MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS (Cape Verde, 1979) studied dance at P.A.R.T.S (Brussels), ESD, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon).

She has worked with choreographers such as Loic Touzé, Emmanuelle Huynh, Tânia Carvalho, and Boris Charmatz. Her creations include Canine Jaunâtre 3 (2024, for Le Ballet de l’Opéra National de Lyon), LULU (2023, with Theater an der Wien and Wiener Festwochen), RI TE (2022, with Israel Galván), ÔSS (2022, for Cia. Dançando com a Diferença), the performance Idiota and the exhibition X AND (2022, exploring the work of painter Alex da Silva), Pierrot Lunaire (2021, with Klangforum Wien and Ingo Metzmacher), Mal – Embriaguez Divina (2020), the installation Cattivo (2019), Canine Jaunâtre 3 (2018, for Batsheva), Bacantes – Prelúdio para uma Purga (2017), Jaguar (2015), De Marfim e Carne – Estátuas Também Sofrem (2014), Paraíso – Colecção Privada (2012), (M)imosa (2011; with Trajal Harrell, François Chaignaud, and Cecilia Bengolea), Guintche (2010), A Seriedade do Animal (2009), Uns e Outros (2008), A Improbabilidade da Certeza (2006), Larvar (2006), and Primeira Impressão (2005). NÔT (working title) is her latest creation for the Festival d'Avignon. Her work is marked by openness, hybridity, impurity, and intensity.

In 2015, she co-founded P.OR.K in Lisbon, the production structure behind her work. In 2017, Jaguar won the SPA Choreography Award, and the Cape Verdean government recognized her cultural achievements. In 2018, she was awarded a Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale. In 2020, Bacchae received the Best International Performance Award from Les Prémis de la Crítica d'Arts Escèniques de Barcelona. In 2022, she was awarded the Chanel Next Prize and the Evens Arts Prize. Since 2020, she has been co-curator of (un)common ground, a project exploring the artistic and cultural imprint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.