Vanessa da Silva: Roda Viva Performance

Roda Viva
Performance Documentation
31st May 2025

Staged within the gallery space, the performance extended Roda Viva into a live, embodied experience. Developed in collaboration with choreographer Pepa Ubera who performed with the artist alongside a group of dancers living and working in Wales, the performance explored ancestral memory, longing, and the continuous cycles of transformation that shape our lives.

Through an interplay of movement, spoken word, sound and dance, the performers engaged directly with da Silva’s artworks, unfolding a dynamic relationship between body and space.

Garments and sound sculptures created by the artist accompanied the performance, forming a living expression of rhythm, ritual, and resonance. Through gesture, voice, and spirit, Roda Viva was brought to life, where life cycles continued to weave into time, and presence itself became a form of transformation.

Supported by: The Ampersand Foundation, Foundation Foundation and the Henry Moore Foundation.

Choreography: Pepa Ubera

Performed by: Rafael Braga, Vanessa da Silva, Angharad Harrop, River Hooson, Pepa Ubera, Siri Wigdel

Garments and sound sculptures: Vanessa da Silva

Videography: Filmage