Pororoca: this word comes from the term "porocporoc" which means "roar" in the language of the Brazilian indigenous Tupi. It is a natural phenomenon produced by the confrontation between waters of the river and those of the ocean. In France, it is called "mascaret". In Brazil, this phenomenon manifests itself at the mouth of the Amazon River. The  force of this noisy shock can knock trees over and change the riverbed,  yet it is a fragile process, resulting in a delicate balance. Pororoca provokes the meeting of contrary currents. It generates waves, invasions, mixtures.

Source: Room Program - House of Dance

Born in Brazil, Lia Rodrigues, after training as a classical ballet dancer in São Paulo, founded the Groupo Andança in 1977. Between 1980 and 1982 she resided in France where she joined the Maguy Marin company. On her return to Brazil, she founded her own company, the Lia Rodrigues Companhia de Danças.

In addition to producing all her shows, in 1992 Lia Rodrigues created the contemporary dance Festival, Panorama da Dança, which she directed until 2005. Since 2004 she has developed artistic and didactic actions in the Maré favela, where she created, in partnership with Redes da Maré, the Centro de Artes da Maré in 2009, and in 2012 the Escola livre de Danças da Maré. 

She was awarded by the French government the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2014, she was awarded the Prize of the Prince Claus Fund followed, in 2016, by the SACD choreographic prize / France.

Her recent creations include Pororoca (2009), Piracema (2011), Pindorama (2013) and Para que o céu não caia (To prevent the sky from falling) (2016).

Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq (1952-2012) entered working life in the 70s through theatre and photography. A- fter resuming his studies (Maîtrise de Linguistique - Lyon ii, Maîtrise des sciences et Techniques de la Communication - grenoble iii), he then focused on video, first in the field of fine arts at the espace Lyonnais d'art Contemporain (ELAC) and with the group « Frigo », and then in dance.
   On creation of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon in 1980, he was asked to undertake a video documentation project that he has continued ever since. During the ‘80s, a decade marked in France by the explosion of contemporary dance and the development of video, he met numerous artists such as andy Degroat, Dominique Bagouet, Carolyn Carlson, régine Chopinot, susanne Linke, Joëlle Bouvier and regis Obadia, Michel Kelemenis. He worked in the creative field with installations and on-stage video, as well as in television with recorded shows, entertainment and documentaries.

His work with Dominique Bagouet (80-90) was a unique encounter. He documents his creativity, assisting with Le Crawl de Lucien and co-directing with his films Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux and 10 anges. in the 90s he became director of video development for the Maison de la Danse and worked, with the support of guy Darmet and his team, in the growing space of theatre video through several initiatives:
       - He founded a video library of dance films with free public access. This was a first for France. Continuing the video documentation of theatre performances, he organised their management and storage.
       - He promoted the creation of a video-bar and projection room, both dedicated to welcoming school pupils.
       - He started «présentations de saisons» in pictures.
       - He oversaw the DVD publication of Le tour du monde en 80 danses, a pocket video library produced by the Maison de la Danse for the educational sector.

       - He launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created Numeridanse.

His main documentaries are: enchaînement, Planète Bagouet, Montpellier le saut de l'ange, Carolyn Carlson, a woman of many faces, grand ecart, Mama africa, C'est pas facile, Lyon, le pas de deux d'une ville, Le Défilé, Un rêve de cirque.

He has also produced theatre films: Song, Vu d'ici (Carolyn Carlson), Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux, 10 anges, Necesito and So schnell, (Dominique Bagouet), Im bade wannen, Flut and Wandelung (Susanne Linke), Le Cabaret Latin (Karine Saporta), La danse du temps (Régine Chopinot), Nuit Blanche (Abou Lagraa), Le Témoin (Claude Brumachon), Corps est graphique (Käfig), Seule et WMD (Françoise et Dominique Dupuy), La Veillée des abysses (James Thiérrée), Agwa (Mourad Merzouki), Fuenteovejuna (Antonio Gades), Blue Lady revistied (Carolyn Carlson).

Source: Maison de la Danse de Lyon