Creations

Conception, choreography, and dramaturgy: Michael Bugdahn and Denise Namura
Original music composition, soundtrack, and text: Michael Bugdahn
Additional music: Manyfingers, Arcade Fire (Peter Gabriel)
Narrators (voice-over): Mario Spaziani (Portuguese), Jean-Damien Fleury (French), Jörg Schnass and Doris Streibl (German)
Videos: Doves and Noise and INDU 02, by Stefan Kranefeld – in modified versions
Additional video: Olhar, by Michael Bugdahn
Lighting: Caetano Vilela
Costumes: Fábio Namatame
Support: Centre National de la Danse, Pantin (prêt de studio) and La Ménagerie Technologique (Sophie Colin, Bertrand Manuel)
Dancers: 14
Duration: 28 minutes
Premiere: 2025 | Teatro Sérgio Cardoso, São Paulo, SP – Brazil

Who am I? And if so, how many? It is all too easy to lose oneself in our modern world, with all its knowledge, information, and an almost unlimited access to a vast array of content — a world in which natural resources are becoming ever more scarce and human relationships increasingly superficial. How can one build and forge a unique and authentic identity in a context that is not favorable to the individual, yet paradoxically glorifies the “self” — even as it tries to standardize it? How can we navigate this contradiction without denying our origins and particularities, while valuing our differences? The old question “Where do I come from and where am I going?” remains relevant. How can we project ourselves not only into an uncertain future but into the concrete reality of the present? After the collapse of utopias, in an era governed by extreme realism and its restrictions, the simple act of dreaming has become a gesture of resistance. Perhaps it is time to dream again. To dream an individual utopia — and make it not an illusion in a nonexistent place, but a possible reality, here and now, in some corner of the many worlds we inhabit. “We cannot fail to thank some people who have been — and continue to be — essential to the development of our work, not only here, but over so many years, such as Stefan Kranefeld, Doris Streibl, Genny Patah Namura, Harald Schwarzer, Jean-Damien Fleury, Jörg Schnass, Monika Bugdahn, and Silvia Namura Dias,” the choreographers emphasize.

be yourself – everyone else is already taken is the first work by Michael Bugdahn and Denise Namura for the São Paulo Dance Company.

Choreography: Carlos Pons Guerra
Music: Tanga, Album: A Man & His Music: El Padrino | Performer: Machito | Composer: Mario Bauza; La familia de Glória, Album: Almodóvar Early Films (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | Performer: Bernardo Bonezzi by Altafonte | Composer: Bernardo Bonezzi; Ilariê, Album: Xuxa em Espanhol | Composers: Cid Guerreiro, Dito, Ceinha; Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, W 389: I. Ária, Album: Villa-Lobos: Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, W 389: I. Ária – Sibelius: Lounnotar, Op. 70 – Ravel: Shéhérazade ℗ Sony Classical | Performers: Carl Stern, Leonard Bernstein, Netania Davrath, New York Philharmonic | Composers: Heitor Villa-Lobos, Manuel Bandeira, Ruth Valadares Corrêa; Ilaló (Ft. Mateo Kingman), Album: Bienaventuranza | Performers: Chancha Vía Circuito · Mateo Kingman ℗ 2018 | Composer: Pedro Canale; Mozamba, Album: Mozamba | Performers: Herbie Mann & Machito & His Afro Cubans | Composer: Herbie Mann; Lamento Borincano | Performer: Chavela Vargas | Composer: Rafael Hernandez; Arrastran el cadáver (From Volver), Album: Volver (Banda Sonora Original) | Performer: Alberto Iglesias | Composer: Alberto Iglesias; Los Pastores, Album: Bienaventuranza | Performers: Chancha Vía Circuito · Mateo Kingman ℗ 2018 | Composer: Pedro Canale.
Costume Design: Fernanda Yamamoto
Lighting Design: Wagner Freire
Dancers: 10
Duration: 35 min 30 sec
Pre-premiere: 2025 | Teatro Municipal Manoel Lyra, Santa Bárbara D’Oeste, SP – Brazil
Premiere: 2025 | Teatro Sérgio Cardoso, São Paulo, SP – Brazil 

