Junadry Leocaria

Junadry Leocaria (1985, Willemstad) is an eye- catching appearance in the field of the Dutch urban dance theater. Her professional dance career started at age 18 at ISH Dance Collective, this is where her love for theater and the performing arts developed. Coming into her adulthood Junadry moved onto Theater Dance Company “Don’t Hit Mama” where she spent years cultivating her craft. DHM also being the source for her meeting key figures such as legendary Vogue-er/Waacker Archie Burnett who made great impact in Junadry mastering the art of waacking. As she developed her signature style, she also found a way to implement her roots and heritage as part of her storytelling. She got the opportunity to put this on display through projects such as award-winning short film “Imprenta” as well as solo pieces Ta(m)bu and Sugar Coated, for which the latter was created for World Class Museum Mauritshuis. This signifies Junadry’s ability to translate her artistry in multidisciplinary forms and position Afro Caribbean stories in institutionalized western spaces.

A few highlights

From 2009-2015 Junadry was part of the all-female crew “Femme Lethal” created by Amber Vineyard. Femme Lethal is responsible for putting Waacking & Voguing on the map in the Benelux. She is also part of the House of Vineyard, which is the first and pioneering house in the Dutch ballroom scene, founded by Mother Amber Vineyard in 2015. In 2016 Junadry traveled to NYC where she ended up auditioning for the ‘Transcultural Protocol'' a performative piece which took place at the 57th Venice Biennale, in the Zimbabwe pavilion. This inspired and empowered Junadry to explore and study race relations and how it shows up in her life and career. In 2018 she was part of the film “Drie Vrouwen” a movie about the transatlantic slave trade and the freedom by acclaimed film director Ida Does. In 2020 Junadry made the NRC’s (Dutch Newspaper) 101 talent of the year list as well as being featured on the NPO Podium Dance, In 2021 she was featured in “Dans Met Mij” (Dance with me) on NTR’s acclaimed program “Podium Witteman”. In December 2022 Junadry and her partner Richard Kofi travelled to Indonesia as artists in residence for a collaboration with the Dutch embassy Erasmushuis and art center Komunitas Salihara. Kofi and Leocaria created “La Sirène”, an exhibition and 50-minute choreography.

As part of her mission to always give back to the next generation, she has taught dance at several educational institutions such as Amsterdam University of the Arts, Codarts and Dance Academy Fontys. She has also been very active in educational exchange programs that served disenfranchised youth in places such as India, Jordan, Surinam, Curaçao and Kenya just to name a few. As she has established a name for herself over the years, Junadry has choreographed for companies like Korzo Theater, Festival Classique, ITA, Holland Dance Festival, Het Nationaal Theater (TheHague), Stichting Julius Leeft! And the list goes on.

Becoming a key figure in Dutch Dance she has also become an influential voice by joining the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds as a committee member where she presides over nationwide grant applications.

Although she has more than three decades under her belt, she is moving into producing work that is meaningful and spiritually fulfilling. There are more stories to tell......and she is only getting started!