Lia Rodrigues

Lia Rodrigues was born in 1956 in São Paulo. She studied classical Ballet and History at the São Paulo University (USP). In the 70s, Lia was involved in the contemporary dance movement and was in the Maguy Marin Dance Company from 1980 to 1982. When she returned to Brazil, she created the Lia Rodrigues Companhia de Danças, in 1990, in Rio de Janeiro, with activities all year round, dance laboratories, creations, classes and rehearsals. In 1992, she created and run for 14 years the Panorama Festival, the most important festival in Rio de Janeiro. Since 2004, her company has been involved in developing educational and artistic activities in the Maré Favela in Rio de Janeiro, in partnership with the nongovernmental organisation Redes de Desenvolvimento da Maré. In 2009 she opened Centro de Artes da Maré and, in 2011, the Escola Livre de Danças da Maré. During 40 years of professional and artistic life, the choreographer Lia Rodrigues has dedicated herself not only to training and artistic creation with touring and commissioning from the major capitals in the world but also to Education with workshops and seminars all over the world. Mixing militancy and utopias, she believes in the synergy between art and social processes. In 2022, she was awarded by the French government with the medal of Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She created Formas Breves (2002), Incarnat (2005), Chantiers Poétiques (2008), Pororoca (2009), Piracema (2011), Pindorama (2013) and Para que o céu não caia (2016), Fúria (2018) and Encantado (2021).