In his first creation for the São Paulo Dance Company, Spanish choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra brings to center stage a story about beauty, resilience, and environmental imbalance. Striking flamingos dominate the scene, using irony and lyricism to reveal the tensions between spectacle and nature. Inspired by childhood memories in the Canary Islands and blending classical, contemporary, and animal-kingdom-inspired movement with a distinctly theatrical performance, the choreographer transforms the stage into a space where wildlife performs for our entertainment—while falling silent, becoming depleted, and growing ill. With costumes by Fernanda Yamamoto, evoking textures and volumes inspired by plumage; lighting by Wagner Freire, alternating between brilliance and shadow; and a soundtrack that drifts between lyricism, vaudeville, and exuberance, A Vingança do Flamingo is a deeply sensitive work that confronts the hidden cruelty behind its theme and invites empathy—for the planet, for animals, and for all that still has the strength to endure.

Choreography: George Céspedes
Choreography assistance: Aymara Rodrigues
Music: Original soundtrack by George Céspedes; Count to Six and Die (The Vacuum of Infinite Space Encompassing) by Marilyn Manson and John Lowery, The Golden Age of Grotesque by Brian Warner and Tim Skold, both performed by Marilyn Manson; Candil de Nieve by Raúl Torres, performed by Pablo Milanés.
Costume: Marco Lima
Lighting: André Boll
*Attention: This performance contains a scene with strobe effects that may affect photosensitive viewers.

Ataraxia is a Greek-origin word that means the absence of disturbance. In Stoicism, it is a central concept that suggests pain does not stem from change but from resistance to it. The goal is to achieve a state of unwavering serenity, in which the mind remains balanced in the face of adversity. This dynamic between control and surrender forms the foundation of George Céspedes’ new creation for São Paulo Companhia de Dança, which shares the same name.

This is Céspedes’ first work for a Brazilian company. Recognized for his distinctive style—combining dance with geometric and mathematical elements—the choreographer, one of the leading figures in global contemporary dance, creates large shapes on stage through the synchronized movement of groups of dancers, adding dynamic and emotional contrasts to the narrative.

The lighting accentuates the precision of the movements and enhances the atmosphere, amplifying the emotional impact. Meanwhile, the costumes, inspired by streetwear, engage with contemporary aesthetics, offering freedom of movement and individual expression while contributing to the work’s urban and vibrant essence.

Choreography: Alex Soares
Musics: Matais de Incêndios, anonymous, performed by Vox Brasiliensis and Ricardo Kanji; Partita for 8 Voices, No.4 Passacaglia, Caroline Shaw, performed by Brad Wells and Roomful of Teeth; Final Parade, Felix Rösch; Obstacle Course, Christophe Zurfluh
Costume: Cassiano Grandi
Lighting: Wagner Freire
Premiere: 2024 | Sesc Guarulhos, Guarulhos – SP

Choreography: Leilane Teles
Musics: Grupo Krahó, by Indios Krahó, performed by Marlui Miranda; Pasha Dume Pae, by Amazon Ensemble; Canto da Liberdade, by Akaiê Sramana, performed by Akaiê Sramana; Tchori Tchori feat. Uakti, by Marlui Miranda and Índios Jaboti de Rondônia, performed by Marlui Miranda, Rodolfo Stroeter, Uakti; Mae Inini (The Power of the Earth), by Amazon Ensemble; Tamburim, by Josy.Anne; Kworo Kango, by Canto Kaiapó, performed by Berimbaobab Brasil.
Music Production: Fernando Leite
Lighting: Gabriele Souza
Costume: André von Schimonsky
Costume assistant: Wellington Araújo
Props designer: Satie Inafuku
Consultants for Indigenous Affairs: Cristiane Takuá and Carlos Papá Mirim Poty
Duration: 19 minutes
Preview: 2024 | Teatro Municipal Manoel Lyra, Santa Bárbara D’Oeste – SP

