Alice Ripoll / Cia. Suave: Zona Franca

Against the backdrop of burgeoning right-wing nationalism worldwide , the present feels in many places like an interim period in which the last days are counted down to the beginning of a coming fascism. The Brazilian perspective can position itself against these political developments, which makeit possible to imagine futures only as dystopias: Having escaped Jair Bolsonaro's fascist system, the angerover social tensions and economic inequalities, especially among the younger generation who suffered extremely under the regime, has given way to a new wave of hope since2022.

Brazilian choreographer Alice Ripoll' s ZONA FRANCA("Free Trade Zone") takes these collective experiences as the basis for reflecting on the reinvention of Brazil and its disinherited generations, for whom the future has opened up again. In Rio de Janeiro , young people use dance styles such as passinho, dancinha, voguing, samba andhip-hop as forms of expression for their desire for freedom and autonomy. Alice Ripoll combines these urban dance forms with contemporary dance and initiates an extraordinary process of choreographic fusion. Ten dancers perform with colorful balloons and express their longing for self-determination and freedom in a contemporary ritual between anger, joy and vulnerability.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Alice Ripoll works as a choreographer and movement director at the interface between contemporary dance and Brazilian urban dance styles. In the works of her companies Cia. REC and Cia. SUAVE , founded with dancers from the favelas in Rio , political and social phenomena in Brazil are critically reflected. With ZONA FRANCA , she exemplifies a new optimism that shows that it is worth continuing to fight and hope even when everything seems lost.