Balé da Cidade de São Paulo
About
Since the 1970s, the Balé da Cidade de São Paulo has established itself as a permanent laboratory for research and creation in the field of dance in Brazil. Recognised for inspiring and challenging its performers through ongoing choreographic work, it has also been the birthplace of some of the most prominent choreographers on the national scene.
With the arrival of Alejandro Ahmed in 2023, a key figure in the Brazilian independent scene, the Balé da Cidade de São Paulo responds to the desire for renewal and innovation expressed by the Opera 's leadership. In this context, the company promotes and brings visibility to the work of independent choreographers.
Projects
About the Choreographers
Rafaela Sahyoun
Choreographer, dancer, and teacher, she works between Brazil and Europe. A graduate of SEAD - Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in Austria (2013) and the Trinity Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London (2009), she has collaborated as a dancer with national and international choreographers and dance companies since 2012.
She created her own pedagogical method, which she teaches in university settings as well as to professional dance and theater companies. Since 2019, she has been a permanent professor at the PERA School of Performing Arts in Cyprus. Her work Fôlego received the APCA Dance Award, and Boca Abissal is her latest creation (2025). In 2023, she received support from the ATLAS ImPulsTanz Vienna program, and in 2025, she founded her company, ELECTRO-RAIA.
Alejandro Ahmed
Alejandro Ahmed is a self-taught choreographer, artistic director, and performer for the company Cena 11 Cia. de Dança, where he develops a technique that seeks to produce dance based on the body and its extensions. His research has brought new definitions to the concept of choreography: terms such as "choreographic situation," "immaterial choreography," and "generative dance" designate his primary areas of interest and guide his work with Cena 11.
His new theoretical and practical proposals establish the correlational triad of emergence-coherence-rituality that guides his work. His art has been presented in several Brazilian cities and in countries across five continents. A visionary artist, he has been recognized four times during his career by the Paulista Association of Art Critics (APCA) and has also won the Bravo, Sergio Motta for Art and Technology, Itaú Transmídia, and Itaú Rumos Dança awards, the Cruz e Souza Honor of Cultural Merit, and the Vitae fellowship. Since 2023, he has served as the artistic director of the Ballet da Cidade de São Paulo (City Ballet of São Paulo).