In January and February of 2026, São Paulo will host an artistic event of international significance: the Brazilian premiere of "Carmina Burana Ballet ," a work by the prestigious Vortice Dance Company.

The show, which promises to thrill Brazilian audiences with its aesthetic and sensory power, is a contemporary reinterpretation of Carl Orff's celebrated cantata, combining dance, music, and videomapping to create a breathtaking visual and emotional experience—a true celebration of the power of the body and art in times of transformation.

São Paulo becomes the first city in Brazil to host this work, reaffirming its position as the Latin American epicenter for major international productions.

Under the artistic and choreographic direction of Cláudia Martins and Rafael Carriço, “Carmina Burana Ballet” transcends aesthetic boundaries by uniting dance and technological innovation. The result is a spectacle that engages with the audience in a visceral way, leading them through a universe where destiny, desire, and emotion intertwine under the implacable gaze of “Fortuna,” a symbol of luck and the eternal cycle of life.

Originally conceived in the cloisters of the historic Alcobaça Monastery, the work was born from a profound reflection on the body, isolation, and the need for transcendence. The result is a creation of rare physical and emotional intensity—a journey between the sacred and the profane, desire and decay, confinement and liberation.

"It is a work of total surrender — physical, emotional and spiritual."

Inspired by the medieval manuscripts “Carmina Burana” (Songs of Beuren), which exalt love, lust, and pleasure, the Vortice Dance Company elevates Orff's iconic work to a transmedia dimension. Monumental projections, immersive sets, and an intense choreographic texture compose a unique sensory experience, where the audience is enveloped by light, movement, and sound in a spectacle of hypnotic beauty.

About Vortice Dance Company

With artistic direction by choreographers Cláudia Martins and Rafael Carriço, Vortice Dance Company is one of Portugal's most prestigious and internationally recognized companies, known for its fusion of dance, digital arts, and visual performance. Their creations have been presented in over 30 countries and are distinguished by their physical intensity, aesthetic sophistication, and innovative use of technology on stage.
Among their notable works are "The Rite of Spring," "Dracula," "Jouska," "Soliloquy about Wonderland," and "Chroma," among others.
This Latin American tour is supported by the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth and Sport / Directorate-General for the Arts.

The first performance of the cantata "Carmina Burana" in 1937 made a splash. After the premiere, the composer Carl Orff told his publisher: “Everything that I have written so far, and you, unfortunately, from afar, can destroy. My collected works begin with Carmina Burana. " The cantata "Carmina Burana", performed on the territory of the former Soviet Union only in concert versions, with the production of Valentin Elizariev, for the first time found its stage life. The choreographer created his own storyline for the ballet, showing us in close-up the images of the Poet, the Beloved, the Whore and the Abbot from the motley crowd of Vagant poets, their friends, monks, sinners. Soloists and ballet dancers, as well as opera soloists and the theatre choir, take part in the grandiose vocal and choreographic performance.