Emerging Choreographers Programme
Creations by Inês Barros, Rita Carpinteiro and Vitor Afonso
Premiering on April 29th and 30th, 2026, at the Auditório Osvaldo Azinheira - Academia Almadense, Almada

The Emerging Choreographers Programme aims to foster the artistic development of young dancers/choreographers.

In 2026, it will be presented as part of the celebration of Dance Day and will include creations selected from various spontaneous proposals submitted to Companhia de Dança de Almada.

CONCIERGE, by Inês Barros

Inspired by Yellow Days album "Hotel Heaven", "CONCIERGE" takes the figure of the receptionist to the political arena, a space of apparent order that hides uncertainty and fragility. "CONCIERGE" personifies authority, but instead of being infallible, reveals the doubts and disorder inherent in the role. The solo explores the tension between the facade of control and the internal anxieties of those who govern, showing the constant struggle of a leader to maintain action and identity in the face of the persistent uncertainty of power.

Choreography and performance: Inês Barros

Lighting design: Paulo Santos

Music: Yellow Days, Cristobal Tapia de Veer, Kyborg

Creation support: Play False Cultural Association

too much?, by Rita Carpinteiro

I’m interested in laughter in this intimate place of tension, where the body oscillates between hiding and showing itself — a space of subtle resistance, where vulnerability, eroticism, power, and lack of control coexist.

Creation: Rita Carpinteiro

Creative support: Bernardo Beja

Costumes: Wilson Baptista, Inês Reis Correia

Lighting design: Paulo Santos

Music: Quantic, Flowering Inferno

Performance: Filipa Pereira, Inês Barros, Lúcia Salgueiro, Mariana Romão, Raquel Tavares, Vitor Afonso

Music editing: Sara Casal

Acknowledgements: Bruno Duarte, Flávia Lopes, Francisco Ferreira, Gonçalo Botelho, Luís Malaquias

Culpa, by Vitor Afonso

Between the weight of what cannot be controlled, the impotence of the caregiver, and the emptiness of the self-loathing, guilt rises as a silent character, inducing states of anxiety, sadness, anger... in a complex and sometimes difficult-to-process mixture.

In this temporal space, where four people share paths, it is revealed how this feeling influences them, sometimes resorting to coping mechanisms, understanding, and mutual help. Bodies and movements revere emotional states and represent the transience of emotions, from their manifestation to acceptance.

Choreography: Vítor Afonso

Lighting design: Paulo Santos

Costumes: Bruno Duarte and Vítor Afonso

Music: Emptyset, Riyuchi Sakamoto, Opto and Alva Noto, Frank Brentschneider, Arvo Part

Performance: Filipa Pereira, Lúcia Salgueiro, Mariana Romão, Raquel Tavares

Sound design: Vítor Afonso

Acknowledgements: Bruno Duarte, Inês Cruz, Julie Chou, Lara Paula, Luana Frade

Originally from Alcobaça, Inês Barros began her studies at the Academia de Dança de Alcobaça (2011-2019). Over eight years, she developed skills in classical dance, modern dance (Graham Technique), and contemporary dance. In 2019/20, she joined the Quorum Project, performing pieces by Lua Carreira and Miguel Ramalho. In 2020, she joined the young company InTranzYt Cia, where she performed pieces by Ana Casquilho, Fábio Lopez, Cristina Pereira and Vasco Macide, Tiago Manquinho, Ayano Tatekawa, and Miguel Esteves. In partnership with Compagnie Illicite Bayonne, she was part of the artistic cast of the ballet “A Bela Adormecida” (Sleeping Beauty), by Fábio Lopez. In 2023, she joined the Companhia de Dança de Almada, performing pieces by Bruno Duarte, Tiago Manquinho, Martxel Rodriguez and Jon Lopéz, Inês Pedruco, Carolina Cantinho, Hugo Marmelada, São Castro, Margarida Belo Costa, Tiago Coelho and Catarina Casqueiro. As a creator, she has choreographed for the Academia de Dança de Alcobaça, FORMA - Estúdio de Dança de Chaves and Ca.DA Escola. In 2025, she participated in the project Projeto ECO – Emergentes em Criação e Orientação (Play False Associação Cultural). She currently teaches Contemporary Dance at Ca.DA Escola.

Rita Carpinteiro is graduated from the Academia de Dança Contemporânea de Setúbal. Her career includes collaborations with choreographers such as Clara Andermatt, Jean Abreu, Amélia Bentes, Pedro Ramos, Sweetshop Revolution (Sally Marie and Mark Mallabone), Margarida Belo Costa and Elson Marlon, Diana Niepce, Tupac Martir, among others. At the Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporâneo (CPBC), she participated in creations by Vasco Wellenkamp, ​​Iratxe Ansa & Igor Bacovich, Benvindo Fonseca, Margarida Belo Costa, André Mesquita, Miguel Ramalho, Ricardo Freire, and São Castro. As a creator, she is responsible for works such as “(E)Motion”, “Paredes de Vidro”, and, in partnership with Bernardo Beja, “1.8 dobbiamo immaginare”. Alongside her artistic practice, she holds a degree in Marketing and Advertising and a master's degree in Cultural Studies and Management from ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Performing Arts and Moving Image at Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa. She is a Movement teacher at Escola Profissional de Teatro de Cascais.

Vítor Afonso, born on the island of Madeira, began his training on the professional course at the Conservatório Escola das Artes, where he came into contact with classical, contemporary, lyrical jazz and afrojazz dance techniques. He worked as a dancer and entertainer in hotels and at the Madeira Casino. Together with the Madeira Ballet Theater - MBT collective, he presented several works in several cities in Russia, where he later received intensive training in classical dance with Alexey Turko, in Saint Petersburg. Later he moved to Lisbon, to begin his degree at the Escola Superior de Dança, combining training with collaboration in performances by Sublime Dance Company, Quorum Ballet and Companhia de Dança de Almada. As a performer, he also performed in the opening of the 2019 SPA - Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores awards, choreographed by Margarida Belo Costa; he participated in the “memories” project by IN LIMEN choreographed by Allan Fallieri; was part of “Body Buildings” by Henrique Pina, designed by Victor Hugo Pontes; and in “Duetos'/'Dueto” by Diana Niepce. He is currently a member of the Companhia de Dança de Almada, where he danced, among others, the pieces “RGB” by Jon Lopez and Martxel Rodriguez; “Shortcut” by Inês Pedruco; “Antonius Adalfuns” by Raquel Tavares; “Inverno” and “Carbono” by Bruno Duarte, and “The Process of Burning in Reverse”, by São Castro. In 2024, he created the solo piece "a silent echo," which he presented at the SOLO Çağdaş Dans Festivali in Ankara, Turkey.

Updated on March 9, 2026