Having studied dance since 1961 with Margarida de Abreu and Fernando Lima at the Verde Gaio group, Wellenkamp entered the Gulbenkian Ballet in 1968 and was awarded a two-year scholarship from the Ministry of Education in 1973 to study at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York earning a degree in Modern Dance. While in New York he also studied composition with Merce Cunningham and worked with Valentina Pereyslavec at the American Ballet Theatre. In 1978 he won a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to study choreography at the University of Surrey in England. While continuing to work as resident choreographer and professor at the Gulbenkian Ballet from 1977 to 1996, he was named professor of the National Conservatory Dance School in 1975 and coordinating professor at the Superior Dance School in 1983.
In Brazil Wellenkamp also collaborated with the Municipal Theatre Ballet of São Paulo, the Niterói Ballet, the CIA Cisne Negro and the Guaíra Ballet; in Argentina with the San Martin Contemporary Ballet; in England with the Extemporary Dance Theatre, the Dance Theatre Commune and Focus On; In Switzerland with the Ballet du Grand Theatre de Gèneve; in Italy with the Tuscany Ballet; and in Croatia with the Zagreb Dance Theatre.
In January 1999 he created his own company, the Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporâneo with the support and collaboration of the Municipal Councils of Lisbon and Cascais and the Ministry of Culture. In September 2003 he was appointed the Artistic Director of the Sintra Festival.
Since 1974 Vasco Wellenkamp has received numerous awards from the Portuguese press. In 1996 he won the gold medal as best choreographer of the II International Dance Contest of Japan and was decorated in 1994 with the Order of Prince Henry (The Navigator) by the President of the Republic, Dr. Mario Soares, in recognition of his contribution to Portuguese dance.
Having created his first choreography for the Portuguese National Ballet in 2005, Vasco Wellenkamp was invited by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture to become Artistic Director of the Companhia Nacional de Bailado in 2007.
