Bio:

Marta Cerqueira 

Marta Cerqueira (b.1983) is a dancer and choreographer, based in Lisbon, working exclusively as a performer and creator since she graduated in Escola de Dança do Conservatório Nacional in Lisbon, in 2001. 

Drawing from her solid classical background and in parallel with her professional independent artist activity she studied with choreographers, researchers and performers such as Lisa Nelson, Lia Rodrigues, Loic Touzé, Francesca Lattuada, Lourence Louppe, Margarida Bettencourt and others in New York, Berlin and Lisbon, always eager to learn and experimenting in workshops, courses, artist in residence programs in the contemporary art scene.

As a performer she worked in a wide range of artists and scenarios, ranging from a more traditional approach dancing on a dance company when she was 18 years old, form a wide range of contemporary dance projects presenting internationally with independent choreographers, as an actress in theater (i.e. touring worldwide with companhia do chapitô) or in cinema and as a performer in visual art scene.

Cerqueira´s creative work is anchored in experimentation and research, exploring a variety of interdisciplinary collaborations. Her artist practice broadly uses choreographic composition, improvisation and interdisciplinary methods, using not only the human body but also other “objects” that can be "choreographed", unfolding her work in multiple presentation formats: dance shows, installations, books, music, etc.

She has collaborated on multidisciplinary projects, acting as a performer or assistant to choreographers such as Sofia Dias & Vitor Roriz, Tânia Carvalho, Maria Ramos and Luis Guerra. As an actress in the films of: Jeanne Waltz, Manuel Guerra, Tiago Guedes and Frederico Serra; performer in the video creations of Kamila Chomicz, Luis da Matta Almeida/Zeppelin Filmes, Alexandro Farto/Vhils and in the performance Extensions of the Body by the Brazilian visual artist Adriana Barreto.

She is the artistic director of Cóccix - associção cultural. More recently, she has dedicated herself to the creation and tourring of her own projects, presenting them at festivals and regular contemporary dance programs.

Her projects have been supported by several cultural institutions in Portugal and abroad, some of her projects are on tour hosted by Materiais Diversos, MãoSimMão and Cliff Catalyst.

Since 2016, she has been creating shows(2) and installations(4) in collaboration with pianist and composer Simão Costa, sharing the artistic direction of the collection "Dança de Materiais Inertes" (Dance of Inert Materials).

Always up for new challenges, Marta body is like an enormous track record of the all her performing experiences, creative interdisciplinary collaborations, regular multi technics workshops and classes.

Simão Costa

Simão Costa (b. 1979 Lisbon) is a pianist, composer, and transdisciplinary artist. SOUND is the primary object of his research, exploring various possibilities and dimensions of this phenomenon, including its musical, phenomenological, perceptual, visual, and cultural aspects. He explores the acoustic, kinetic, and mechanical potential, considering sound as a tangible, physical, and plastic material.

Since 2004, Costa has been developing his path as an author using composition, improvisation, coding, exhibitions/installations, circuit bending, data sonification) both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians, visual artists, performers, actors/directors, dancers, choreographers, and filmmakers. As a pianist, Simão Costa has performed on national and international stages, both as an interpreter and creator. He is a multifaceted artist by definition. On one hand, he pursues solo projects (with releases by SHHpuma and Cipsela Records as a pianist, and with MUTE Gallery in the visual arts), and on the other hand, he cultivates strong ongoing partnerships in collectives such as SAS Orkestra de Rádios with Sónia Moreira and Ana Trincão, YPSC_Transduction with Yola Pinto, Dança de Materiais Inertes with Marta Cerqueira, BeatGlitch with Marco Santos.

Costa has been awarded 1st prize at the 34th International Competition of Electroacoustic Music and Sonic Art / Bourges: music work for dance or theater - promoted by the IMEB. His work has been supported by several public and private cultural institutions.

His work can be found on stage, on recordings, in code, in galleries, in museums, in the streets, in books, covering various areas of contemporary music and visual arts. He has exhibited both individually and collectively since 2007. His work has been presented in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Estonia, Romania, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.

He is a founding member and artistic director of MãoSimMão - cultural association, based in Lisbon Portugal.