Current Projects (2024-25)

SYN.Tropia_dance concert for deaf people and other hearings

‘SYN.Tropia_dance concert for deaf people and other hearings’ is a pioneering dance-concert crafted by the established Portuguese artist duo, Yola Pinto and Simão Costa that is meticulously designed to engage both deaf and hearing audiences. The show has been touring nationally in Portugal since 2017, bringing together hearing impaired and general audiences in the theatre. ‘SYN.Tropia’ brings together those who can and those who cannot hear in the same audience. Everyone listens with their whole body via an unprecedented device called a ‘Tactile Listening Board’, available both for deaf and hearing audiences, which disseminates sonic content through touch.

With the support of Perform Europe, ‘SYN.Tropia’ will perform to audiences in Athens, Vilnius, and Riga. In each city, performances will be followed by a post-performance talk, a workshop and site visits to cultural spaces. Our key objectives include promoting inclusivity, encouraging dialogue, and fostering creativity within diverse audiences. Across disciplines, this partnership aims to bring together artists, cultural managers, communities of disabled people, accessibility and sustainability experts, fostering a rich exchange of cross-cultural perspectives and ideas.

Perform Europe Grant

EUR 60,000

Partners

VšĮ Rugilės agentūra (Rugile agency)

Lithuania

3D Friends

Latvia

Artistic Works

“SYN.Tropia_dance concert for deaf people and other hearings”

Producers: Yola Pinto & Simão Costa

text

‘SYN.Tropia_dance concert for deaf people and other hearings’ by Yola Pinto and Simão Costa is a dance and music performance that brings together those who can and those who cannot hear in the same audience.

A combination of the Greek words syn (together) and tropia (form, direction), ‘SYN.Tropia’ proposes an alternative to conventional mechanisms by working on the possibilities of feeling and seeing sound as a gateway to a concert specifically designed for the hearing impaired. Hearing and non-hearing audiences are equal in terms of the imagined dynamics of enjoyment, making the experience more visceral, felt by the entire body from a multi-referential and synesthetic perspective.

A ‘Tactile Listening Board’, an unprecedented device-installation allows the sounds of this show to be available not only through the air, but also through touch.

Simão Costa and Yola Pinto, with solo artistic careers in the areas of music and dance respectively, have been creating shows and installations in partnership since 2011 under the duo YPSC_Transduction. Working with a particular focus on touch and hearing, they lead their audiences through poetic experiences.