Theatre director, performer, painter and writer.
Enrique was born in Lima, Peru, in 1946, in a well-established Spanish-creole family (he is a rare Peruvian blond) with strong francophile connections. He spent his childhood in Peru before moving with his family to Europe, passing his French baccalauréat in Paris, studying law and economics in Madrid, graduating in painting from Chelsea School of Arts, London, and teaching Fine Arts at Goldsmith College (University of London).
Enrique Pardo founded PANTHEATRE in 1981 with a now legendary solo performance on the god Pan: “Calling for Pan” (hence Pantheatre). This dance-theatre piece was a physical and vocal tour de force, a ritualistic and wild invocation of the singing-dancing God who embodies the borderline between animal and human – Pan, “with the goat feet and the two horns”. The performance brought together the three main sources of Pantheatre: The Voice, Choreographic Theatre and Myth.
Beginning in 1981, these meetings led to a long and fascinating series of exchanges, joint seminars, tours (amongst these, the early Men’s Movement conferences with James Hillman and Robert Bly), and to the creation in 1989 of the Myth and Theatre Festival. The relevance of mythology goes well beyond the theatrical and literal use of mythical figures or stories: myth refers here to a cultural dimension of image, implying the kind of image-based theatre that Enrique came to call choreographic theatre.
Enrique has performed and taught in Europe, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand.
Since 2000, Enrique has directed mainly performances by artists who have trained with PANTHEATREACTS.
- Que le diable m’emporte, by Karen Gaborel – based on “Le Diable” by Marina Tsvétaeva, 2006.
- Nostalgia Trip Tic, Created and performed by Sharon Feder – A re-reading of the character Hermine from Herman Hesse’s novel STEPPENWOLF, 2005.
- Une Etrange Demoiselle, Myth and Theatre Festival, 2007
- Marsyas Sings, by Faroque Khan, 2007
- The Volcano Lover, by Benedicte Blix, 2007
- Gravity Hotel, by Sally Stockwell, New Zealand, 2008
- Le Partage du Sel, Port-au-Prince, Haïti, 2008
- Ecce Homo, by Joserra Leza, 2009 Festival & Sevilla
- “Folie à Deux”, 2011: a series of performances by Pantheatre ACTS training artists.
“Enrique Pardo is the teacher you’ve always dreamed about. Steeped in the psyche’s language of image-making, master of surprise and subversion, he puts his finger on the heart of what matters. In workshops he’s a gleeful alchemist who heats your material until it, and you, come out transmuted. Ultimately demanding and utterly delightful…” Nor Hall, author and psychologist
“He plunders Greek mythology and alchemy for inspiration and his followers travel over new territory, breaking boundaries, crossing new frontiers and reaping iconoclastic rewards. Performers from all disciplines will break old habits and dissolve inhibitions, discover physical and vocal courage and stretch their imaginative muscles; directors will see the stage with new eyes and hear the text with new ears.”Kristin Linklater, Chair of Theatre, Columbia University
Pantheatre Portugal 