T.F. Dance Company
The T.F. Dance Company is an artistic collective based in the city of São Paulo since 2002. Its roster includes professionals from different dance backgrounds, with different training pathways, who connect dance to urban spaces. The group researches Contemporary Urban Dance, which is configured as a way to practice contemporary thinking about the dances of hip hop culture. This investigation focuses on the search for an authorial work, marked by a research path into the sensations that prompt these bodies through the individuality of the performers and through bodily states built from the body-city relationship.
The T.F.Style group began in 2002, under the direction of Igor Gasparini. Starting in 2007, with the artistic direction of Frank Tavanti, the T.F.Style Dance Company emerges, standing out precisely for this difference: being one of the pioneering nuclei in this investigation of Contemporary Urban Dance. In 2022, celebrating the 20 years of the artistic nucleus, we begin using only T.F. Dance Company.
The company was selected for the 20th, 24th, 28th, 32nd and 37th Editions of the Dance Fostering Program of the city of São Paulo (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024) and for the PROAC Notice for the Circulation of Dance Shows in the State of São Paulo (2016, 2020 and 2022). It received the APCA Award for Best Dance Debut 2019 for ELO; it was nominated for the APCA Award for Choreography | Creation 2024 with RASTRO; and it received the Denilto Gomes Award for “Best Ensemble” with Zona Cinzenta in 2022, and for “Modes of Creation in Dance” with RASTRO in 2024.
History
The work as a Company begins in 2007, when the research starts from the partnership between Igor Gasparini and Frank Tavanti, who, together with the cast, develop the first show: Forms – a particular aspect. The first work was also presented, in 2008, at the Unicamp Institute of Arts, in Campinas, at Paulista University, and at Teatro Eva Wilma, in São Paulo.
In 2009, in partnership with the Municipality of São Paulo, through the Department of Education, T.F.Style carried out the show Forms – a particular aspect at CEU Aricanduva, promoting workshops for children and adolescents from the region. It was part of the ABCDança 2009 program, promoting the workshop “Hip hop: theory and practice,” and it danced as a guest at the opening of the KD Dance Company show in Potirendaba, in the interior of São Paulo. Still that same year, the Company debuts Meetings and Mismeetings, an urban dance show that sought to address the theme of love and affective relationships between people.
In 2010, it confirms the participation of the show Meetings and Mismeetings in the ABCDança program, presenting itself in cities in the Greater São Paulo area, and it was in two seasons, in April and August, at Teatro Coletivo on Consolação. The workshop “Hip hop: theory and practice” is taught by the company as part of the Virada Cultural de São Paulo program. It staged the show Meetings and Mismeetings once again at CEU Aricanduva and also at Teatro João Caetano, within the Vocational Presents program. This work was also invited to be part of the program “City Stage School” by Dança (Dance) Theater, with support from the Associação Paulista dos Amigos da Arte and the Government of the State of São Paulo.
In 2011, it confirms participation in the show Meetings and Mismeetings in the Virada Cultural de São Paulo, with two performances at SESC Interlagos. Also at Virada Cultural, it organizes the Forum “Stress and Anxiety in Amateur and Professional Dancers,” bringing together psychology professionals and professional dancers for the discussion panel. The show Desert of Illusions had its pre-premiere in May in the Vocational Presents Program at Teatro João Caetano, and the audience took part in the creation process, giving opinions and suggesting changes that were studied for the premiere the following month at Teatro Coletivo in São Paulo. New performances of this show are then confirmed at Teatro Centro da Terra, in a season during August. And from the show Meetings and Mismeetings there were two seasons: in August, by the City of São Paulo, at Teatro Zanoni Ferrite; and in September, the season by the Education Development Fund (FDE), through the SESC SESC-SP network. Finally, still in September, the company held the opening of the 10th Brazilian Young People Award, at the Memorial da América Latina, with director Igor Gasparini being awarded in the Best Choreographer. category.
In 2012, it once again confirms the participation of the shows in the Education Development Fund (FDE), via the SESC-SP network, presenting Meetings and Mismeetings at SESC São Carlos and Desert of Illusions at SESC Interlagos. It runs another season of the show Desert of Illusions at Teatro Coletivo in São Paulo; as part of the Encontros project by Metrô Paraíso; and it confirms the presentation of this show in the 2012 ABCDança program in the city of Rio Grande da Serra. In the same event and city, it holds the Forum “Stress and Anxiety in amateur and professional dancers.” The workshop “Hip hop: theory and practice” was also part of the Virada Cultural de São Paulo program. Still that year, the show Desert of Illusions is also confirmed for the Paulista Cultural Circuit, touring several cities in the interior, by initiative of the Government of the State of São Paulo: José Bonifácio, Andradina, Avaré, Dois Córregos, Mirandópolis and Martinópolis.
