Gaya de Medeiros

“I spent my childhood and most of my teenage years very quietly. Countless days reading people and especially their ‘non-words’. A ‘word-gesture’, a ‘word-gaze’, a ‘word-breath’ contains so much truth and secret that I spend my life trying to figure out the paths that they inscribe into the body. I believe that this is the place where the piece is settled.” – Gaya de Medeiros

Atlas da Boca discusses this symbolic space where the mouth becomes the interface between the public and the private, between the erotic and the political, between silence and the word that lasts. In these situations, the word becomes identity, affection, faith, and laughter. Like babies who discover the world by putting the world in their mouths: knowing the taste of the floor, the house keys, and their mother's hair. We grow up and the mouth becomes a place farther from the hand, more elaborate, sober and superb. In this collection of words that move from mouth to mouth and mouth to inside, Ary and Gaya allow themselves to overflow with some words in a very horizontal and unpretentious relationship with the public. They both transitioned past the age of 30 and are now starting to experience/be other words and experience the world in new positions. Despite being two trans people, their path within the show tries to encompass portions “reduced on high heat” of the experiences that anyone can face when loving, losing and finding themselves with the unknown. The work asks about the words-gestures that they perform in the meetings, about the familiar and strange languages that pass through their body and about the moments in which the mouth stiffens, letting the word come out roaring. Ary and Gaya have a curious insistence on their ability to hear with other parts of the body and with what the mouth tries to make eternal. They are like babies passing their mouths into existence and feeling some flavors for the first time.

Gaya de Medeiros is a trans woman, dancer, drag queen, choreographer, producer, and director. She is trained in animation, ballet, contemporary dance, and dramaturgy. She danced with Companhia de Dança do Palácio das Artes for nine years. Gaya has created three solos (É o amor outra vez, Proteína Desnaturada and After Party) and was a cofounder and producer of Rede Sola de dança. She has choreographed for Drag Taste Lisbon (2019-2021). In Portugal, she has worked with Gustavo Ciríaco and Tiago Cadete, among others. In 2021 she founded BRABA, a platform that aims to support initiatives in the trans/non-binary community.

Ary is a trans non-binary multidisciplinary artist, based in Lisbon. AVOCADO PIT is Ary Zara's first shortfilm, it premiered at Indie Lisboa 2022 and was recognized with the Audience award, New Talent Award and a Special Mention. This was followed by performances and awards at numerous other festivals. Ary Zara also works as a creative director of Queer Art Lab – a platform that supports LGBTQI+ artists and the community. Ary is also an activist for trans rights working solo and with Isaac dos Santos on T Guys Cuddle Too. Most recently he integrated BRABA as a performer - an artistic community for transgender and non-binary artists.

Duration: 45 min.

In English.

“Atlas da Boca is a refreshing take on gender identity, which doesn’t resort to the usual autobiographical tropes. The poetry of de Medeiros’s writing appeals to the imagination, while the humanity of the performances gives us space to feel for them both.” (Springback Magazine, Dom Czapski);

“While the experience they are sharing with us is utterly personal, we all have a body and skin. The world certainly needs more of such generous, humbling and thought-provoking works.” (Springback Magazine, Elsa Vinet);

“In a world where respect and understanding for the transgender community still has a mountain to climb, Atlas da boca is a beautiful celebration of bodies, humanity, difference and love.” (Springback Magazine, Kelly Apter)