São Castro began her dance training at Balleteatro Escola Profissional do Porto, she graduated in dance from Escola Superior de Dança and she holds a master's degree in Choreographic Creation and Professional Practices from ESD/IPL. She has danced in Balleteatro, in Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporâneo, and in Ballet Gulbenkian. She has worked with such choreographers as Né Barros, Isabel Barros, Rui Lopes Graça, Vasco Wellenkamp, Paulo Ribeiro, Hervé Robbe, Olga Roriz, Clara Andermatt, Tânia Carvalho, Hofesh Shechter and Luís Marrafa, among others, and she has collaborated with stage directors Ricardo Pais and Marco Martins. In 2009, she created her first choreographic piece, the solo aTempo, and, in the following years, she choreographed for various schools and companies, namely for Escola de Dança do Conservatório Nacional, Companhia de Dança de Almada, K2 — Companhia Jovem, and Companhia Instável.
From 2011 to 2024, she developed an artistic collaboration with choreographer and dancer António M. Cabrita. In 2015, both choreographers were distinguished by Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores with the Best Choreography Award for their piece Play False, and they were nominated for the same award in subsequent years. In 2017, they created Dido e Eneias for Companhia Nacional de Bailado, and in 2019 they were invited by Théâtre de la Mezzanine to work as choreographic directors in the opera Orphée et Eurydice, directed and staged by Denis Chabroullet. From January 2017 to December 2021, they were artistic directors of Companhia Paulo Ribeiro.
Besides her creative work, she is an artistic researcher in the field of dance. In this context, she highlights the publishing of the article “Por uma corporização da palavra: proposta de investigação artística sobre a tradução física da palavra no corpo que dança” in RIACT – Journal of Artistic Research, Creation and Technology.
She is the founder of the cultural association PLAY FALSE.
Photograph
© António M. Cabrita