Still in 2012, in the second half of the year, the show Meetings and Mismeetings is presented once again in the Education Development Fund (FDE), through the SESC-SP network, at SESC Bom Retiro in São Paulo; and in the Dance schedule of SESC Taubaté, in the interior of São Paulo. And with interventions from Desert of Illusions, the company also presents a season at SESC Santana. Finally, by the City of São Paulo, T.F.Style runs a season of the show Desert of Illusions at Teatro Zanoni Ferrite.
In 2013, the company carries out the Recreio nas Férias program of the Municipal Department of Education in partnership with the SESC-SP network, staging the show Meetings and Mismeetings and teaching workshops at SESC Interlagos. At Teatro TUCA, director Igor Gasparini defends his monograph “The communication between dance and the audience: the role of cultural journalism and the choreographer in the work-viewer relationship”, promoting an event with the show Desert of Illusions + Conversation with the audience + Postgraduate table. The show Time has its pre-premiere at the Virada Cultural de São Paulo on the Dance stage, and at the Virada Cultural of the State it goes to the city of Caraguatatuba to present Meetings and Mismeetings. It debuts the show Time in a season at Sala Crisantempo. In this year, T.F.Style participates in the SESC Arts Circuit with the show Desert of Illusions, presenting it in the cities: Sertãozinho; Barretos; São Simão; Taquaritinga; Dois Córregos; Matão; São José do Rio Pardo; Ibaté; and Araras. And, through ABCDança, it presents the show Time at the Galeria Olido. Still in 2013, the show Time runs at Teatro Sérgio Cardoso by the Government of the State of São Paulo, and at Galeria Olido by the City of São Paulo. Through SESC Bom Retiro, it runs 2 months of shows funded by the Education Development Fund (FDE). It closes the season with occupation site-specific at the Museum of Image and Sound (MIS).
In 2014, it starts its activities in an event celebrating the 460 years of São Paulo, promoted by FIESP/SESI at Av. Paulista. It participates in the Virada Cultural of the State of São Paulo with performances of the show Desert of Illusions in the cities of Indaiatuba and Diadema. It runs workshops at the Challenge Day of SESC Interlagos and presents the show Time, through the Education Development Fund at SESC São Carlos. It also participates in Virada Cultural de São Paulo, with an Intervention at SESC Bom Retiro, and is invited to be part of the opening program of the Circuit São Paulo de Cultura, with a presentation of Time at Parque do Ibirapuera.
It debuts the shows Anti, by Daniel Holt; and Beco, by Igor Gasparini and Frank Tavanti at Vila Maria Zélia, an alternative space and home of the Grupo XIX de Teatro. The shows are then invited to be part of the Circuit São Paulo de Cultura schedule, running seasons at: Centro Cultural da Cidade Tiradentes; Centro Cultural da Penha (Teatro Matrins Penna); Teatro Alfredo Mesquita; and Teatro Zanoni Ferrite. The Company is selected by the VAI 2 Program of the City of São Paulo and runs 98 hours of workshops and 16 shows of Time, in 4 CEUs of the city: CEU Sapopemba, CEU Fomosa, CEU Vila do Sol and CEU Aricanduva. Once again, it is part of the Paulista Cultural Circuit program of the State Government, with performances in the cities of: Avaré, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, Ourinhos, Palmital, São Simão, Guariba, Monte Alto and Novo Horizonte. It ends its 2014 activities by participating in the Free Culture Program, also from the State Government, with a presentation at Parque Villa-Lobos, in São Paulo, and again in Dance at MIS, with an intervention by Time.
In 2015, the Company participates in SESC Summer at SESC Interlagos with workshops and interventions from Beco. Next, this show is also presented at SESC Santo Amaro and in a season at SESC Santana in the program Corpos Vetores. On the Day of the Challenge, T.F.Style carries out an intervention and workshops at SESC Santo André; and the show TEMPO is presented at SESC Jundiaí. Director and choreographer Igor Gasparini is invited to take part in the De improviso event at SESC Santos. Beco was also presented at the Dance Reference Center (CRD), by the Department of Culture of São Paulo; it took part in the 6th Voices of the Body Circuit and also in the ABCDança 2015 program, with a presentation in the city of Mauá.