Choreography: Jomar Mesquita
Choreography assistant: Rúbia Frutuoso
Musics: Poema Saudades, by Arnaldo Antunes; Assum Preto, by Luiz Gonzaga and Humberto Teixeira (performer: Jorge Du Peixe); Fim de Festa, by Itamar Assumpção (performers: Naná Vasconcelos and Itamar Assumpção); Carinhoso, by João de Barro and Pixinguinha (performer: Elza Soares); Como 2 e 2, by Caetano Veloso (performers: Arnaldo Antunes and Vitor Araújo); Samba da Benção, by Baden Powell and Vinícius de Moraes (performer: Maria Bethânia); Avisa, by Tato (performer: Cida Moreira); Juízo Final, by Elcio Soares; Nelson Cavaquinho (performer: Arnaldo Antunes); Manhã de Carnaval, by Luís Bonfa and Antônio Maria (performers: Jean Pascal Quiles, Louis Quiles, and Nelly Decamp); voices of the dancers in the cast.
Costume: Agustina Comas
Lighting: André Boll
Premiere: 2024 | Teatro Sérgio Cardoso | São Paulo – SP

Choreography and lighting: Henrique Rodovalho
Music: Obatalá, written by Kiko Dinucci, interpretation and production by Metá Metá
Costume: Fábio Namatame
Cast: 7 dancers
Duration: 8 minutes

Choreography: Beatriz Hack
Musics: Boi nº1, by Foli Griô Orquestra with Cacau Amaral; Nordavindens Klagesang, by Vàli; Giardini Di Boboli, by Manos Milonakis feat. Jacob David and Grégoire Blanc; Encruzilhada, by Tulio; and Marie, by Cristobal Tapia De Veer – mixed by Renan Lemos.
Costume: Balletto
Duration: 14 minutes e 44 seconds
Cast: 7 dancers
Preview: 2024 | Teatro Municipal de Itapevi, Itapevi/SP

Choreography and lighting: Stephen Shropshire
Music: Symphony no 8: IV: Finale de Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Costume: Fabio Namatame
Duration: 22 minutes
Cast: 10 dancers
Preview: 2023 | Sesc Guarulhos, Guarulhos, SP
Premiere: 2024 | Linz, Áustria

Conception and Choreography: Eduardo Fukushima
Musical arrangement: from Fukushima based on Night’s Calling by Rodolphe Alexis; Summertime by Tunekichi Suzuki; and Sedna by Kyungso Park.
Artistic Collaboration and Coreography assistant: Beatriz Sano
Textual Collaboration: Isabel Ramos Monteiro
Acknowledgment: Toshi Tanaka (leque)
Costume: Cláudia Schapira
Lighting: Caetano Vilela
Premiere: 2023 | Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo/SP

This work was part of the Ensejos project, a partnership with the Centro Cultural São Paulo, curated by Mark Van Loo and directed by Rodolfo Beltrão.

Ver o Ar Ouvir o Verão is a choreographic score created by Eduardo Fukushima based on his research with Chinese and Japanese body practices, intertwining contemporary dance and performance through multiple references. “Air is the main substance of this choreography. It is an attempt to choreograph it, to shed light on its simultaneously concrete and invisible matter that envelops and unites us. Is there someone in the wind? The wind passes, and what was once summer is now autumn. But we still need to listen to the warmth, to hear the summer,” says the choreographer. This is a dance for the forces of the wind.

Choreography: Poliane Fogaça
Musics: Canción para un Niño en la Calle, by Algel Ritro, Armando Tejada, René Pérez; Alfonsina y El Mar, by Ariel Ramírez, Feliz Cezar Luna; Razón de Vivir, by Victor Heredia; and Canción Con Todos, by Armando Tejada Gomez, Cézar Isella.
Lighting: Caetano Vilela
Costume: Cláudia Schapira
Duration: 15 minutes
Cast: 7 dancers
Premiere: 2023 | Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo/SP

This work was part of the Ensejos project, a partnership with the Centro Cultural São Paulo, curated by Mark Van Loo and directed by Rodolfo Beltrão.

