Seven successful years of engineering school in his native Brazil still weren't enough to shake off Pedro M. Almeida Siqueira's calling for creativity. 

鈥淢y thesis at university was 'Applying Engineering Skills in the Production of Artistic Events',鈥� he says in an interview from his home in Oak Bay. 鈥淨uite ironic.鈥� 

Ironic because 鈥渁rtistic events鈥� are the reason Pedro moved to Victoria nearly a decade ago to study at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, where he received conservatory-style training in dance, classical theatre, physical theatre and singing. An energetic performance schedule and constant yearning to expand his creative horizons are now helping the 33-year-old multi-disciplinary artist thrive in his new home. 

鈥淭here's lots happening here. There are theatre companies that are pretty active in the community, and throughout the year you can find shows in many different styles: opera, dance, music, jazz, theatre, cabarets, stand-up comedy, film, and even lantern puppet festivals. This, for me, represents quite a range that Greater Victoria has to offer in terms of genre for the artists,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檇 say the community and the people are what holds us together. It's a small community so we certainly bump into each other on different projects. If you love what you do and love to work with people, the indie community here is pretty great.鈥� 

Pedro's eclectic range of pursuits and interests is well summarized by his schedule of the past couple of months. He made his debut at the Chemainus Theatre Festival with a role in 9 to 5: The Musical, spent a month in Spain to undertake an intensive workshop in physical theatre, mask and clown, and returned to Victoria where he continues to work on a documentary film about the importance of bringing art into the lives of inmates at the William Head Institution in Metchosin. 

鈥淚 am an active person, so I find that even when I鈥檓 not on 'specific projects', I'm constantly working on my craft and myself. My schedule depends on what's going on,鈥� he says. 鈥淔or me, a working artist has the ability and curiosity to wear different hats and work in different areas that keep your artistry flowing.鈥�  

This is nothing new for Pedro, who recalls tapping out rhythms on his dining room table at five years of age. He started playing guitar at nine, and by his pre-teens, Pedro performed in a samba band that got people moving at street festivals in his hometown. An introduction to the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira soon led to street dancing after he became inspired by the classic 2004 dance drama You Got Served. 

鈥淪ome of my closest friends and I would get together to create choreographies and dance in school talent shows,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e would mix in what we knew of the acrobatics of Capoeira with what we thought that style of dance was and that was a lot of fun.鈥� 

Thanks to a talent agent he met in 2005, Pedro and his friends were offered a dedicated training space and regular appearances in dance festivals outside of his hometown. He calls this agent an angel appearing in his life. 

鈥淭hese trips opened our hearts and minds to what the street-dance style actually is, with all its range of other styles,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 still remember the first time I saw popping, locking, house, breaking. There was so much to learn. So I鈥檝e started engaging in workshops and short courses outside of my city because there wasn鈥檛 really anyone we could learn from in our town."  

Though his artistic dreams kept soaring ever higher, Pedro says he felt increasing pressure from peers and teachers throughout high school to choose a career and prepare for university. 

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 fully believe that I could go for an artistic career,鈥� he says. 鈥淎mong insecurities and uncertainties, I went to the engineering school.鈥� 

It was ultimately that thesis project near the end of his university career that vaulted Pedro back onto the stage for good. His studies and a side interest in choreography led to production work with Rio de Janeiro's 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics along with the Rio De Janeiro International Film Festival. 

鈥淚 still had the urge to perform, and I was always curious about different techniques and ways to create. I wanted to study it, and I wanted to be a professional artist,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ith more maturity, I had the courage and the guts to go for it. So I found CCPA in Oak Bay, a two-to-three-year program in which the only focus is the exercise of the stage performance muscle.鈥� 

And so here we are, with a busy slate of events and many plans to further expand his artistic breadth. Currently, he's rehearsing for A Wonderheads Christmas Carol, which will be touring in Calgary, Vancouver and Vancouver Island. He will also be part of the cast of 鈥淚f You Could Read My Mind - Songs of Gordon Lightfoot", presented by the Belfry Theatre in 2025. 

In keeping with his nature to always keep learning and growing as an artist, Pedro also has plans to launch a new theatre company with his friend and colleague Loreto Espinoza that will offer a greater opportunity to explore the realm of physical theatre. 

Pedro describes physical theatre as the use of physicality and movement to tell a story. It is the theatre of actions. Whereas a play may rely on text and an opera is rooted in music and lyrics, physical theatre plays focus on the actions and the storytelling of movement, which could be dance, masks, puppetry, mime, and clown.鈥� 

鈥淲hat fuels my creativity is curiosity. My curiosity is my muse. For me, my curiosity is the ground from which I leap into the unknown to spark imagination and pave the path to artistic realization,鈥� Pedro says. 鈥淚 am inspired when I don鈥檛 have answers, or when I don鈥檛 know how to do something. I am curious to learn how to do it, and I then get creative to open even more questions. That is why I am an artist.  

鈥淢y mentor in Spain said something one day that resonated a lot with me, 'As artists, we must fall in love for the questions.' That is where I draw my inspirations from.鈥