Colectivo RPM is a collective of artists working within dance and performing arts that envisions, designs, and supports various contextual projects from Galicia, Spain.
They maintain a clear commitment to interinstitutional dialogue and promote initiatives around contemporary creation, research, and the visibility of the dance and performing arts community. In addition to supporting artists and creative processes, the collective also generates dialogues and actions with local communities to bring artistic practice closer to the public.
Among the lines of action of Colectivo RPM, the artistic residency program Residencias Paraíso, stands out, especially for its network of theaters and partner spaces in Galicia. This program issues an annual open call to host different artists in residence throughout the year, presenting a series of expanded programs open to the public. Residenicas Paraiso extends beyond Galicia in the Cruceiros Paraíso line, which enables collaboration with other national and international spaces.
The team
Founding partner RPM
Founding partner RPM
Founding partner RPM
Founding partner RPM
Caterina Varela
Artist, curator, and cultural manager born in Galicia. She has developed her professional career in the field of dance and performing arts, both in artistic creation and in the direction and coordination of cultural management projects related to artistic residencies, audience development, and curating. She co-directs the dance company La Macana with her partner Alexis Fernández for fifteen years. Founder and director of the Residencias Paraíso program with Colectivo RPM. She was in charge of the Expanded Program TRC Danza at Teatro Rosalía de Castro in A Coruña (2014-2022). As an independent professional, she collaborates with other national organizations as a curator, mediator, and advisor.
Félix Fernández
Graduated in Fine Arts and trained in dance and performance. Awarded numerous times for his multidisciplinary work. His work appears in various formats: video, electronic music, installation, performance, drawing, and photography. Alongside his work, he also conducts various artistic creation workshops.
Rut Balbís
Graduated in Sports Science and trained in contemporary dance.
Dancer, creator, and dance teacher. She directs her own company, Pisando Ovos, which is highly recognized for her work. She has been a guest teacher and creator for other dance projects and was the coordinator of the Dance Department at the University of A Coruña.
Alexis Fernández (Maca)
Galician dancer and creator of Cuban origin. Graduated from the National School of Arts in Havana. He co-directs the dance company La Macana with his partner Caterina Varela for fifteen years, in addition to participating in various international projects as an independent dancer. He was co-director of Empape Festival from 2008 to 2011.
Natalia Balseiro
Researcher, curator, and cultural mediator. For over twenty years, she have designed processes and projects in the fields of art, culture, participation, democratic innovation, mediation, and territorial and sectoral development, both within public administration and as an independent professional at local, regional, national, and international levels. Her work is characterized by a collaborative approach—working with those affected, involved, and interested in the projects—and a strategic approach (integrated and long-term design), seeking solutions and/or projects that address territorial, social, or sectoral needs while aligning with the international social agenda. She collaborates with an interdisciplinary team of professionals from the fields of design, art, culture, participation, and communication, all with extensive experience.
Vicente Conde
Graduated in Business Administration and Management from the University of Vigo and a winemaker in Ribeiro.
In 2016, he moved to Santiago to study a Master's degree in Cultural Services and a postgraduate degree in Cultural Management. From that point on, his professional career took a clear direction, involving cultural mediation in innovative cultural and social projects, as well as managerial and accounting roles in cultural cooperatives. More recently, he has been working as an accountant and production assistant at the contemporary theater company Voadora.
Rubén Vilanova
Photographer and rural cultural worker.
He studies the specialization of Artistic Photography at the Antonio Faílde School of Fine Arts and Design, continuing his education under the guidance of renowned artists. His individual and collective exhibitions have traveled to galleries within our countrie's borders, and he has been awarded in various contests and competitions.
His scope of work in photography encompasses artistic, product, and heritage photography, with a specialization in the performing arts.
Since 2010, he has been producing performances for the dance company Licenciada Sotelo, alongside Nuria Sotelo; and in 2021, they founded the creative space "A Casa Vella" in the village of Amiadoso in the Allariz Biosphere Reserve.
Maider Jiménez
Maider Jiménez is a documentary photographer and videographer, editor, and educator. She lives and works between the Basque Country and Galicia. Her work focuses on creating visual narratives through both her artistic and professional practice, developing personal projects as well as commissioned work for other artists, performing arts productions, and various clients. In recent years, she has also pursued a path in education and project mentoring, serving as a teacher and curator in photography workshops aimed at social inclusion. Her artistic work serves as a space for personal reflection, centered on intimacy, the everyday, and portraiture. She explores themes related to gender, identity, emotional bonds, and family.
She was a finalist at the Baffest Festival (2023), the 3rd Editorial Prize at the Ffoco Festival, and took part in the 13th Meeting of Young Artists at the City of Culture, among other recognitions. Her most notable exhibitions include Getxophoto (2023), SCAN (2024), IMAGINÀRIA (2025), as well as shows at Sala Amárica (Vitoria-Gasteiz) and the La Neomudéjar Museum (Madrid).
Sara Traba
Filmmaker and art historian. She studied Art History at the University of Santiago de Compostela and later pursued film studies at Bande À Part in Barcelona. Audiovisual language offers her the opportunity, through artistic expression, to explore themes such as identity, space, and heritage—issues approached from a perspective rooted in the processes of nature and landscape.
As a filmmaker, in addition to directing and screenwriting, she works as a camera operator and editor on documentary, fiction, music, and video art projects. As a director, works like As vacas de Wisconsin have been screened and/or awarded at national and international festivals.
Sara Traba is part of the coordination team for the Galician-Portuguese film series “Mulleres, Patrimonios, Sociedade” (Women, Heritage, Society).
Luisa Castiñeira
Journalist, communication consultant and head of press specializing in culture, performing arts and music. After working in media such as El Mundo, Magazine or Metrópoli as a cultural journalist for more than half a decade, she made the leap to the world of communication agencies. In the last fifteen years, he directed and developed communication and press campaigns for projects such as Escena Contemporánea, Festival de Otoño, Madrid en Danza, Festival Noroeste Estrella Galicia, FIV, Teatro Kamikaze, Semana do Cinema Galego, FIOT, Momentos Alhambra Acustiquísimos, Teatro Español , Teatro Circo Price, Voadora, Marta Pazos, Metamorphosis Dance, MEGA Museo de Estrella Galicia or Viñetas desde o Atlántico, among many others. In 2015, she founded The Office Comunicación with her colleagues and, since 2024, she has been working with the RPM in the communication of Residencias Paraíso.