Gabriel Ferrandini (USA, 1986) has built a body of work that goes far beyond his credentials as a jazz drummer and improviser, encompassing languages ranging from contemporary composition to electroacoustic experimentation. From a very young age, he joined prominent groups such as the RED Trio and the Rodrigo Amado Mo/on Trio, developing a deeply personal language through collaborations with a wide array of artists and ensembles, including Alex Zhang Hungtai, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Caveira, Elias Rønnenfelt, Evan Parker, Hilary Woods, LoHe Anker, Má Estrela, Nate Wooley, Peter Evans, RP Boo, Thurston Moore, and, notably, through his solo work.

As a composer, Ferrandini has collaborated with visual artist Alexandre Estrela (Marble Ruin, Gulbenkian 2020), created a piece for the Gulbenkian Choir (BoCA Biennial 2021), and developed his own performance Rosa. Espinho. Dureza, premiered at TNDM II and the Teatro Municipal do Porto (BoCA 2019). More recently, he has worked with director and playwright Tiago Rodrigues as composer and musician for the piece Na Medida do Impossível, presented in multiple countries.

Vânia Doutel Vaz (1985), Angolan-Portuguese, is a dance performer and choreographer. She trained in Portugal at the Royal Academy of Dance, Escola de Dança do Conservatório Nacional, and Fórum Dança. She is a former member of the Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporâneo, Nederlands Dans Theater II, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and PUNCHDRUNK (NYC).

As a freelancer, she has performed with Tânia Carvalho, Shannon Gillen, Shobana Jeyasingh, Eszter Salamon, Josefa Pereira, and Adam Linder, as well as with visual artists Kiluanji Kia Henda, Andreia Santana, and Uri Aran. She has appeared in films such as Hotel Armada, Fados, and O Rio e Seu Labirinto, and directed movement for Zia Soares, Teatro Griot, and Aurora Negra. She is the creator and performer of violetas (2025), O Elefante No Meio Da Sala (2022), the video-performance ad aeternum (2020), and the durational pop-up performance Bureauc’Art (2019). Vânia Doutel Vaz is also a co-founding member of União Negra das Artes.