ABSTRACT
In 2004, Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues took a transformative turn in her artistic trajectory: she left Zona Sul, the wealthiest region of Rio de Janeiro. Where she had worked regularly since founding her company in 1990, working in residency at the Complexo de Favelas da Mare, in Zona Norte, a region of sixteen favelas with 140,000 people. Choosing a favela as the site for a professional contemporary dance company's regular work is part of a new approach to giving visibility to favelas, responding to a provocation by geographer Jailson Souza who defended the 'construction of another representation of favelas – beyond the more visible absences'. Throughout the twentieth century and up to the beginning of the twenty-first century, the favela has often been defined by what it is not or what it lacks. The common perception of favelas has traditionally been as a place of need and violence.