Tanya Cusan -Espinosa with Stewart Thomas teaching a class for one of the many events that she has participated and led in Leeds and the North of England since 1985.

Tanya's history is part of the global story of migration. Her father left the Czech Republic to settle in Colombia, South America before she was born and subsequently, she returned to Europe to settle in the UK, she works and lives in Leeds.
 
Her artistic training has come from many talented and passionate people. she was born and grew up in Colombia surrounded by artists, she started dancing at a very early age with her mother Cecilia Espinosa de Cusan, a professional ballet dancer and writer she taught classical ballet and creative dance at her dance school The Academia de Ballet Allegro in Cali- Colombia were Tanya assisted her for many years. 

She was offered a place with the only ballet company in Colombia in those days the Ballet Nacional de Colombia in Bogota and spent a couple of years with the company before traveling to the UK. 

As contemporary dance wasn’t taught in Colombia during those days Tanya  travelled to the UK, to Leeds in 1985.
Her aunt took her to the NSCD, in those days the school was based at Sacred Heart Primary School in Kirkstall in Leeds and it was then that Tanya meet Nadine Senior, Tanya had the privilege to be part of those formative and magical first years at The Northern School of Contemporary Dance from 1985 -1988.

She was co-founder and co-director of the Northern Dance Company  which was the first dance company based at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds in 1988.

Since then Tanya has performed as an actor, dancer, teacher, director, choreographer and puppeteer in her own and other companies such as The Northern Dance Company, Cusan Theatre, Salsa Cusan, Tutti-frutti Productions, Interplay Sensory Theatre, Heads Together, Northern Ballet Theatre, Stowe Opera, Lakeland Opera, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Academia de Ballet Allegro, Geraldine Connor and many more.

Tanya continues to work as a freelance actor/ dancer/puppeteer/ teacher/ choreographer, director and maker all over the country and abroad with a variety of directors and artists on individual projects and her own.

 For the last 20 years she has worked under the name of Cusan Theatre and Salsa Cusan, creating visual performance work suitable for indoor and outdoor performances available all year round. From family shows to  interactive  puppetry walkabouts, my work combines life size puppets, masks, dance theatre and sculptural costumes.
www.cusantheatre.com
www.salsacusan.com