THE TEAM
DIRECTOR
GONÇALO LOBATO
Gonçalo Lobato is from Lisbon and completed his professional studies at the National Conservatory of Lisbon in 1995. After graduation, he spent nine years living in Belgium, where he worked as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer at the Charleroi Danses/Plan K Company under the direction of Frederic Flamand. He also participated in projects such as "SS" by Josse de Pauw for Bruges-European Capital of Culture and "Body-Work" by Frederic Flamand for the Hanover Exhibition...
In 2005, he joined the Ballet Nationale de Marseille as a guest principal dancer. He continued his work in Portugal and abroad, participating in various creations such as "Compote" by Paula Pinto (Ballet Gulbenkian) and "EHORA" by António Cabrita, Manuel Silva, and Pedro Paz.
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Simultaneously, he started the creative group Babiloniautopica, with which he presented the piece "Fragilidade H" at the Malaposta Cultural Center. In 2006, he participated in the creation of "Medium Rare" by Pedro Goucha Gomes; in 2007, "Diable aux Corps" by Jerome and Isabelle Meyer at KORZO PRODUCTIES in the Netherlands and in the project "Delicado" by Sofia Silva, presented in Luxembourg and Ramallah (Palestine, 2008).
Between 1993 and 2023, he received various awards and accolades, including: Princess Grace Academy Scholarship in Monte Carlo (1993); Representative of Portugal at the Agakan Foundation in Macau, where he was awarded the key to the city (1994); Best European Dancer Award by Dance Magazine (1999); and the attribution of multi-year subsidy by the Municipality of Torres Vedras (2021-2023).
In 2013, he created the piece "Quid Iuris?" for CDCE. He regularly teaches at Quorum Ballet, Olga Roriz Company, Superior School of Dance, National Dance Conservatory, Jazzy Academy, Espaço Dança Academy, Dance Company of Almada, and APECI (Association for the Education of Inadapted Children-Torres Vedras), where he co-created the dance projects "Sexto Sentido," "Silence Flees from Discomfort," "Invited to Think," and "Eminent."
In 2015, he was invited to join as a choreographer on the television program "Achas que sabes dançar?" In 2016, he co-founded the Performact Contemporary Dance Course and has since co-directed and taught at the course.
In 2016, he co-founded the Performact Contemporary Dance Course and the Summer Intensive International Contemporary Dance Festival, of which he is the artistic director.
At the moment, he is in full preparation to pursue his common goal with his partners of creating a follow-up for all young artists he mentors: the GAPP Company.
Bernarda Bernardo is originally from Coimbra, Portugal. She holds a bachelor's degree in Cultural and Communication Sciences from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon and a master's degree in Cultural Entrepreneurship and Management from ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.
During her academic journey, she completed several internships in different dance companies, such as the Olga Roriz Company (Production) and the National Ballet Company (Production and Communication)...
She also studied abroad through the ERASMUS program in Community Organizing and Human Rights at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, where she had the opportunity to work directly with local organizations such as De Bovengrondse and serve as the digital content manager of a Dutch advertising campaign.
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Currently, Bernarda Bernardo is working as a production assistant for the Performact - Contemporary Dance Interpreter Course and as an administrative assistant for the Academia Espaço Dança/Associação ILÚ.
ADMINISTRATION