It once again participates in the São Paulo Cultural Turn with the shows Beco, Anti and Tempo in the cities of Bauru and Registro, and at the Virada Cultural de São Paulo, with an intervention at SESC Santana. The show Beco is also on the agenda of SESC Rio Preto and SESC Bom Retiro, and ANTI has a short season at Teatro Sérgio Cardoso. The Company is invited by the occupation “Interlocuções poéticas 2015,” from Funarte SP, to present Beco , and this show also takes part in the VIII Mostra Corpos Nômades de Dança. The double program Beco and ANTI is also presented at SESI Itú, and the Cia closes the 2015 presentations by traveling to Brasília (DF) to present Beco at the 3rd National Youth Conference.
In 2016, it is selected for the 20th Edition of the Dance Fostering Program of the city of São Paulo and for the PROAC Notice for the Circulation of Dance Shows in the State of São Paulo.
This year, it participates in SESC Summer at SESC Campo Limpo with a workshop, dance jam, and the show Beco. The new work Under the skin takes part in Sharing the Sensible, in an exhibition of part of its process at SESC Pinheiros. It has its official debut in March at the Centro Cultural São Paulo. Urban interventions from the show Beco are carried out at the SESC Pq. Dom Pedro II Occupation and in the Rua Abertas program of the City of São Paulo, with performances in the neighborhoods of Parelheiros, Guaianases, Sapopemba and Itaim Paulista. And this show also participates in the State Cultural Turn, with performances in the cities of Indaiatuba and Santos and at the Virada Cultural de São Paulo.
The project Contemporary Urban Dance: Dialogues is selected by FUNARTE’s Open Stage Notice 2016, with an occupation of the Renée Gumiel room, and arises with the aim of debating, deepening, and sharing artistic reflections on contemporary urban dance, inviting dance companies that develop research similar to that of T.F. Style Dance Company, and promoting discussion panels, practical experiences, and shows. Invited groups: Cia. Street Son, Mia Omori and André Bidú, Fragmento Urbano, Cia. Rogéria Zago (Piracicaba) and Grupo Up (Catanduva).
Also in 2016, it participates in the Paulista Cultural Circuit with the show Time in the cities of Ribeirão Pires, Taboão da Serra, Americana, Bertioga, Itatiba, Itapira, Guariba and Batatais. And it tours with the work Under the Skin through the São Paulo Culture Circuit, presenting itself at Cacilda Backer Theater, at Teatro Zanoni Ferrite, and at Galeria Olido. Under the Skin is also presented at SESC Sorocaba, in the Dance Fostering Showcase, at the Centro Cultural da Cidade Tiradentes, and in Dance at MIS. In addition to performances, workshops are taught at SESC Belenzinho.
T.F.Style starts the first circulation stage of the project Under the Skin – Dialogues, selected by the 20th Edition of the Dance Fostering Program of the city of São Paulo, carrying out presentations, debates, and experiences sharing creation-processes at Centro Cultural Formosa, together with Grupo Zumb’Boys. The dialogues continue at the beginning of 2017 at the Dance Reference Center in two seasons: one with the group Fragmento Urbano and the other with Vanilton Lakka and Fernando Prado. It ends the first stage of this project at Galeria Olido, in dialogue with Grupo Impacto, from Viçosa/MG.
Also in 2017, the T.F.Style Dance Company tours with the work Under the Skin, promoting presentations, dialogues, and workshops through PROAC Notice for the Circulation of Dance Shows in the State of São Paulo. There were 20 performances, 10 workshops, and 10 debates in inland and coastal cities of São Paulo state: Registro, Americana, Batatais, Piracicaba, Garça, Itatiba, Praia Grande, Bertioga, Limeira and Mogi das Cruzes.
In addition to the circulation in these two projects, the Company also presented other performances of the work Beco at SESC Registro; at the Virada Cultural de São Paulo; and at the opening of SESC Florêncio de Abreu, taking part in the MOVE Week. And with the work Under the Skin, at SESC Bauru; at SESC Ribeirão Preto; at Parque da Autonomia, by invitation from Coletivo O12, in the city of Votorantim; in Rio Grande da Serra, through ABCDança 2017; and in the cities of Caraguatatuba, Marília and Botucatu, through the Paulista Cultural Turn. It also holds the Paulista Cultural Circuit, presenting Under the Skin in the cities of Serrana, Taubaté, Pirassununga and Mauá. And again it runs workshops at SESC Belenzinho.
