BUDÔ

The term budô (武道) is usually translated from Japanese as “way of the warrior”. Dô (道) means path, a life journey. Bu (武) is associated with martial, war, military art. However, a semantic play can be made as Bu (舞) is also dancing, movement. Thus, Budô can be interpreted as both the martial path and the path of dance. Budô is the title of the work we are proposing because we want to highlight the connection between these two ways of being. 

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The two creators began to culminate their artistic visions in 2020, with an interest in mixing their different areas of research. Since then, they have established partnerships in their personal projects, collective creations and have also worked for other Companies as a creative duo. They venture into a new partnership with the creation of “Budô”, which marks the beginning of their artistic collective Cerca Trova.

Leonardo Calvino (pseudonym of Iuri Martins) is self-taught by nature and has had a multidisciplinary career, including martial arts, music, comic book writing, circus, and is currently dedicated to dance and magic as a research area. In 2020, he took the FAICC course and the PULSO course at the Instável Centro Coreográfico. As creator, the works “Cegos do Castelo”, “Meeting the Unknown” and his contemporary circus solo “Inercia” stand out. He co-created the circus project “CHÃO” and the multidisciplinary creation “Personne n'est Pessoa”, by Nico Pires, with which he traveled to the Avignon Festival in 2024. He co-created with Joana Couto the piece "Apneia", that premiered in 2022 and is currently circulating. Since 2019, he has also worked with dramaturgy, lighting and creative support, highlighting his work in the works “If only this was about food” and “Sinto Verdade”, by Joana Couto, “Mtamorfose” by Catarina Feijão and “Hora Vazia” by José Pereira.

Joana Couto attended the Ginasiano Dance School and ArtEZ University of Arts in the Netherlands. As a performer, she worked with Guy Nader & Maria Campos, Helder Seabra, Roberto Olivan, Victor Hugo Pontes, Christine Hassid, Gilles Baron, São Castro & António Cabrita, among others. She started teaching in 2020, being invited to teach classes/workshops in Portugal, Bulgaria, Israel, The Netherlands and Spain. As a choreographer, Joana created “If only this was about food”, her solo “Sinto muito”; and “Apneia”, her most recent work in co-creation with Leo Calvino. With Beatriz Sarmento she co-creates the multidisciplinary initiative Plataforma Súbito and the Órbita Residency Program, which had already 5 editions and supported more than 40 emerging artists. Co-creates the “Deseclipse” conversation cycle.