Piny is an artist, architect, performer, dancer, instructor, and choreographer. Born in Lisbon and of Angolan descent, Piny graduated in Architecture (2007) and took a post-graduation in Stage Design (2009), both at Faculdade de Arquitetura de Lisboa. She then graduated in contemporary dance, in Lisbon (2012). In 1999, she started studying Middle Eastern and North African dances and their contemporary fusions, and, since 2006, she has also been exploring hip hop and clubbing culture through dance (breakdance, house, waacking, and vogue).
She founded the crew ButterflieSoulFlow in 2006 and, in 2012, the collective Orchidaceae, presenting her work and teaching across Europe, Asia, and America. Currently, she is also part of the collective Vogue PT Chapter, organizing events within the ballroom community.
She develops artistic work as a freelance performer, working with different artists, such as Kwenda Lima, Alice Joana Gonçalves, Filipa Francisco, Tiago Guedes, Victor Hugo Pontes, Ricardo Ambrózio, Tânia Carvalho, Raquel Castro, Cristina Planas Leitão, and Marco da Silva Ferreira, with whom she has worked since 2012. In recent years, she highlights her pieces Corpo (i)lógico — Criadores Emergentes, Periférico (in collaboration with Vhils for BoCA Biennal), HIP. a pussy point of view, .G RITO, Entre a realidade e o sonho onde me sento, and ONYX.
Occasionally, she writes articles on dance and organizes conversations and debates. In 2023, she brought to Teatro do Bairro Alto the project OU.kupa, a “celebration festival” focused on writing and artistic creation within the context of street dance and clubbing. She continues to research and elaborate alternative ways of understanding intersectionality in being and in doing through the study of astrology, tarot, yoga, and non-Eurocentric philosophies. She has been teaching regularly since 2006, both in professional and amateur contexts, and within social projects.
