Vânia Doutel Vaz, of Angolan-Portuguese descent, trained with the Royal Academy of Dance, the National Conservatory Dance School in Portugal, and Fórum Dança.

Since 2018, she has been working as a performer and rehearsal director with Trajal Harrell on Séance de Travail; the Porca Miseria trilogy (Maggie the Cat, Deathbed, O Medea); The Romeo; Tambourines; Monkey Off My Back or The Cat’s Meow; and Welcome to Asbestos Hall, created for Kunstenfestivaldesarts and Holland Festival 2025. Since 2024, she has been replaced by Legia Lewis in the solo A Plot | A Scandal. In 2022, she created and performed the solo O Elefante no Meio da Sala, and in 2025 premieres violetas, a work for five women.

She has been a member of the Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporâneo, Revista à Portuguesa at Parque Mayer, Trumps, Nederlands Dans Theater II, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, PUNCHDRUNK, among others. As a freelancer, she has worked with Tânia Carvalho, Shannon Gillen, Adam Linder, Uri Aran, and more.

She has directed movement for Zia Soares, Teatro Griot, Aurora Negra, Teatro Praga, Gio Lourenço, Paula Diogo, and Carolina Varela.

In 2023, she was featured in Bantumen’s POWERLIST, and since 2021, she has been a member of UNA.