Francisco Thiago Cavalcanti (1984) is a Brazilian artist working in dance, theater, and performance. He holds a bachelor's degree in Dance, a master’s degree in Education, and is pursuing a PhD in Modern Literatures and Cultures. Queer, non-white, and neurodiverse, he began his artistic journey at the age of 9. He is the founder and artistic director of the independent, multidisciplinary, and transboundary collective “um cavalo disse mamãe”, based in Lisbon. Living between Portugal and Brazil, his research focuses, among other topics, on non-human animal behavior, its poetics and symbolisms, physical theater, and dance-theater. In Rio de Janeiro, he collaborated for seven years with choreographer Lia Rodrigues, an experience that strongly resonates in his own work. His creations include: Contra a espada (2005), Cabíria corta o cabelo (2013), Mãe (2015), Um corpo foi achado (2018), Também se matam cavalos (2022), Quando eu morrer me enterrem na floresta (2023) and 52blue (2024).