How can choreography become a form of self-defense? Is it possible to make violence visible without replicating its mechanisms? How does each body develop its own capacity for resistance?
Image gallery
Volksbühne Berlin
With the Repertório trilogy, choreographers Davi Pontes and Wallace Ferreira, based in Rio de Janeiro, responded to the escalation of state violence and the political upheavals that accompanied the rise of the far right in the country.
In late October 2026, shortly after the presidential elections in Brazil, Pontes and Ferreira will develop a performance outside of Brazil for the first time at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.
Together with six other performers from Berlin, Europe, and Brazil, Davi Pontes and Wallace Ferreira are expanding the practice they have been developing since 2018. Through encounters with different experiences, needs, and forms of stage presence, their choreography of self-defense takes on a new form.
Mata Leão is an exploration of racist violence that transcends fear or melancholy. It challenges the historical context of colonization and white supremacy and opens up an ethical and political space for experimenting with the embodiment of resistance.
In their work, Pontes and Ferreira employ gestures and collective actions grounded in contemporary political theory. Elements of funk and ballroom emerge, are subverted, and form unexpected connections; powerful movements are interrupted by deviations, pauses, and playful gestures. Humor and satire become strategies for engaging the audience in a space of shared responsibility.
In Celeste Burlina’s set design, the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, in collaboration with Mata Leão, is transformed into the setting for a choreographic intervention.
