Sônia Lopes Soares is a director, choreographer and performer. She has recently been researching dance as a vehicle to discuss and reflect man’s experiences in the world. In her works, together with Cia Viga, she seeks a collaborative process of creation, involving different artists and languages. Sonia explores the body as a reservoir of emotions, desires and memories, and how these experiences can be turned into communication.
Sônia was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and began her career as a ballerina at the Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro). Between 1997 and 2003, she was the director and one of the performers for the group FAR-15, which she founded with choreographer Sandro Borelli in São Paulo.
In 2003, Sonia founded Viga Espaço Cênico, a cultural center in São Paulo, which she still directs with her partner Arnolfo Pimenta. Two years later, Sonia founded her own dance company, Cia Viga.