The year 1 after

July 5, 2005 – a day like any other at the Gulbenkian Ballet. Rehearsals, talks on the corridors, everything going smoothly. Then the news came. The ballet company had ceased to exist a few hours earlier. Suddenly all rehearsals had to end, commissions were suspended (paid for but never premiered), no more tours, no more shows.
Reactions of incredulity came from all over the world.

How could a forty-year project, that had done so much for dance in Portugal, be put to an end? The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation explained that the decision was part of a larger redefinition of its strategy, intended to improve its support for dance through a more “active and interventionist set of actions, much more vivid“ than the permanence of a resident company. Though it did not come as a total surprise – since the early 1990‘s, with the growth of the dance market, there had been talks about the position of Ballet Gulbenkian in relation to emerging projects and companies, some of which were founded and directed by former Ballet dancers such as Vera Mantero, João Fiadeiro and Olga Roriz. Some believed it could have an important influence on supporting independent projects, new choreographers, ...