Moderated by Andreia Garcia

In the cycle Contexto, we propose a series of conferences in which we take a show from Theatro Circo's program as a starting point to bring together artists and people whose fields of study intersect with the themes and issues addressed in that work. 
Curated and moderated by Andreia Garcia, on March 2 we will host the second part of this series, with Luísa Salvador, visual artist and researcher, and Cristina Planas Leitão, choreographer, performing arts programmer and teacher. 

The second Contexto talk will be about parallelepiped. The Greek term parallelepipedon comes from the combination of two words: para allelois (one next to the other) and epipedon (flat) - epi (on); pedon (ground). It's important to note this because we're not really interested in the geometric body that is defined in the term, but rather the translation of the intention to bring into conversation two contexts that appear side by side, in the possibility of reflecting on the various surfaces on which these two bodies move. The topics range from the idea of surface to the immaterial; from authorship in the system to mechanisms of creation; from the process to the result.

Luísa Salvador (Lisbon, PT) is a visual artist and researcher. 

She is a PhD candidate in Contemporary Art History at NOVA FCSH, having received a scholarship from the Foundation for Science and Technology. She has a Master's degree in Contemporary Art History from NOVA FCSH and a degree in Sculpture from FBAUL. She has been exhibiting regularly since 2012. 

She participated in the artist residency program of the Walk&Talk Festival, São Miguel, Azores (2018-2021) and the Cecília Zino Foundation, Funchal, Madeira (2021), under the motto O Sol Marca a Sombra, a program inspired by Lourdes Castro's Grand Herbier D'Ombres. 

She won the Young Creators Award 2018 in the Fine Arts category and was runner-up in the Edifício dos Leões 2023 / Banco Santander Art Prize. 

Alongside her artistic practice, she also writes, including theoretical texts and chronicles. In 2018, under the pseudonym Luísa Montanha e Vale, she founded the quarterly publication Almanaque - Reportório de Arte e Esoterismo, of which she is the editor. She is co-founder of the podcast Debaixo das Estrelas. 
She lives and works in Lisbon.  

Cristina Planas Leitão is a choreographer, performing arts programmer and teacher.
She is currently co-Artistic Director of Teatro Municipal do Porto, DDD - Festival Dias da Dança and CAMPUS Paulo Cunha e Silva, since July 2022. 
 
She began her collaboration with TMP as a performing arts programmer in 2018, for the regular seasons from 2019/2020, the DDD - Dias da Dança Festival from the 2020 edition and in the genesis and artistic project of CAMPUS Paulo Cunha e Silva. 

She collaborated as an artistic consultant on the Braga'27 application, is a member of several jury panels, namely PT23 and the La Caixa / Espaço do Tempo Creation Scholarships and is a nominee for the SEDA - SalavizaEuropean Dance Award by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. 
  
His integrated curatorial practice focuses on the development of sustainable creative formats, new narratives and caring relationships within the performing arts, with a growing interest in experimental practices that are politically and socially engaged. She has a strong interest in the intersections of curatorial and organizational practices with those of research and education. Over the years, Cristina has blurred the lines of disciplines, nationalities and hierarchies and sees the role of the curator as a facilitator, committed to anti-fascism, access and care. 

As a choreographer, she approaches her choreographic work as an act of resistance and affection, researching themes connected to social and political movements and their relationship to the performing body, in the intimacy of the theater. She created The very delicious piece and The Very Boring Piece, co-creations with Jasmina Krizaj, bear me, FM [featuring mortuum] and UM [unimal] - a piece highlighted by the Expresso and JN newspapers in 2018. Her work is documented in the series Portugal que Dança / RTP2 (Ep. 02). 
  
As a teacher, she has been actively teaching the Flying Low and Passing Through techniques internationally since 2010, through a somatic and unconventional approach, as well as workshops around the content of her artistic practice. She has also worked on various projects as a dramaturgy and strategy consultant. She is a mentor and regular teacher at ArtEZ HK, Arnhem (NL).  

She practices Hatha Yoga (CYT 200) and studies Vedic Astrology. 

She has a degree in Contemporary Dance, ArtEZ, Arnhem (NL), 2006.  


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