Isabél Zuaa
AFRO SALOYÁ
November
2026
Sinopse
AFRO SALOYÁ has never been a solo act. I bring a lot of people with me. To paraphrase Maya Angelou, I carry with me all the people who have been kind to me, who have taught me, who have loved me. I take all these people with me onto the stage. I take my many different selves with me: the 15-year-old Isabél, the 7-year-old, the 2-year-old, and the one from yesterday. All of them. I take the bandstand, my bedroom, and the back garden of our house in Zambujal. And it was in Zambujal that we took the first photographs of the performance. A place that is both saloio [rural] and Afro. A place of multiple cultural, poetic, real and authentic intersections. AFRO SALOYÁ is born from this place of encounter: between memories and futures, between roots and reinvention, between all the people who live within me. — Isabél Zuaa
resonance
memory
listening
crossing
© Joanna Correia
© Joanna Correia
© Joanna Correia
Aditional info
- Price
9€
-
Duration
50min
- Age rating
12+
- Additional information
Spoken in Cape Verdean crioule, Guinea-Bissau crioule, English, Portuguese, Spanish and Zulu, without subtitles
Acessibilidades do espetáculo
Author's bio text
Isabél Zuaa is a multidisciplinary artist, born in Lisbon, with origins in Angola and Guinea-Bissau, and experiences in Brazil. Zuaa creates dramaturgies in which bodies like her own occupy centrality and protagonism, proposing narratives where presence, identity, and memory intertwine. Through the artistic object as a living archive, she summons biographies and references to generate expansive questions. In 2019, she founded the AURORA NEGRA collective with Cleo Diára and Nádia Yracema. Isabél was highlighted in BANTUMEN's POWERLIST 2021, 2022, and 2025 as one of the 100 most influential personalities in the Lusophone world.
Ficha Técnica
Directed and performed by
Isabél Zuaa
Dramaturgy SupportMelissa Rodrigues, Mauro Hermínio
Music
Carolina Varela arranged by Yaw Tembe, with original composition by Didi
Video
Heverton Harieno
Musical creation and sound design
Carolina Varela
Movement support
Piny, Vânia Doutel Vaz
Vocal support
Joana Campelo
Costume design and space
Eloísa d'Ascensão
Light desing
Bee Barros
Sound and video operation
Isaac Veloso
- Outside eye
Bruno Huca
Set design assistance
Anaïs Ichiban
Production
Joana Costa Santos
Video and photography production
Fantástico Preto
Administration
Agência 25
Co-produced by
Teatro Municipal do Porto, Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Teatro Municipal São Luiz, Festival Singular
Co-production residency
O Espaço do Tempo, Centro de Criação de Candoso
Support
República Portuguesa – Cultura, Juventude e Desporto I DGARTES – Direção-Geral das Artes, Casa da Dança