Inspired loosely by the literary work “Las venas abiertas de América Latina” by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano (1940-2015) and set to the songs of Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa (1935-2009), Veias Abertas by Poliane Fogaça proposes a meeting between these two great artists who shared the common goal of telling the stories of Latin American peoples. Galeano tells us that “the future always needs to be reinvented,” while Mercedes said “it is necessary to give voice to those who have no voice.” The work reveals social aspects—such as hunger, lack of opportunity, and the struggle against repression—as well as resilience, love for others, and a sense of unity among peoples. “Perhaps it is a utopia to believe that it is possible to stop the blood from the open veins of our society. But let it be a dream in action, an act of hoping for a new future of justice and unity. Through the poetics of the art of dance, may the pain cease, may the wound heal, and may it inspire us at every step to be and stand by one another,” says the choreographer.

Choreography: Lili de Grammont
Musics: by Ed Côrtes, featuring the songs Você é Doida Demais, Vou Rifar Meu Coração, and Linda, by Lindomar Castilho.
Lighting: Caetano Vilela
Costume: Cláudia Schapira
Premiere: 2023 | Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo/SP

This work was part of the Ensejos project, a partnership with the Centro Cultural São Paulo, curated by Mark Van Loo and directed by Rodolfo Beltrão.

Using the classics of Lindomar Castilho, such as “Você é Doida Demais,” “Vou Rifar Meu Coração,” and “Linda” — revisited and modernized by composer Ed Côrtes — choreographer Lili de Grammont creates her first work for Sao Paulo Dance Company, based on one of the most well-known passionate cases in the country: the femicide of Eliane de Grammont, her mother, by Lindomar Castilho, her father. The dramaturgy of the piece is constructed from Lili’s brushstrokes of memories related to the story. “The narrative is not direct, nor does it intend to tell the story. It is an inspiration, filled with feelings and complexities. Memória em Conta-Gotas exposes vulnerability and sadness, but above all, it engages in a dialogue about how to move forward with courage and hope,” she says.

Choreography: Arilton Assunção
Choreography assistant: Henrique Duarte e Samuel Elias Rodrigues
Musics: Teia de Renda, by Milton Nascimento and Túlio Mourão; and Evocação das Montanhas, by Henrique de Curitiba
Soundtrack mixing: Lucas Romualdo
Lighting: Caetano Vilela
Costume: Cláudia Schapira
Premiere: 2023 | Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo/SP

This work was part of the Ensejos project, a partnership with the Centro Cultural São Paulo, curated by Mark Van Loo and directed by Rodolfo Beltrão.

Teia de Renda, by Arilton Assunção, draws on themes such as literature, poetry, dramaturgy, politics, and religiosity in motion to construct the work. The choreography finds its inspiration and freedom of conception in the compositions “Teia de Renda” and “Evocação das Montanhas.”

“A web that sustains, nourishes, unites, and separates relationships,” says Arilton.

Choreography: Lucas Valente
Musics: Em Transe, by Cadu Tenório & Márcio Bulk, sung by Lívia Nestrovski; Fragmentos, by Cadu Tenório; and Afterglow, by Rival Consoles.
Lighting: Nicolas Marchi
Costume: UMA – Raquel Davidowicz
Duration: 15 minutes
Cast: 3 dancers
Premiere: 2023 | Sesc Guarulhos, Guarulhos, SP

Choreography: Shahar Binyamini
Choreography assistant: Yotam Baruch
Musics: Le Tombeau de Couperin M 68: II Fornane and III Minuet, by Maurice Ravel; Blade Runner, by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfish; and Hard to Tell, by Andy Stott and Alison Skidmore.
Lighting: Wagner Freire
Costume: Shahar Binyamini
Costume Execution: Cris Driscoll
Duration: 24 minutes
Premiere: 2023 | Teatro Sérgio Cardoso, São Paulo/SP

Concept and Choreography: Goyo Montero
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Set Design: Curt Allen Wilmer and Letícia Gañán
Costume and Puppets Design: Salvador Andujar
Lighting Design: Nicolas Fischtel
Staging: Igor Vieira
Organization (Spain): Carlos Iturrioz
Costume Execution: Fabio Namatame
Consultant for puppet construction and manipulation: Beto Andreetta
Inflatables and art painting (realization): Carlos Delfino
Masks and Marionettes (realization): Dino Soto
Duration/cast: 35 minutes with 14 dancers
Premiere by SPDC: 2023 | Sesc Pinheiros, São Paulo/SP – Brasil