Also in 2017, the work Urban Flesh debuts, research carried out by the 20th Dance Fostering Notice of the city of São Paulo, in seasons at Teatro Flávio Império and Teatro João Caetano.
In 2018, the choreographic installation Urban Flesh is presented at Teatro Sérgio Cardoso and it tours the São Paulo Culture Circuit in 10 Houses of Culture and Cultural Centers in the city. It carries out the project Urban Flesh – Occupation, approved by Funarte/SP, with presentations of the work Urban Flesh, artistic residency, debates, and open rehearsals in the Renée Gumiel room. It also confirms participation in the Paulista Cultural Circuit with the work Under the Skin, by the Department of Culture of the State of São Paulo, in the cities of Catanduva, Franca, Palmares Paulista and Guaíra. And in São Paulo, it carries out Under the Skin through the Education Development Fund (FDE) in 4 state public schools.
The T.F.Style Dance Company is once again selected for the Dance Fostering Notice for the city of São Paulo (24th edition), with a project entitled Urban Flesh: Shared.Lived. Among the project actions is the circulation of Under the Skin, which was presented at Centro Cultural da Cidade Tiradentes, at Centro Cultural da Penha, at Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, and at the Dance Reference Center – CRD-SP (the latter through the Dance Fostering Showcase for the city of São Paulo).
Also in 2018, the company carries out an experience of the creation processes of the work Urban Flesh at the Dance Reference Center (CRD-SP), and holds workshops at SESC Belenzinho; it participates in the event Art in the Alley, in the city of Itú; it is selected to take part in the 1st Contemporary Body Showcase, in the city of Mogi das Cruzes; the Voices of the Body Circuit, organized by Cia Sansacroma; and it presents Urban Flesh in the city of Limeira, by the city hall, and at SESC Sorocaba. Urban Flesh is also selected for two circuits outside the State of São Paulo:
In September, the T.F.Style Dance Company was touring within the State of Minas Gerais, presenting Urban Flesh at Teatro Raul Belém Machado in Belo Horizonte, and at the Filó occupation in Ipatinga. And in December, the choreographic installation is selected for performances in the State of Rio de Janeiro at the Armando Gonzaga theater, organized by FUNARJ and the Department of the State of Rio de Janeiro. And it also ends its 2018 activities by participating in the Connections action of the CORPOCIDADE 6 event, organized by the Federal University of Bahia, in Salvador.
In 2019, it begins the year’s activities by carrying out a cycle of actions from the project Urban Flesh: Shared.Lived, selected by the 24th edition of the Dance Fostering Program for the city of São Paulo, with the 1st Artistic Residency, presentations of the work Urban Flesh with a cast, presentations with the residents, and a Discussion Table, at Galeria Olido. The same cycle was also held at the Oswald de Andrade Workshop and at the Alfredo Volpi Cultural Workshop, including the 2nd Artistic Residency and more public presentations of the choreographic installation Urban Flesh, in addition to discussion tables that address the research of the artistic nucleus, one of which was held at Universidade Anhembi Morumbi and the last at the Dance Reference Center – CRD. In total, there were 16 performances of Urban Flesh and 4 discussion tables.
This year, the company also carried out poetic propositions for alternative spaces, based on the work Under the Skin, at SESC Belenzinho and at SESC Bauru. This artistic proposition was also selected to be part of Dança à Deriva (Drifting Dance), an international festival that engages with works from Latin America. Through SESC Florêncio de Abreu, SESC Belenzinho and SESC Pq. Dom Pedro, the company presented choreographies and ran workshops in urban dance and hip hop. It also took part in the Virada Cultural de São Paulo with the work Under the Skin and carried out additional street interventions through the Ruas de Lazer program of the City of São Paulo.
In late 2019 and early 2020, the company toured the work Urban Flesh through district theaters and cultural centers: Teatro Flávio Império, Dance Reference Center, Centro Cultural Santo Amaro, Centro Cultural da Penha, Centro Cultural Formosa, Centro Cultural da Cidade Tiradentes.
Debuts ELO at SESC Santo Amaro, a poetic proposition for alternative spaces that dialogues body, architecture, and audience in search of another way of looking at the city. It receives the APCA Award for Best Dance Debut 2019, from the Associação Paulista dos Críticos de Arte. In 2020, T.F.Style Dance Company presents ELO at SESC Vila Mariana and at the Casa de Cultural of Freguesia do Ó.
