Brazilian Dance, Afro Brazilian traditions and encouraging all to connect to their bodies, improve their health, express themselves creatively, and enjoy the pleasure of movement in a welcoming and accepting atmosphere.

Vanessa’s video promoted diversity with dancers and non-dancers of various backgrounds, body sizes, races and ages and were featured in the video. At a time where only the “model” type could be in exercise videos, Vanessa encouraged diversity well before was it was the norm. This video was a mark not only for the cultural dance content but also for how it was produced. The video appeared in numerous magazines and publications, including Dance Spirit Magazine, InStyle Magazine, Sweat Magazine, Shape, Fitness, Women’s Health and Fitness and many others. It was voted one of top 10 DVDs by Women's Health & Fitness Magazine and Fitness Magazine.

In 2002 she was named by the Santa Barbara Magazine as one of the “25 People to Watch”. In 2005 Vanessa was nominated for the International Brazilian Press Award in the Dance Category and she also received her first grant from the Santa Barbara Arts Commission.

In 2005, with Daniel Yoshimi and Jessica Zavala she co-founded the Ginga Multicultural Center in Santa Barbara. The center offered classes in Afro-Brazilian, African, Jazz, Middle Eastern, Capoeira movement traditions and styles among others. It also offered African drumming for children and adults.

In 2016 she founded her company Vanessa Isaac Dance Company. In 2017 her company performed “Prelúdio da Saudade” a work commissioned by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art for the opening of minimalist Artist Valeska Soares “Any Moment Now” Exhibition. She also performed Levitation a duet she choreographed at the first International Samba Congress in Los Angeles.

Invitations to perform and teach internationally arrived and Vanessa traveled to Europe teaching and presenting in Paris, Belgium and Monaco. In Monaco she was a Guest of Les Balles de Monte Carlo for their Fate the la Danse Festival. Les Ballets de Monte Carlo is the company founded by Princess Caroline, Princess of Hanover.

In 2024, her company debut Bach and Bachianas. A work that pays tribute to Brazilian Composer Heitor Villa Lobos.

Vanessa continues to teach and mentor in her community in Santa Barbara. She is looking forward to continue her roots educational work as well as creating new works. For her Dance is an art form that connects and uplifts audiences and communities.