Choreography: Márcia Haydée
Musics: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Get up Off, by Stro Elliot mixed by Matheus Carrato Alexandre, Jingo Bells, by Stefen Swansoon and Fertility of the Sea, by Eitetsu Hayashi
Scenography: Nicolás Boni
Costume Designer: Tânia Agra
Lighting: Wagner Freire
Guest Ballet Master: Pablo Aharonian
Choreography Assistants: Aline Campos and Beatriz Hack
Choreography Assistant (Urban Dance): Ciça Veronese
Kobudo Technique: Gunter Schöberl
Duration: 1h40 min

Choreography and Costumes: Juliano Nunes

Musica: Bachiana Brasileira nº 8, de Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)

Lighting: Wagner Pinto

Costume Production: Cássio Brasil

Duration: 24 minutes

Cast: 14 dancers

Debut SPDC: 2022 | Sala São Paulo, São Paulo/SP – Brasil

Cartas do Brasil (Letters to Brazil) is Juliano’s Nunes first creation for São Paulo Dance Company and for a Brazilian company. “This work is a little bit of Brazil that exists in me. It is the place where the gesture of one affects the gesture of another and, although everything passes very quickly, everyone is connected like a flock of birds”, says Nunes. In the choreography, each dancer writes with the body a continuous dialogue that translates the urgency of being alive.

Nunes created inspired by the Bachiana Brasileira no 8, by Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) and his childhood memories that refer him to the universe of birds and forests. In the dance, the hands, arms and heads vibrate and remind us of the images of birds’ wings, of leaves in the wind, of the waving of birds’ heads. “The beauty of the body in motion touches us like live words”, says Nunes. The costume, a blue mesh in reference to the sky of Brazil – with details hand-painted by the choreographer on the body of the performers – reveals the silhouette of the artists and the individualities of each one. The light completes the atmosphere that transports us to a vibrant, agile and intense time.

Conception and choreographic direction: Gal Martins

Original Music: Dani Lova (music and creation) with the voice and artistic contribution by Thaís Dias (in the creation)

Costume and Visagism: Gil Oliveira

Lighting project: Camila Andrade

Set and props: Caio Marinho

Cenotechnician: Pedro Paes

Costume Assistant: Bábi Batista and Giselle Carvalho

Debut SPCD: 2022 | Teatro Alfa, São Paulo/SP – Brazil

Cast: 10 dancers

Duration: 25 min

From the Tupi-Guarani word Ibi, which means earth, ground that you walk on, Gal Martins’ creation to São Paulo Dance Company reflects on the issue of post-isolation in the society and on the lack of connection between man and nature. Inspired by “The Tomorrow Is Not for Sale”, by Ailton Krenak, and in dialogue with his research on ancestry and the becoming-animal, the work is divided into three moments. At first, the choreographer wanted to bring the idea of the scorched earth, of provocation how it is reconstructed. In the second part, the dancers get in touch with the individual ‘I’ and their ancestry in a battle against adversity, and in the third, we see a reflection on what we have learned along this journey. According to Gal, the idea is “to keep insisting on being what we are”.

Choreography, Costumes e Lightning: Stephen Shropshire

Music: Partita, Perihelion I, II e III (Allamande; Sarabande e Gigue) by Margaret Anne Schedel, played by: Schedel and Mikylah Myers

Duration: 15 min

Cast: 10 dancers

Debut SPCD: 2022 | Teatro Alfa, São Paulo/SP – Brazil

“Partita” is Stephen Shropshire’s third creation for the São Paulo Companhia de Dança, inspired by the painting by the Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel (1525-1569) “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” (1555), in dialogue with the homonymous poem written , in 1939, by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963). With a minimalist costume, the dancer explores the scenic space and rewrites each letter of the poet’s verses, in dialogue with the gestures of the other performers. A ballerina, in the corner of the scene, spells out the full text in the air, which gains even more power with each danced phrase. Under three contemporary movements of “Partita, Perihelion”, by Margaret Schedel and Mikylah Myers McTeer, instruments such as flute and violin gain electronic nuances. The piece encourages the spectator to perceive the interpretations and sensations of what is seen in the body itself. A work “abstract and challenging, with normal people doing extraordinary things”, reveals the choreographer.