Elvio is an artist in constant conflict between conservatism and innovation, which often leads to the absurd. Elvio was born in Argentina and has Chilean roots. When he was five years old, Elvio Avila began an intense training in Argentine folk dance and tango in the province of Mendoza, Argentina. At the age of fourteen he began studying contemporary dance in Buenos Aires. In 2010 he arrived in Switzerland and graduated in Advanced Studies in Modern Dance”at the Hochschule der Künste in Zürich. He subsequently obtained the Bachelor Physical Theater at the Dimitri Academy which he successfully completed in 2013. In 2019 he obtained the Master’s degree in “Expanded Theatre” at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern.

Choreographer for the show Salt at the Luzerner Theater in Lucerne. With his latest piece Mi vida en Transito, he won the SCHWEITZ PRIZE, in 2021, an award for young dance and theater talents. The show is a work of documentary theater  about depression and suicide related to masculinity. Also selected  for  Swiss Theater Meetings 2022 and in 2023 selected for the Impulse Theater Festival Showcase in Düsseldorf, as one of ten shows in German-speaking countries.

His most recent work Umarmung, was created between Switzerland and Argentina; it premiered at far° Nyon in August 2024 and was part of the national programme Extra Time Plus, bringing together Südpol Luzern, far° Nyon, LAC Lugano and FIT Festival (which hosted Umarmung at its 2024 edition).