About
Founded in February 2020 and led by Yure Romão, the GONDWANA company, based in the Île-de-France region, develops artistic creation and outreach projects in mainland France, France’s overseas territories and internationally.
Gondwana refers to the southern part of the world that emerged from the fragmentation of Pangaea more than 130 million years ago. The name embodies the company’s identity: a space of circulation, encounters and recombination, where histories, practices and imaginaries intersect across different territories. Rooted in the performing arts, the company conceives its projects as spaces for research, creation and exchange.
In 2021, the company was selected for the “Créations en cours” programme, led by Ateliers Médicis with the support of the French Ministries of Culture and Education. This experience led to a research and creation residency at a primary school in Saint-Louis de Marie-Galante (Guadeloupe), and marked the starting point for La Voix, a performance by Yure Romão, premiered in May 2022 at L’Artchipel — Scène nationale de la Guadeloupe.
Since then, the company has supported and presented projects led by Yure Romão, including the audio documentary BUMIDOM (2023), focusing on overseas French territories’ migrations to mainland France; the Sankofa workshops (2023–2024), held with middle and high school students in Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Paris; the live film concert Orfeu Negro (March 2025, 360 Music Factory, Paris), commissioned by the Maison des mondes africains (MansA, Paris); and the production Résonances (May 2025, Tropiques Atrium — Scène nationale de la Martinique), drawing on the stories of Brazilian and Caribbean women working as domestic cleaners in France.
Since its creation, the company has received support and co-production from Arts et Musiques (Marseille), a partner in many of its projects, represented by Claude Freissinier. The company’s board is composed of Antonio Da Costa, lawyer, and Magdalena Bournot, theatre director, filmmaker and professor of performing arts at the University of Grenoble. Administration is handled by administrator Stéphanie Bérenguier and production manager Anna Cremon.
Yure Romão
Theatre director
A multidisciplinary artist, Yure Romão is a musician (singer and guitarist), composer, actor and theatre director based in Paris. As artistic director of the GONDWANA company, he develops work at the intersection of music and theatre.
Born in Niterói, Brazil, he moved to France in 2014, where he has developed a research and creative practice between Brazil and France. Trained in classical guitar and literature, he explores the recomposition of memories, through which music opens pathways between narratives, territories and different periods of time.
In 2021, he was selected for the Créations en cours programme run by Ateliers Médicis, which led to La Voix (2022, L’Artchipel — Scène nationale de la Guadeloupe), his first work as a theatre and music director. He participated in the creation of, and took on the musical direction of, Feijoada (2021), by Calixto Neto, premiered at the Festival d’Automne à Paris and awarded a prize in Portugal in 2023.
As a performer, in 2025 he joined Pessoa: Since I’ve been me, one of Bob Wilson’s latest productions. As an actor, musician and theatre director, he has performed and presented his work at venues and festivals across Europe, the Caribbean and Brazil (Théâtre de la Ville, Alkantara Festival, Passages Transfestival, Wiener Festwochen, BOZAR, Teatro 2 de Julho, among others).
Since 2025, he has presented Résonances, a narrated concert inspired by the stories of Brazilian and Caribbean women who worked as domestic workers in France.
In 2026, he was selected for the Nouveau Grand Tour Italie programme of the Institut français for an initial creative residency for Langues de Sable, his forthcoming project exploring the circulation of territories and memories. The project is hosted by the contemporary art centre Opera Nova (Umbria, Italy).
©Showda