In 2020, already remotely, director Igor Gasparini performs a solo re-creation of the work Urban Flesh for the program Solos no Virtual, by SESC Florêncio de Abreu. The company also runs the workshop ELO: Studies, Shared Experiences and Performative Laboratories through the Oswald de Andrade Cultural Workshop. It participates in actions promoted by Núcleo Ximbra: Hey, if you connect and Urutu’s Sarau. The nucleus is invited to teach a class in the discipline Studies on the Body and Dance for the Licentiate in Arts and Bachelor’s in Scenic Arts programs at the Institute of Arts of UNESP; also in FIC/PRONATEC, by the Fundação das Artes de São Caetano do Sul, in the Transversal Classes Program; and in an event of the Municipal Department of Education of São Caetano do Sul, focused on training arts teachers.
With the interruption of in-person actions, the nucleus found other ways to continue the ongoing research, dividing its activities among a study group, practical experiences, and the execution of performative programs (https://tfstyleciadedanca.blogspot.com/), with the aim of strengthening ELOs at a distance. While, on one hand, social isolation prevented artists from continuing body-to-body research, it opened possibilities for investigating other relationships with space: the house-space and the screen-space. And 360º body research found other challenges in two-dimensional screens. In this direction, the nucleus carries out an international exchange with Belgian artist Kelly Vanneste, who developed some creation procedures through virtual meetings.
Still in 2020, the T.F.Style Dance Company is invited to the International Festival of Contemporary Dance of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), with its participation as proposer of dance workshops, as well as the showing of the work ELO, with a conversation scheduled together with the Festival. The work ELO also takes part in the SESC Live, program, broadcast from SESC Av. Paulista; in the Virada Cultural of the State of São Paulo, broadcast from Teatro Sérgio Cardoso; and in Brasil Open Stage – ATO 2020, in an internationalization action of groups and companies, selected by a group of national and international curators.
The T.F.Style Dance Company is once again selected for the Dance Fostering Notice for the city of São Paulo (28th edition), with a project entitled E.L.O. – I, Place, Other. Among the actions, throughout 2021, the nucleus carried out 5 presentations of the poetic proposition for alternative spaces ELO; 3 artistic residencies focused on research into Urban Flesh, with two at Casa Contemporânea (Continuance and Site-Specific) and one at the Oswald de Andrade Cultural Workshop (Multiperspectivism); in addition to the process of developing a new choreographic work, inspired by the concept of Grey Zone (Claire Bishop), with a premiere planned for early 2022.
The T.F.Style Dance Company was also selected by the PROAC Notice, in 3 emergency aid notices of the Aldir Blanc Law in the State of São Paulo. With the project Borders Bodies, virtual workshops were held, online presentations were made, and in-person circulation took place across 10 different cities in Greater São Paulo, in the interior and coast of São Paulo.
In 2021, with video-dances created by the artists of the cast, based on the creation processes of the Pandemic Performative Programs, the artistic nucleus participated in the 20th Paranapiacaba Winter Festival, with “From the Earth to the Sky,” created by Majú Kaiser; in the International Video-Dance Festival Danzénica (Bolivia), with “Movement in Pauses,” by Maria Emília Gomes; and in the SESC Dance Biennial, with “Protocol 22,” by Pasha Gorbachev.
Still in 2021, besides the various actions of both the Fomento à Dança and PROAC projects, the artistic nucleus also carried out the presentation of ELO for the 19th edition of the Dancing in Transit Festival, with in-person circulation in the cities of Brasília (DF), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), São Paulo (SP), Vitória and Vila Velha (ES). The work also took part in the SESC Cariri Cultures Showcase (Ceará), in the 6th edition of the Mercado Livre in Dança (Ipatinga/MG); in the Transversality in Dance Showcase (Ouro Preto/MG), and it was also presented at Centro Cultural São Paulo and at Itaú Cultural.
In 2022, the T.F. Dance Company debuts the performative action Grey Zone at the Espaço Canto in São Paulo, and receives the Denilto Gomes Award for Best Ensemble of the Paulista Dance Cooperative. The company is selected for the 16th edition of the Verbo: Performance Showcase and carries out the work Grey Zone, at Galeria Vermelho in São Paulo. Grey Zone also runs the Municipal Cultural Circuit, carrying out actions in the Houses of Culture of Tremembé, Itaim Paulista, Freguesia do Ó, Butantã and Campo Limpo, as well as at the Grajaú Cultural Center. Grey Zone is also carried out at SESC Campinas and at SESC Sorocaba.
