Daniel Matos (Lagos, 1996) began his studies in visual arts and graduated in dance from ESD — IPL. His work spans several multidisciplinary practices, exploring the body as a biographical field and understanding the present both as a political space and as a space of transgression, rituals, and affects. He has been an artistic collaborator, performer and rehearsal assistant to the duo Ana Borralho & João Galante since 2014, having participated in the following creations of theirs: Atlas, SexyMF, Louise Michel, Tempo para Refletir, and O Centro do Mundo. As a performer, he has also collaborated with Angélica Liddell, Romeo Castellucci, Rui Horta, Luís Marrafa, André Uerba, Amélia Bentes, and Davis Freeman. He was invited to share his creative processes at Conservatori Superior de Dansa de València, Escola Superior de Dança, Campus Paulo Cunha e Silva, and A PiSCiNA. Since 2017, he has presented his work in countries such as France, Brazil, Indonesia, Austria, Norway, India, Macao, Singapore, Australia, and Italy. Among his works, he highlights VÄRA (2022), nominated for the SPA Award for Best Choreography in 2023, and A Pedra, A Mágoa (2024), winner of both the “DROP” International Award at the PUF Festival and the SPA Award for Best Choreography in 2025. He won the ETIC Award for Best National Dance Film with Quase Desabitada (2025). In 2017, with Joana Duarte, he founded the cultural association CAMA, where he is a resident artist and of which he is the artistic director. He is also responsible for the artistic co-direction and programming of Pedra Dura — Algarve Dance Festival and was the co-curator of the Verão Azul International Festival. In 2023, he created CENDDA — Centro de Documentação de Dança do Algarve.
In 2025, he co-created a solo for Mélanie Ferreira, Durarei por Paz e Nunca por Mal, and developed a videodance cycle in collaboration with videographer João Catarino, titled Crying Cycle. At the invitation of the duo of choreographers Sofia Dias & Vítor Roriz, he joined the Cumplicidades Lab in 2025, presenting the performance Rider Sonata no. 8 in co-production with the MAAT Museum and the Champalimaud Foundation.
Image (c) João Catarino
