José Besprosvany

José Besprosvany (October 13, 1959) is a dancer, choreographer, director, producer and teacher, who has developed his career in Europe. Born in 1959 in Mexico, he is a second-generation Mexican with Russian Jewish origins. He has been living and working in Brussels since 1980.

He has been noted as one of Belgium’s contemporary dance innovators and reformers. In 1978, he left Mexico to study in France, seeking better opportunities to nurture his development in the arts field. He later moved to Belgium, where he has been living for more than 40 years. Since the early 1980s, he has been one of the reformers of Francophone Belgian contemporary dance, along with the Mossoux-Bonté Company, Pierre Droulers, Michèle Noiret, and Michèle-Anne de Mey. which provides a vehicle for his constant quest to find different modes of expression, and has since resulted in a forceful and varied repertoire. His initial creations, minimalist in style, were followed by a series of productions that questioned the relationship between modern and classical languages. After this, José explored the relationships between narrative and dance.

In the late 1990s, José Besprosvany re-examined his work, which he judged to be too conformist and too close to official contemporary art forms, and began to approach performing arts from a different angle, which he continues to develop to this day, revealing a marked interest in non-Western performances, with a focus on the relationship between North and South. In recent years, his work has frequently incorporated puppetry. Besprosvany's work also shows an interest in updated versions of Ancient Greek texts, illustrating that their themes remain relevant today. He has produced several versions of the story of Prometheus, and his Oedipe and Antigone include references to current social issues.

In parallel to his passion for dance, José Besprosvany is interested in directing for both theater and cinema.

He counts among his numerous awards and distinctions: Il Coreografo Electronico (Italy) and the Bert Leysen Prijs (Belgium), as well as the Special Jury Award in Danscreen (Germany) for the dance video Andrès (1993), 1999: Dos y dos 1999: Belle à mourir 2002: Triptico 2003: La Princesse de Babylone 2004: À propos de Butterfly 2006: 9 2007: La Belle au bois de Dandaka 2009: Inventions 2010: Prométhée enchaîné 2011: Dobles 2013: Oedipe 2015: Espejo 2017: Antigone 2019: Petrushka / The Firebird

Cinematography Besprosvany directed the following cinematographic works that have been shown in international festivals: 1992: Andrès 2004: Le Dessin