Join TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND’s Executive Director, Charles Santos, before the show on Friday, April 11 at 7 PM at the Winspear Opera House and on Facebook Live, with Olivier Wevers, Artistic Director and Founder of Whim W’Him. Charles and Olivier will discuss the evening’s program, the Seattle arts scene, breaking into touring, and the journey that led him to start his own company.

Tickets are currently available for Whim W’Him’s performance on Friday, April 11 at 8 PM. Get tickets here: https://attpac.org/event/whim-whim-dance

TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND is a dance-only presenter and a catalyst for cultural collaborations. Our Santos Salon series is designed to bring our arts community together and create meaningful conversations. Artists need to come together, support each other, and have these conversations so we can ensure that all voices are heard, now and in the future.

About the Speakers, Whim W’Him

About Olivier Wevers, Artistic Director and Founder of Whim W’Him
OLIVIER WEVERS (He/Him/His) from ballet training in his native Belgium, Olivier learned the beauty, passion, and discipline of the art. On coming to North America at age 19, he discovered the exhilaration of many new dance forms. As a principal dancer, first with Royal Winnipeg Ballet and later, for most of his dancing career, with Pacific Northwest Ballet, he acquired his strong conviction that dancers are the heart and soul of a company. As such, they, and artists in general, must live at the very center of the process, their dignity, psychological and creative growth, and safety deemed just as essential as their technical accomplishments. During his years of performing in classical and contemporary works by choreographers from around the world, Olivier also discovered the thrill of making dances and how imaginative story-telling and movement exploration connect to caring about individuality and physicality. Creating dances fed his perennial curiosity. It became “my way to express myself and, during the process, to be able to learn more about the human condition, start dialogues, touch people and share ideas, reflecting on our times and our humanity.” While still dancing with PNB and developing his own choreographic approach, Olivier became convinced that only by starting his own company could he create the works he envisioned in an artist-centered sanctuary where kindness, empathy, and collaboration are built into the very DNA. The result is Whim W’Him, with its yearly Choreographic Shindig for which the dancers choose the choreographers; emphasis on new works; transparent and candid leadership; ethical practices and equitable pay; commitment to diversity and social justice; and dedication to uncovering and nurturing new voices.

Charles Santos has served as the Executive Director and Artistic Director of TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND since 2001. In his role, Charles oversees all aspects of TITAS including curation, programming, contract negotiation, and financial management. His skilled artistic vision has brought brilliant international artists to Dallas, accompanied by extensive community engagement to our community. Under his guidance, Santos has established TITAS and the City of Dallas as significant entity on the international cultural landscape. Prior to TITAS, he founded the Austin Festival of Dance and served as the Managing Director/Development Director for Eos Orchestra, Producer for Dancers Responding to AIDS-BC/EFA, and Managing Director/Producer of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.