About the research of Grey Zone, the company organizes three discussion panels “Black Box | White Cube: Choreography in the Expositive Space” with Isis Gasparini and Olivia Ardui; “Bodily States” with Vera Sala and Marcela Levi; and “Grey Zone: Concept and Works”, with Juliana Moraes and Luciana Lara.
Also in 2022, the work ELO is presented at SESC Sorocaba, at SESC Bertioga, at SESC Birigui, at the Grajaú Cultural Center, and it participates in the International Urban Visions Festival, presenting itself at the Dance Reference Center in São Paulo, and at SESC Campinas. The company is also invited to take part in the Mariana 360 Winter Festival and held ELO presentations in the cities of Mariana and Ouro Preto (MG), as well as running a workshop with students from CRIA – Center for the Reference of Children and Adolescents.
The T.F. Dance Company also carries out three important circulations with ELO: through the SESC Arts Circuit, with performances associated with SESC Araraquara, SESC Ribeirão Preto and SESC Guarulhos units, in the cities of Barretos, Sertãozinho, Jaboticabal, Motuca, Matão, Tabatinga and Guarulhos; through the Paulista Cultural Circuit (CCP), with performances in the city of São José do Rio Preto, Ouroeste, Miracatu and Guariba; and through the Municipal Cultural Circuit, with performances at the House of Culture of São Miguel Paulista, of Ipiranga, and at the Dance Reference Center (CRD).
Also at the CRD, the company carries out an artistic residency based on the research of ELO. The workshop lasted 3 months and involved about 20 participating artists. Still in 2022, the T.F. Dance Company begins a partnership with Milos Eventos and starts organizing and running workshops in different urban dances across different SESC-SP units. Alongside invited artists, hip hop culture references, it runs workshops in Breaking, Hip Hop dance and Vogue, at SESC Vila Mariana and, in 2023, in Vogue, at SESC Belenzinho, and in Breaking at SESC Pompéia.
Director Igor Gasparini is invited to take part in the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival and performs at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, together with the experimental music group Fonema Consort (USA) and the Dança Redes Dance Nucleus (Campinas). The video dance From the Earth to the Sky is selected for the MovieRio Short Film Showcase and is screened at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) in Rio de Janeiro. The T.F. Dance Company also presents the choreographic installation Urban Flesh at Centro Cultural Grajaú.
Still in the year 2022, in the second half of the year, the artistic nucleus debuts the work Borders Bodies, with performances at Teatro Sérgio Cardoso (capital premiere) and at SESC Campinas (inland premiere). Borders Bodies begins circulation with performances at Centro Cultural São Paulo (CCSP), Centro Cultural da Diversidade and Centro Cultural Formosa, at Teatro Zanoni Ferrite. It ends the 2022 performances at SESC São Carlos.
At the end of 2022, with the start of activities in 2023, the T.F. Dance Company is once again selected for the Dance Fostering Notice for the city of São Paulo (32nd edition), with a project named 20 in 22: Sharing Rituals. Celebrating 20 years of existence, in 2022, #20em22 also marks the moment when we start using only T.F. Dance Company.
The company is also selected by the PROAC Notice for the Circulation of Dance Shows in the State of São Paulo, with the project ELO. Through PROAC, the actions included two performances of ELO and one dance workshop in each of the eight circulation cities: São Caetano do Sul, with actions associated with FIC Pronatec technical courses; Votorantim, in partnership with Parque da Autonomia; São Sebastião, with presentations in state public schools; and through the Department of Culture of each municipality, the cities of Itatiba, Garça, Catanduva, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo and Pindamonhangaba. In total, 16 performances of ELO and 8 dance workshops were carried out based on the different pillars of the work: Link, Seed, Beehive, Pollination and Playful.
At the beginning of 2023, the T.F. Cia de Dança presents Borders Bodies, ELO and holds the workshop Coreô for small bodies at SESC Ribeirão Preto. This workshop proposal for children is also carried out at the Teatro Estadual de Araras and at Teatro Sérgio Cardoso, contracted by the Department of Culture and Creative Economy of the State of São Paulo.
