Quick Facts:

Micaela Castrillo Vargas is a Bolivian/Chilean circus and movement artist currently based in Zurich. Born in Bolivia, she moved to Chile at the age of four. Growing up between cultures and as an immigrant has deeply shaped both her identity and her artistic perspective.

In 2019, she moved to the Netherlands to study Circus and Performance Art at the Academy of Circus and Performance Art (ACAPA), graduating in June 2023 with a specialisation in aerial rope. Her movement research focuses on the contrasts between control and chaos, as well as dynamism and poetry.

After graduating, she worked for two years with the Swiss circus company Zirkus Chnopf. Alongside this, she co-created La Cosecha with Cia Insurgentes, a project awarded the “Keep an Eye” grant supporting recently graduated circus artists. During the creation process, she worked mainly in Belgium and the Netherlands with UPUPUP, Cirklabo, TENT, Panama Pictures, and De Warande, and performed at Festival Circolo. She has also presented short acts in a variety of settings, including dinner shows and cabarets.

Most recently, she was selected for the Peer-to-Peer programme in the frame of Here!Am by Artlink. Through this initiative, she will develop Diaspora Blues, a circus performance, alongside other artistic projects, with guidance from professionals established in the Swiss arts scene.

 At the same time, she is in the early stages of developing La sociedad del barro (The Society of Clay) with Amanda and Alcides, with the premiere planned for 2028.

Her Latin American roots bring fire and energy to her work, fuelling her constant movement and her desire to resist through art. Her performances and creations combine poetry, political expression, and, at times, perspectives and influences from Latin America.