Instável Centro Coreográfico

Ana Figueira

Ana Figueira has a Bachelor in Dance from Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, UTL. Through an ERAMUS grant, she attended Laban Centre, London, where she completed her internship with 19/20 points. Master in Artistic Performance-Dance – FMH, 1999. Post-graduate in Arts Management – AEP. Founded NEC and was its director for 12 years, leaving the role when she was invited, in 2005, to be the programmer for dance in Teatro Aveirense, where she remained until 2007, having later taken on the role of artistic director until October 2009. In this theatre, Ana also worked as the production director. From 1998 until the present day, she founded and directed Companhia Instável (now rebranded Instável – Centro Coreográfico). Ana Figueira was responsible for the cultural activities of Narciso Ferreira Foundation for 18 years. Produced Mudanças 2002, which was a platform that included six theatres from Porto. Directed Festival Invicta Cidade que Dança (NEC) from 1999 until 2001, and the 4 editions of Festival Arte e Novas Tecnologias, Aveiro. In 1993/94, she was a consultant of Coliseu do Porto within the dance area. Ana was a guest teacher at ESE, in the classes of dance in community and Management and Production (CGPAE) – Fórum Dança, Porto. Since 2002, she has been a guest teacher in Cultural Marketing and Advertising and production of the Stage Direction Course from ESMAE. Since 1992, she has been teaching at Ginasiano-Escola de Dança. She is frequently invited as a jury for several projects, notably the PT program – Portuguese Performing Arts Platform, Criatório and SPA 2023 Awards.

Ana has developed her work as a choreographer between the years of 1989 to 98. Through the projects she created for NEC and Companhia Instável, she has had a relevant role in the encouragement of young creators and performers, as well as in the development of the dance scene in Porto. The work she had been building, both with creators, or as a programmer, bestows her with a deep comprehension of the domain, not only in the perspective of the offer, but also the demand. Ana’s work as a tutor and experience as a choreographer create a broad perception of the various strands of the area and, in the case of tutoring, a close knowledge of future generations of creators and performers. She has had, coming up 20 years, dedicated her life to the development of the artistic tissue and, in more recent years, also focused on audience development for Dance.

Rita Santos

Rita Santos, born in Vila Nova de Gaia, has a Bachelor in Heritage Management from Escola Superior de Educação do Porto, 2012. She has been collaborating with Instável – Centro Coreográfico, as a producer, currently assuming the role of Production Director. She has been accompanying all projects of the Company since then, highlighting the collaborations with creators such as Tiago Rodrigues, Emmanuelle Huynn, Cia 7273, Roberto Olivan, Mafalda Deville and, recently, Helder Seabra.

Rita Tavares

Born in 1999, in Porto. She completed high school at Escola Profissional Balleteatro in acting. In 2021, she completed her degree in Stage Direction and Production, at ESMAE. In the Production area, she supported the Production of the Fimp Festival and the Set Festival for two years, and also the Arte Minimum group, in the recording of two CDs of old music. In the academic field, she has worked as a Stage Director and Producer with Paulo Calatré, Kenia Dias, Graeme Pulleyn and António Durães. On a professional level, she was a member of the Board of Directors of a Cultural Association, GAIVOTÀJANELA, which began in 2021 designing social intervention work in the area of ​​Theater. She started doing a professional internship at Instalable – Centro Coreográfico and is currently part of the executive production team.

Raquel Vinhas

After volunteering at Curtas Vila do Conde, city where she is from, Raquel completed the Bachelor in Journalism and Communication with a minor in Artistic Studies, and concluded the Masters in Anthropology, specialising in Visual Cultures. She had the opportunity of briefly being an intern at TSF Rádio Notícias and of volunteering in Bulgaria. In 2018, she started her professional career at Teatrão, Coimbra. At the beginning of 2022, Raquel started working with Instável – Centro Coreográfico, integrating the team of communication and consulting.

Marta Santos

With a Bachelor in Journalism, Marta started her professional path in local journals and radios. In 1998, she assumed the role of Press Consultant at the City Hall of Aveiro. In 2006, the field of Culture emerged unexpectedly, at Teatro Aveirense, as a Programming Assistant. Here, she grew as a professional but mostly as an individual and member of the audience, and realised the importance of artistic creation and the value of this sector. In 2013, she joined the business area. She left the Theatre but never ceased to be a supporter and enjoyer of Culture. Instável A Instável – Centro Coreográfico opened its doors to her in 2021 and she has since taken the role of advertisement for new creations.

*Team photography by Tomás Laranjo.

Belisa Branças

She graduated in acting at Balleteatro and in contemporary and classical dance at the Professional Ballet School of Porto. She graduated in Theater and Film from Queen Mary University of London and has a Masters in Creative Production from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. As a producer, she worked with Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Fuel Theatre, among others, and, back in Portugal since 2020, with Plataforma Uma, P.ulso, among others. She has continued to work as a performer (Lee Grifiths, Manuel Tur, Luís Mestre) and as a creator. She was a young creative and youth border member of Project Phakama, she created several plays, including “Cinzento”, in 2023, under the Ciclo Cores of Teatro Nova Europa. In 2024, she was a finalist for the New Dramaturgy Award for Female Authorship promoted by Cepa Torta.