2026SEASON-WhereEveryoneFitsIn

While it is true that the activities of then-named Estúdios Victor Córdon — Centro Educativo, Comunitário e Criativo da Companhia Nacional de Bailado e do Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (the “Education, Community and Creativity Center of the National Ballet of Portugal and of Teatro Nacional de São Carlos”) began in September 2016, it was only in 2017 that the format was established from which the defining concept and mission of the creative platform Estúdios Victor Córdon originated.

Without detracting from this initial gesture in 2016, it was in 2017 that the project we now know truly started. For this reason, the Estúdios Victor Córdon (EVC)’s tenth-anniversary commemoration will begin in 2026, but a full celebration will take place only in 2027.

Present times challenge us to anticipate and promote positions that may strengthen the art scene in its various aspects and needs.

They also challenge us to create strong roots, anchored in real society, in contradistinction to the image that appears before us and foreshadows the degradation of an ethical basis, of respect for and solidarity with others — an image whose features already herald a new paradigm.

Dance is a living organism, one that should be porous and in perfect symbiotic interaction with an ecosystem that goes beyond its own community of creators and performers; ideally, it should breathe within an ever-changing society and respond to its stimuli, immersing itself in it and trying to meet its contradictory drives.

In this constant exchange, formats and norms are broken down which merely serve knowledge as tools to conceive new ways of seeing and of creating the future. It is in this fundamental gesture that we can determine the place of each institution, defining its mission — that is: defining what it serves and whom it serves.

This is the moment to take action, bringing people closer to the art world, contributing to the cultivation and enjoyment of all.

We want to move forward on this path with each program and initiative; we want to act, bringing the idea of an ever-shifting future to life, while still maintaining our direction and position unequivocal.

After the astounding results achieved in the 2025 edition, the Young Composers Program will once again involve the artistic areas of composition, writing, and choreography. In a program that aims to promote a collaborative spirit in creation and experimentation processes, composer Luís Tinoco, the program’s regular coordinator, is once again joined by last edition’s three co-coordinators — librettist and mezzo-soprano Marcia Bellamy, playwright Stephen Plaice, and choreographer Victor Hugo Pontes.

Throughout the year of 2026, the At Home Program brings us Daniel Matos, who will be sharing with us a series of initiatives along the lines of what has characterized his unique career. Choreographer Cláudia Dias will also be present throughout the year as our Season Partner, sharing with us many of the initiatives she developed with the cultural association Sete Anos.

The EVC’s Foyer will continue to be a meeting place for dance artists with a connection to the visual arts and for photographers whose work is focused on dance. In February, we will hold an exhibition by Estelle Valente, as part of her 2025 photography artist residency, followed by “Arte Mágica”, a series of Exhibitions curated by Luís Guerra and dedicated to outsider art, in partnership with Dançando com a Diferença on its 25th anniversary.

Over the course of the year, we will once again welcome dance artists in Artist Residencies, as well as collectives participating in dance festivals as part of our In Transit Program. In addition to these, other artist residencies will take place as part of our First Stage Program, specifically designed for young artists who have recently graduated from higher education institutions or equivalent.

Daily and complementary practices for dance professionals will also extend throughout the year — under the instruction of João Cardoso in April, as part of the EVC Training Program, and under the instruction of Lander Patrick in the beginning of September, as part of the Kick-Off ’26 Program.

On International Dance Day, we will be Dancing the World once more, thus consolidating our intention of being a place for all dances. We will open Estúdio 1 and dance and celebrate to the rhythms of other cultures with whom we have always engaged.

In June begins the 9th edition of the Territory Program, which welcomes choreographer Wayne McGregor with a restaging of “FAR” (excerpt), choreographer Liliana Barros with a new creation, and film director Filipe Faria, winner of the Territory | Estúdios Victor Córdon Award for Best Portuguese Director at the 2025 edition of the InShadow — Lisbon Screendance Festival. This program provides young dancers from dance schools across the country an experience to complement their training. As a career launch program, it has already featured the participation of around a hundred dancers and promotes career development internships in partnership with the Nederlands Dans Theater NDT 2 and the National Ballet Company.

In the last trimester, the EVC’s tenth-anniversary celebrations begin. We will mark this moment symbolically with the Other Worlds Program, which will run until the end of the year and cross into 2027. With rehearsals beginning in November,** Sofia Dias & Vítor Roriz** will present a new performance focused on Afghanistan, which is scheduled to premiere in the end of January at Teatro Camões, in Lisbon, and will be followed by a national tour.

In October, we will host another set of Meetings for the Future. This eighth edition features David Marques and Teresa Silva’s “Fazer falar o fazer” (“Making the making speak”) in the format of a performative conference exploring the art scene of Mozambique in dialogue with Portugal. For another season, we celebrate a partnership with Camões Institute – Portuguese Cultural Centre in Maputo.

Following the activities consistently organized throughout the years as part of various programs designed for the arts community in Lusophone Africa, the EVC and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian will be joining forces to launch a Collaborative Creation Residency under the coordination and artistic mentorship of Marlene Monteiro Freitas. Taking place in October, this initiative aims to promote the work of creators from Lusophone Africa among programmers and cultural agents in general, thus expanding the former’s network of circulation and collaboration opportunities through the European artistic context.

In the last months of 2026, we will resume the Words and Practices Program. Its second edition will feature choreographer Tânia Carvalho, who will spend a day — structured into a practical part and a theoretical part — giving participants a chance to experience her creation processes.

Lastly, the Resident Artist Project, organized in partnership with Plano Nacional das Artes (the National Plan for the Arts), is launching its second edition by bringing choreographers Joana Franco and Maria Abrantes to public schools, for an engagement with the school community, where students will be given the possibility to experience the creative perspective of dance artists.

Since their inception, program by program, the EVC have served as a safe space for performers and creators from the independent art scene with the most diverse backgrounds. Each new season, we have sought to meet the needs we encountered over time. The will to create of the different performers and creators, either emerging or established, the continuous relationship with the Portuguese-speaking African countries, and the engagement with movement practices from the various cultural communities residing in Portugal constitute the fundamental material that shapes this 2026 Season.

I express my deepest gratitude to all the partners who have stood by us wholeheartedly, each contributing in their own way. This is a journey guided by an inclusive and humanistic view, stronger and richer in feeling when undertaken together; it is a perspective that we wish to enshrine permanently in this place — where everyone fits in.

Rui Lopes Graça