TERESA FABIÃO is a dancer, educator, researcher and artist. It has a multifaceted journey driven by transits: transits between various cultures; between different body languages (contemporary, classical, african dances, afro-brazilians, capoeira); and between different contexts of dance making-thinking (academic, artistic and popular contexts). Born in Portugal, living for 8 years in Brazil where she collaborated with several choreographers, dancers and masters of popular culture.
Teresa's plurality is visible through her background: PhD in Performing Arts, Masters in Dance, Specialization in Therapy for the Expressive Arts at the Tamalpa Institute (California), Post-Graduation in Contemporary Dance, Graduated in Sound and Image, Professional Course at the FUNCEB School of Dance, Thai Massage Course. Graduated in Gyrokinesis, teaching in different contexts in Brazil and Portugal.
Co-founder of VIRAL, a pioneering collective in Portugal that focuses on the performing arts as a space for re-signification of the imaginaries related to hiv. Winner of the EYE Program of the European Union, with a project that bridges the areas of art, education and health. She has received several scholarships and has worked/ lived/ taught in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Colombia, Benin, Cape Verde, USA.
In 2021, she premieres the performance UNA, a research on the crossings between art & viruses and on her ten-year journey as a woman living with hiv, awarded by the Gulbenkian Foundation, GDA Foundation and by CAMPUS / Teatro Municipal do Porto / Rivoli.
Her mission is to (re)connect people with the wisdom of their bodies and their creative expression. The metaphorical relationship between our postures, movements and our attitudes in life is a central part of her creations and formations. Her action expands through different levels of consciousness (physical, emotional, mental, social, environmental), sharing a path that combines personal development, artistic expression and social commitment. Teresa defends dance as a practice of social transformation, in its potential to bring people and communities together.
~ I believe in transformation through movement ~
~ I believe in transformation through art ~
~ I believe in transformation through dialogue ~
ABOUT
Hi, I'm Teresa. Portuguese, with a traveling soul. Passionate about dance, travel and bodies of culture. I´m an eternal seeker and involved with various practices of personal transformation – because acting politically in the world implies a path of self-knowledge.
I've been dancing since I was six years old; dance for me has always been the best form of expression. Since 1997, I have worked with several choreographers and participated in collaborative projects in Portugal and several other countries. I work as a teacher and facilitator of expressive arts, unlocking creativity, and teaching movement techniques & body awareness practices. Since 2017, I have been involved in the area of inclusion through art, where, based on a therapeutic and artivist approach, I work with the general public and with marginalized communities, stimulating empathy and the acceptance/ appreciation of difference.
Knowing about the sequels of my profession, I soon started looking for techniques and somatic approaches that could allow me to deal with injuries and postural compensations that inevitably arise. The training in various holistic techniques (Gyrokinesis, Pilates and Hatha Yoga), different dance traditions and dedication to different therapeutic paths brought me a new understanding of the body and awakened me to the power of transformation and healing involved in the arts of movement.
In my creations and trainings, I share a series of somatic and movement resources that gathered over more than thirty years dedicated to the arts of the body, where I highlight the practice of capoeira, training in Gyrokinesis® and the expressive arts approach Life / Art Process®. What I highlight is a multifaceted path: in terms of body languages, cultural realities and a socially engaged art.
I have a quite diverse path, all these techniques are part of my baggage: Contemporary, Ballet, Capoeira, Gyrokinesis, African dances, Afro-Brazilian dances, Samba and Sambareggae, Pagode, Arrocha, Forró, Gaga, Flying Low, Axys Syllabus, Movimento Authentic, Butoh, Contact-Improvisation, Site-specific, Physical Theater, Isadora Duncan Technique, Dunham Technique, Biodanza, Modern Dance, Jazz Dance, Hatha Yoga, Life Art / Process, Pilates, Feldenkrais, RPG (Global Postural Reeducation), Body -Mind Centering. However, dance, for me, has always been more than just technique performance or virtuosity. It has always been a means of expression and dialogue, a way of discovering myself and the other, a way of healing.
I understand the body as a powerful medium that allows us to get in touch with the deepest layers of the self and the other. Our bodies are vehicles of consciousness and there is an interconnectivity between our lives, our bodies in motion and our creative expression. This means that there is a metaphorical relationship between our postures, movements and our attitudes in life. I see dance as a laboratory for life and I spread education through art and through the body (“embodied education”). I am interested in dance as self-knowledge of oneself and knowledge of the other, in a path of greater awareness, empathy, health, well-being and pleasure in one's own skin.
"What moves me is to create a space for greater awareness, dialogue, diversity and collective transformation. For me, movement is a somatic, therapeutic and artistic experience, a way to create meaning, intention and be the change we want to see in the world. "
