The dancer and performer Bernardo Graça, from the Dançando com a Diferença Company, is the winner of the 2025 Coliseu Porto Ageas Young Artists Award – Dance. The award ceremony took place this Friday, December 19th, the day the Coliseu celebrates its 84th anniversary.
Bernardo Graça was born in 2000 on the island of Madeira and has Down syndrome. In 2016, at the age of 16, he began attending regular classes at Dançando com a Diferença, a Portuguese contemporary inclusive dance company, internationally recognised for its pioneering work in including people with and without disabilities in the performing arts. The dancer is directed by Henrique Amoedo, the company’s founder, and attends various dance and movement training programs.
In 2017, he was selected by choreographer Tânia Carvalho to join the cast for the creation of the choreography “Doesdicon”. From 2021, he joined the cast of “Vaamo Share Oque Shop É Beiro Pateiro”, by choreographer Vera Mantero.
Currently, he is involved as a performer in three creations for Dançando com a Diferença: “Blasons”, by François Chaignaud, “ÔSS“, by Marlene Monteiro Freitas, and “Qual é o Código?”, by Sofia Neuparth.
The commitment to training marks Bernardo Graça’s career path. In 2025, he participated in the workshop “The Voice in Action” by João Castro, the workshop “Dance Method – Physical Education” by Edeilson Matias, the Circus Workshop “Bodies in (Dis)equilibrium” by Alan Sencades, and the workshop “Dance and Philosophy: Ethics, Roots and Horizons of the Fragile Present” by Joana Von Mayer Trindade and Hugo Calhim Cristóvão.
Also in 2025, he joined the cast of the play “The Giants” by Victor Hugo Pontes, a co-production between Dançando com a Diferença, Nome Próprio, Festival DDD, Teatro Viriato and Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias.
Aimed at young talents in circus arts or dance, the Coliseu Porto Ageas Young Artists Award was launched in 2021, in celebration of the 80th anniversary of this historic theater, in partnership with the Ageas Portugal Group.
Awarded annually and worth €5,000, its mission is to promote talent in two artistic areas with a strong impact on the national scene – circus and dance – but which do not always receive the public recognition they deserve. It covers performers, choreographers, set designers, producers, programmers, and other professionals linked to this area, up to 30 years of age.
“It touches my heart,” said Bernardo Graça upon receiving the news that he had been the most voted for by the jury in the Dance category, composed of five prominent names in this artistic field: Max Oliveira, Miguel Oliveira, Susana Otero, Ana Borralho, and João Galante. “Dancing is my greatest passion,” he added.
“This is an award that not only recognises the trajectory of those who deserve it. It is a calling card for the future and, this year, with a special focus and symbolism,” emphasises Miguel Guedes, President of the Coliseu. “It is also a purpose, a good and necessary condition so that everything that lies ahead may belong to everyone,” she concludes, recalling that the Prize, despite being a more visible aspect of the work done, is also “a corollary of everything we have developed throughout the year with so many young people from the most varied arts and disciplines who pass through here.”
According to Teresa Thöbe, Head of Brand, Partnerships and Sponsorships at the Ageas Portugal Group, “it is with enormous pride that the Ageas Portugal Group is once again associated with the Coliseu Porto Ageas to recognize the future of performing arts in Portugal. This year’s prize, given to Bernardo Graça, has a special meaning. Bernardo is living proof that talent, passion and dedication break down all barriers. His art and his trajectory are an inspiration to all and embody the purpose that drives us as a Group: to support people and society and create a more inclusive future.”
In the first edition of the Coliseu Porto Ageas Young Artists Award, in 2022, aerial acrobat Daniel Seabra was the winner. In 2023, dancer and choreographer Ana Isabel Castro was the winner, and in 2024, the circus artist awarded was Margarida Montenÿ. In 2026, it will be time to once again distinguish a young talent in the field of Circus.
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