Henrique Amoedo

Graduated in Physical Education and Sports (1994) and specialized in body awareness (1999), he began his duties in the development of artistic work with people with disabilities with the creation of the Roda Viva Cia. de Dança.

In 1997, still in the Roda Viva, he represented Brazil in the "I International Wheelchair Dance Festival" (in Boston-USA), where the company would begin to attract international attention. It should be noted that this company was the first to achieve the professionalization of people with disabilities in Brazil.

In 1999 he entered the Masters in Artistic Performance - Dance at the Faculdade de Motricidade Humana  de Lisboa where he began to develop the concept of Inclusive Dance in the academic field.

This concept proposes an innovative and aggregating approach on the participation of people with and without disabilities in the global artistic and cultural panorama. In the same year, he became involved as supervisor in the creation of a second Inclusive Dance company in Diadema (São Paulo), Cia. Experimental - Grupo Mão na Roda.

In 2000 he was invited by the Regional Directorate of Special Education and Rehabilitation of the Autonomous Region of Madeira to teach a series of Inclusive Dance workshops, that would later give birth to the Pilot Project Dançando com a Diferença (Dancing with the Difference) and, consequently, later on, to the creation of the homonymous and independent Association.

In 2002, he concluded and presented his Master's dissertation, thus linking the concept of Inclusive Dance, used today in Portugal, Brazil, Spain and the United Kingdom.

As Artistic Director of Dançando com a Diferença he was already at the forefront of projects in different fields, highlighting the creation of Grotox (for Casa da Música, Porto) and ENDLESS (a European project for lifelong learning).

The approximation of important Brazilian and Portuguese choreographers to the reality of people with disabilities in artistic scenarios, happens through the works and intervention of Amoedo. They stand out,  Luis Arrieta, Henrique Rodovalho, Clara Andermatt, Rui Horta, Paulo Ribeiro, Rui Lopes Graça, Tânia Carvalho, La Ribot, among others.