Borders Bodies is also presented at SESC Santo Amaro, at Teatro Paulo Eiró, at Centro Cultural Formosa, and at Centro Cultural da Penha. The work is also selected by the International Festival of Dancing in Transit, circulating through the cities of Florianópolis (SC), Curitiba (PR), Rezende (RJ) and São Paulo (SP). Director Igor Gasparini is also invited by the Festival program to carry out an artistic residency in the city of Corumbá (MS) and choreograph for the Pantanal Dance Company (MS). And ELO continues circulating through different SESC units, such as SESC Araraquara and SESC Bom Retiro.
The performative action Grey Zone is carried out at the Centro Cultural Santo Amaro, Centro Cultural Formosa, Centro Cultural da Penha, and carries out a circulation through the Museu da Cidade, presenting the work at Solar da Marquesa, at Casa Lane, and at Casa Modernista. The company also participates, once again, in the Municipal Cultural Circuit and presents Grey Zone at the House of Culture of Hip Hop Sul, at the Centro Cultural da Juventude, at the House of Culture Tremembé, and at CEU Carrão. The company is also selected by the occupation call of NAVE Coletiva and holds actions by invitation from Mídia Ninja: presentation of Grey Zone and a conversation circle with Estela Lapponi, Maria Lucas and Victor Almeida.
Through the Fomento project, T.F. Dance Company invites groups and artists for theoretical-practical provocations that dialogue with the research of the artistic nucleus. Throughout the year, actions were carried out with Núcleo Ximbra, Grupo Flying Low, Turmalinas Negras, Estela Lapponi, Maria Lucas and Victor Almeida.
During the pandemic, the Pandemic Performative Programs (PPPs), creation protocols emerged, which artists from the nucleus created weekly for each other, and the sharing of the material-processes resulted in the eponymous blog. In this project, we chose to revisit the individual desires of the cast artists, review the PPPs, and share publicly, this time in person, through 2 Exhibitions: CÊNIC SHAREs, at the Oswald de Andrade Cultural Workshop. Based on the experience of the PPPs, director Igor Gasparini was also invited by researcher Flávia Borsani to lead a training session “Pandemic Narratives: modes of survival, body, and creation in dance” at the Research and Training Center of SESC-SP.
In 2024, the artistic nucleus debuts the work RASTRO, with performances at SESC Santo Amaro. Created as a poetic proposition for alternative spaces, this new creation by the T.F. Dance Company seeks to deepen the research developed in ELO and to investigate the expanded concept of choreography. The work is indicated for the 2024 APCA Award for Choreography | Creation and receives the 2024 Denilto Gomes Dance Award for Modes of Creation in Dance.
Next, the T.F. Dance Company participates in the International Festival of Dancing in Transit, with circulation of RASTRO in the cities of Belo Horizonte, Brumadinho, Coronel Fabriciano, Governador Valadares, Baixo Guandú and Vila Velha, in the States of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. RASTRO is also presented in two public schools in the city of São Sebastião, under contract with the Department of Culture of this municipality; it participates in the 11th edition of the Latin American festival Dança à Deriva, presenting at FUNARTE; and the work is also scheduled for the SESC Piracicaba and SESC Osasco units.
Through the Municipal Cultural Circuit, RASTRO is presented at the House of Culture of Freguesia do Ó, at the House of Culture of São Miguel, in Parque Chácara do Jockey, and in an event of the City’s General Office of Oversight, dancing at the Matarazzo Building. By the State Department of Culture and Creative Economy, the work is selected for a performance at Teatro Sérgio Cardoso. The broadcast of RASTRO in CULT SP PRO was accompanied by a mini-documentary, which was also made available on the platform[1].
[1] Show: https://cultspplay.com.br/video/rastro-t-f-cia-de-danca/
Mini-doc: https://cultspplay.com.br/video/minidoc-rastro-t-f-cia-de-danca/
The work ELO is selected for the Tiradentes in Scene Festival, with performances in the city of Tiradentes, in Minas Gerais; and for the SESC Comove, schedule, with performances at SESC da Esquina in Curitiba, and at SESC Maringá, both in the state of Paraná. ELO is also scheduled, by SESC Carmo, to take part in the In the Center of Dance, with a presentation at Praça da Sé, São Paulo’s zero milestone; and the artistic nucleus is also invited to close the April for Dance, program with a presentation at Praça do Patriarca in São Paulo. ELO is also scheduled for a performance at the Teatro Estadual de Araras and participates in the 47th Guiomar Novais Week, presenting the work in the city of São João da Boa Vista.
