Luciana Freire D’Anunciação
2025–2026 Artist-In-Residence
ARTIST BIO
Luciana Freire D’Anunciação (she/her) is a Brazilian-Canadian interdisciplinary artist who has been living and working in so-called Vancouver since 2007. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Simon Fraser University and brings a diverse background in dance improvisation, somatic practices, contact improvisation, butoh, physical theatre, and clowning. Her work moves fluidly across dance, performance art, video, installation, photography and text, with a keen interest in the themes of creative reciprocity and the interconnectedness of body, environment and community.
Her performances and exhibitions have been presented internationally at festivals and institutions including the Vancouver International Dance Festival (2025), Brazilian Dance Festival in Recife (2017), Visualeyez Festival in Edmonton (2015), Bienal Deformes in Santiago, Chile (2014), and the European Performance Art Festival in Poland (2011). She has taken part in residencies such as Performance Art Forum PAF (France), Apolo-Hermilo Research Centre (Recife), and Capital 35 (São Paulo), deepening her research on embodied presence and process-based creation.
In addition to her own work, Luciana has collaborated with a range of artists in roles spanning performance, mentorship, and visual documentation. Notable collaborations include Deanna Peters’ Not, Knot, Naught (2025), Emmalena Fredriksson and Arash Khakpour’s You Touch Me (2022) and Kelly McInnes’ SHINY (2019). Over the past decade, she has also taught extensively in the fields of dance, performance, and mindful movement practices. Most recently, she taught Performance Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and is currently artist-in-residence at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
I’ve been having a recurring dream: I’m in Brazil during Carnaval. I’m in the middle of a street surrounded by thousands, dancing, sweating, singing, drinking. I wake up. I dream again, I’m in Brazil during Carnaval, but I can’t make it to the party. I can’t find anyone to go with. My phone breaks. I can’t call an Uber. I’m trapped in longing. I wake up, and go with my days with a strong sense of fear of missing out not only on a party, but on parts of myself.”
Collaborator Ysadora Dias
Ysadora Dias is a Brazilian dance artist based in so-called Vancouver, whose cultural background informs every aspect of her artistic practice—shaping how she moves, creates, and connects with community. Since moving to Vancouver, she has collaborated with numerous artists and toured with MascallDance across Canada and New Zealand. Ysa has also performed with Coastal City Ballet, Amok Project, Co. Erasga, Inverso Productions, Raven Spirit Dance, and Action at a Distance. In 2024, she presented her first solo work, Raiz, through the Re-Centering Margins Residency, and is currently one of the artists in residence for the Salon Series with Co. Erasga.
As she continues to explore her artistic voice, Ysa is driven by a desire to create meaningful and spontaneous work that resonates deeply with audiences. She is developing a strong interest in interdisciplinary practices, fueled by her passion for music and her curiosity about the relationship between movement, sound, and storytelling. Ysa is drawn to how rhythm and physicality can translate across forms to tell powerful, embodied stories that foster presence and connection. Through her practice, she explores cultural and ancestral memory, guided by a deep curiosity about how what we carry from our ancestors continues to shape the ways we move through the world.
RESIDENCY DATES AND EVENTS
Residency:
April 20 – May 1, 2026
Open Studio:
Monday, April 27, 2026
4:00 – 6:00pm
Location To Be Announced
Pay What You Can
Public Sharing:
Friday, May 1, 2026.
7:00–8:30pm
Location To Be Announced
Pay What You Can
Facilitator: Mariana Muñoz Gómez
This residency is made possible with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council.