Piny began by studying traditional Egyptian belly dances but quickly became interested in urban dance culture. She founded the all-female hip hop group Butterfly Soul Flow and the collective Orchidaceae, where she blends street dance movements and styles with traditional dances from Southeast Asia and North Africa. Alongside Mother Nala Revlon, she co-founded Vogue PT, an initiative that organizes Ballroom events — an underground movement led by African-American, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ communities, which gave rise to styles such as vogue, punking, waacking, and house. She has worked as a performer in works by choreographers such as Victor Hugo Pontes, Cristina Planas Leitão, Tânia Carvalho, and Tiago Guedes.

Xullaji is one of the names by which we know Nuno Santos. As Chullage, he released the trilogy Rapresálias (2001), Rapensar (2004), and Rapressão (2012), in which he highlights hip hop as a culture of resistance, rooted in the working class of Africa and its diaspora. His interest in words also led him to spoken word as AKapella47. More recently, he introduced prétu, an afronaut who fuses African samples and imagery with the electronic cosmos and pan-Africanist thought. From this project came prétu 1 – Xei di Kor, highlighted by Público as one of the best albums of the year. Beyond his music work, he is also a co-founder of the Black community art collective Peles Negras Máscaras Negras – Teatro do Escurecimento. He also collaborates with Teatro Griot and has worked with companies such as Formiga Atómica, Companhia de Teatro de Almada, Companhia de Atores, and Aurora Negra.

Zona Franca
A partnership between Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Theatro Circo, and gnration, Zona Franca is an interdisciplinary cycle that brings together musicians and choreographers in artistic dialogue and creation between music and dance. As a result of a partnership between Centro Cultural Vila Flor (A Oficina), Theatro Circo, and gnration (Faz Cultura), Zona Franca proposes three collaborations taking place between Braga and Guimarães throughout 2025. The first of these pairings occurred in February, bringing together choreographer and dancer Vera Mantero and trumpeter Susana Santos Silva. Now it’s time for two more iconic creative universes to meet: on one side, street dance—from breakdance to clubbing—represented by performer and choreographer Piny; on the other, sound art and music, with rapper, poet, and activist Xullaji. Created in artistic residency in Guimarães, the show will premiere on May 24 at Centro Cultural Vila Flor, in Guimarães, and on June 9 at gnration, in Braga.