The work ELO is also selected for an artistic residency with students from São Paulo Dance School (SPED). For six weeks, a group of students from the Dance Techniques and Dramaturgy and Choreography courses experienced the creative processes of the work ELO in practice, and also reflected on composition elements, based on the team of partner professionals of T.F. Dance Company: Carlos Ranoya (music), Dida Genofre (lighting), Naira Amaral (costume) and Robson Ferraz (dramaturgy). The artistic residency ended with 4 public presentations of ELO, two with the cast and two with the resident students.
Through the April for Dance program of the Municipal Department of Culture, the T.F. Dance Company presented Borders Bodies at the Centro Cultural da Vila Formosa and at Centro Cultural da Juventude; and through the Hip Hop Month, program, with a presentation at the Sala Olido at Centro Cultural Olido. Borders Bodies is also selected by the 7th edition of Dance on the Edges, with a presentation at CITA Space. And artists-educators from the T.F. Dance Company teach workshops in Urban Dances at SESC 14 Bis.
During the months of May through September 2024, the T.F. Dance Company is selected to take part in an artistic exchange with the Improvisation Nucleus, in a Dance Fostering project by the group that includes some months of sharing research from both artistic nuclei and features public presentations that took place in different places around the city of São Paulo: Sala Crisantempo, Centro Cultural Formosa, ETEC de Artes, Dance Reference Center, Teatro Arthur Azevedo and Teatro Paulo Eiró.
Also in 2024, the T.F. Dance Company is selected for an international tour in Bolivia, presenting different works from the artistic nucleus’s repertoire in the cities of La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In La Paz, the T.F. Dance Company presents RASTRO at the CUIR Festival, in partnership with the Danzénica Festival. Also through the Danzénica Festival, in partnership with NunaFest, the T.F. presents Borders Bodies and HOMO, a solo by artist Pasha Gorbachev, at the NUNA Theater festival[2]. In Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the artistic nucleus carries out workshops in contemporary urban dance and develops an artistic residency that results in the presentation of RASTRO at the Museum of Contemporary Art, featuring Brazilian artists (T.F. Dance Company) and Bolivian artists (Fases Danza).
[2] Review by Camilo Gil Ostria for the newspaper La Razón – La Paz (Bolivia):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fwwz5aFniMmS1CIcHvyTDqzxEPr65X-s/view?usp=sharing
At the end of 2024, with the start of actions in 2025, the T.F. Dance Company is once again selected for the Dance Fostering Notice for the city of São Paulo (37th edition), with a project named RASTRO.
The work RASTRO begins circulation in 2025 through SESC Campinas, where a workshop is also developed to share the work’s creation processes. It is also part of the schedule of the SESC Arts Circuit 2025, with performances by SESC Araraquara, SESC Franca, SESC São Carlos and SESC Ribeirão Preto units in the cities of Boa Esperança do Sul, Jaú, Barretos, Batatais, Tabatinga, Jaú, Águas da Prata, São José do Rio Pardo, Guará, Guaíra, Itirapina and Pirassununga. The T.F. Dance Company also presents RASTRO at the Mundo Cênico Festival in the city of Perdões (MG); at SESC Palladium in Belo Horizonte (MG); and at SESC Santana.
RASTRO also circulates in the city of São Paulo through an eponymous project selected by the 37th edition of the Dance Fostering Program for the city of São Paulo, with performances at Casa das Rosas, through the Virada Sustentável, at the Vila Nova Cachoeirinha Culture Factory, at the Escola Estadual Núcleo Taipas, and at the universities Anhembi Morumbi and FAAP, where workshops on the creation processes of RASTRO were also developed.
Also in 2025, the work Under the Skin is recreated and, after a decade, returns with presentations at the Dance Reference Center and at the Vila Formosa Cultural Center. The recreation of Under the Skin is selected for the International Festival of Dancing in Transit, with performances in Belém and on Ilha do Combu, in Pará.
Still in 2025, the T.F. Dance Company also presents the work ELO at SESC Araraquara and, along with mediation actions with students from Public Schools and Universities, presented ELO at the Instituto Cultural Pombas Urbanas, at the ETEC de Artes, at UNESP and at CCA Santa Ângela, in Heliópolis.
Borders Bodies is also presented in 2025 in a circulation that began with SESC Araraquara. Throughout the year, the work was also presented at Teatro Paulo Eiró and Teatro Alfredo Mesquita by the Municipal Department of Culture. It ends its activities with two performances at Teatro Sérgio Cardoso. The performative action Grey Zone was also carried out at the Municipal Historical Archive, and there was an exhibition of photographs, the result of the study on trail of movement, made together with photographer João Benz.
