

Cia. Suave – Freedom is the central theme in Zona Franca, a dance performance weaving together contact dance, TikTok, Afro-house and passinho.
Brazilian dance group Cia Suave and Alice Ripoll wrestle with questions of freedom in a piece connecting popular dance styles from Brazil, including passinho.
This piece considers the crossroads: how much is it possible to choose your path? How much can an artistic encounter change the course of a life? And what happens when a society chooses barbarism and war, and the individual finds themselves powerless? Are we really making our personal choices.
World premiere
06 – 08 July 2023
Festival de Marseille
The dance group’s work confronts collective settings: religions, rituals and festivities. How much does a group encourage or suppress one’s capacity of being free? What events or circumstances can change a trajectory? A meeting, a book, love, religion, the government, an opportunity?
Cia Suave creates a space to pursue freedom, both for performers and the public, and the title refers to the free incorporation of elements from different dances and music, characteristic of artistic movements born after the internet.
As in their previous shows, Suave and Cria, their work connects urban and popular dances in Brazil with contemporary performance and staging.
Besides the dance style passinho, this work presents elements of contact dance, theatre, vocal research, African dances, Afro-house, sabala, TikTok, and dances from the north and north-east of Brazil, such as pisadinha and brega funk.


Choreography: Alice Ripoll
Performers: Gabriel Tiobil, GB Dançarino Brabo, Hiltinho Fantástico, Katiany Correia, Maylla Eassy, Petersonsidy, Romulo Galvão, Tamires Costa, Thamires Candida, Vinicius Rodrigues
Assistant directors: Alan Ferreira and Thais Peixoto
Light design: Tomás Ribas and Diana Joels
Set and costume design: Raphael Elias
Assistant costume designer and seamstress: Gabriel Alves
Soundtrack: Alice Ripoll and Alan Ferreira
Sound technician and rehearser: Renato Linhares
Illustration and Designer: Caick Carvalho
Photos: Renato Mangolin
Social Media: Ana Righi
Production: Natasha Corbelino, Corbelino Cultural
Executive Producer: Milena Monteiro
Production assistants: Milena Monteiro and Thais Peixoto
Co-production: Festival de Marseille, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Charleroi Danse, RomaEuropa, Tandem Scène nationale, tanzhaus nrw, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Julidans, Les Mécènes DanseAujourdhui
Diffusion: ART HAPPENS


Date | Performance | City Country | Organisation/Venue |
---|---|---|---|
28.09.2023 | Zona Franca | Dublin (ie) | Dublin Theatre Festival |
29.09.2023 | Zona Franca | Dublin (ie) | Dublin Theatre Festival |
30.09.2023 | Zona Franca | Dublin (ie) | Dublin Theatre Festival |
14.10.2023 | Zona Franca | Douai (fr) | TANDEM scène national Arras-Douai |
20.10.2023 | Zona Franca | Brussels (be) | Charleroi Danse/La Raffinerie |
21.10.2023 | Zona Franca | Brussels (be) | Charleroi Danse/La Raffinerie |
28.10.2023 | Zona Franca | Dusseldorf (de) | Tanzhaus NRW |
29.10.2023 | Zona Franca | Dusseldorf (de) | Tanzhaus NRW |
02.11.2023 | Zona Franca | London (gb) | Southbank Centre |
03.11.2023 | Zona Franca | London (gb) | Southbank Centre |
04.11.2023 | Zona Franca | London (gb) | Southbank Centre |
09.11.2023 | Zona Franca | Paris (fr) | Festival d'Automne à Paris/CENTQUATRE-PARIS |
10.11.2023 | Zona Franca | Paris (fr) | Festival d'Automne à Paris/CENTQUATRE-PARIS |
11.11.2023 | Zona Franca | Paris (fr) | Festival d'Automne à Paris/CENTQUATRE-PARIS |
22.11.2024 | Zona Franca (Option) | Rome (it) | Romaeuropa Festival |
23.11.2024 | Zona Franca (Option) | Rome (it) | Romaeuropa Festival |
08.07.2023 | Zona Franca (world premiere) | Marseille (fr) | Festival de Marseille |
07.07.2023 | Zona Franca (world premiere) | Marseille (fr) | Festival de Marseille |
06.07.2023 | Zona Franca (world premiere) | Marseille (fr) | Festival de Marseille |