Brazil, 28

Identified by the British Council

At the age of sixteen, Bruno co-founded Grupo De Rua De Niteroi, a hip hop group that toured competitions for five years. The duo gradually discovered that they wanted to expand hip hop beyond the limitations of competition regulations so that it could be combined with aspects of other dance forms. In 2000, Bruno began a BA in Dance at Univercidade where he found inspiration and references from many different areas of dance. His work Do Popping Au Pop 2001 drew on these forms and marked a turning point in the trajectory of Bruno’s performance style. Since then his work has been distinguishable as a dialogue between hip hop and contemporary dance. Bruno’s company has now toured 22 countries in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. Bruno was hailed as the “Up and coming choreographer of the year” by O GLOBO newspaper in 2004 and by the German dance magazine Balletanz in 2005.