dance / music
Vânia Doutel Vaz’s choreographic vision intersects with Gabriel Ferrandini’s soundscape in the first Zona Franca of 2026.
A performer, director, and dance creator, Vânia Doutel Vaz has built a career of international prestige. She works closely with American choreographer Trajal Harrell, in a partnership that began with the Porca Miseria trilogy: Maggie the Cat, Deathbed, O Medea, and continues through to their most recent creation, the collection. She has also danced with Tânia Carvalho, Shannon Gillen, Eszter Salamon, Josefa Pereira, and Adam Linder, and has collaborated with visual artists such as Kiluanji Kia Henda.
She has been a member of the Portuguese Contemporary Dance Company, the Nederlands Dans Theater, the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and PUNCHDRUNK. Under his own name, he created and performed violetas (2025), O Elefante No Meio Da Sala (2022), ad aeternum (2020), and Bureauc’Art (2019). He is also a founding member of the União Negra das Artes.
Gabriel Ferrandini is one of the most widely acclaimed figures in Brazilian jazz, garnering praise both at home and abroad. Although his credentials as a drummer and improviser are well established, his work extends far beyond that, ranging from contemporary composition to electroacoustic experimentation. Over the years, his name has appeared alongside figures such as Evan Parker, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Thurston Moore, Peter Evans, and Alex Zhang Hungtai. He is a member of Má Estrela e Caveira, and as a composer, he collaborated with visual artist Alexandre Estrela on *Marble Ruin* (2020), created a piece for the Gulbenkian Choir (2021), developed the performance *Rosa.Espinho. Dureza (2019), and, more recently, has been working with director and playwright Tiago Rodrigues on the play Na Medida do Impossível (2024). In 2019, he released Volúpias on the Clean Feed label, and two years later released his first solo album, Hair of the Dog.
a commission and co-production by centro cultural vila flor, gnration
Music and dance flow freely in Zona Franca. The result of a partnership between gnration and the Centro Cultural Vila Flor (Guimarães), this interdisciplinary series is a free space where original music and choreography engage in a continuous and multifaceted dialogue.
supported by portuguese republic – culture, youth and sports / general direction of the arts. portuguese contemporary art network (rpac). rtcp – network of portuguese theaters and cinemas.
