Having been born and raised in a dream land, Yanarava lives happily, in deep communion with nature, believing the world is as innocent as her thoughts are pure.

She meets a man and, discovering the intense desire of her body, Yanarava is confronted, for the first time, with longing and suffering.

In order to seek the answer to her questions, which most peculiar is "What am I searching ?" , Yanarava leaves, to travel far from her

home land. With her we will discover how to love the world and dance with it from our hearts.

On the creation of "Yanarava’s story"

On the context of Aveiro’s dance festival, organized by the Aveiro dance company, I was invited to lead a number of workshops, which would end with with a solo performance of Oriental Dance.

José Luis Martins Pereira, executive director of the company, asked me, scarcely before the end, if it was possible for me to do something similar to «Simply yours», a work I had presented a year before in Aveiro’s University. I got very concerned, since I had nothing of the kind ready to present in three days time. However, I was willing to try. From some months then I had been working on an idea inspired on the different archetypes of the woman throughout life.

I obviously didn’t have enough time to profoundly develop the theme, still, if I searched to explore feminine emotions in a less complex way, I’d immediately gather enough material on my mind and body to create what was to become Yanarava.

I than got in touch with the actress Cristina Paiva, to cooperate with me. Though she got scared with the shortness of available time, she took the challenge, and helped me greatly , selecting several extracts by several authors, which allowed me to create a much richer text. She also helped me a lot with my Portuguese spelling. Thus, Yanarava was, spontaneously, born!

My intention, avoiding tecnical pretensions, was to follow the path of a woman, without concern of social or historical backrounds. To pass through the innocence, the desire, the fear, the anger, the search , the serenity, the boldness, and the generosity.

It had to be a simple story, original, charming, coloured by the warm tones of the Orient, and directed to all ages. Each dance was to illustrate an intense moment of life, and, in the end, Yanarava’s inner strength will completely transform the faith of an entire people.

On this apotheosis the audience mixes with the story, so that the show may end with everyone together, sharing the same joy.

Since then, Yanarava has travelled throughout Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium.

I hope you will learn about love and enjoy life with her!