Alliance of International Production Houses

Passinho, dancinha, voguing, samba, hip hop and other urban dance styles form the playground and laboratory for Rio de Janeiro’s young generation who wants to express their longing for self-determination and freedom. Alice Ripoll takes life’s experiences in a country that is marked by social strife and economic inequality as the starting ground for a choreographic exploration of conduct and collective creation. In collaboration with company Suave and her encounter between urban dance and contemporary dance, Alice Ripoll initiates an exciting choreographic process of hybridisation. She takes one step further with her new piece ZONA FRANCA, merging northern and north-eastern Brazilian folk dances with Afro dances and Afro house, yet also integrating elements of theatre, and singing. On stage, ten performers move, dance, sing, handling large balloons, elements of a contemporary ritual that fluctuates between vulnerability, deeply ingrained anger, and great joy.
ZONA FRANCA mirrors the hopes and the pioneering spirit in a period of transition, between the presidents Bolsonara and Lula. The result is an impressive, energetic piece that tells the tale of a disinherited generation that yearns to reinvent itself. At the intersection of political analysis and poetic experience, a space emerges in which both the performer as well as the audience may find freedom, and in a time marked by wars and existential struggles, at that. ZONA FRANCA (free trade area in English) evokes the vision of a world in which everything is, completely openly, shared.

Creation: Alice Ripoll; Performers: Gabriel Tiobil, GB Dançarino Brabo, Hiltinho Fantástico, Katiany Correia, Maylla Eassy, Petersonsidy, Romulo Galvão, Tamires Costa, Thamires Candida, Vinicius Rodrigues; Creative assistants: Alan Ferreira and Thais Peixoto; Lighting: Tomás Ribas, Diana Joels; Set, costumes: Raphael Elias; Assistant costume and tailor: Gabriel Alves; sound: Alice Ripoll, Alan Ferreira and DJ Seduty; sound design: DJ Seduty; sound technician and rehearser: Renato Linhares; light technician on tour: Tainã Miranda;illustration: Caick Carvalho; photos: Renato Mangolin; production director: Natasha Corbelino, Corbelino Cultural; executive production: Milena Monteiro; production assistance: Isabela Peixoto, Thais Peixoto, Thiago Monteiro.