The choreographic duo Jonas&Lander have always maintained a strong connection with music. In addition to their dance careers, both artists pursue musical paths: Jonas as a fado singer and songwriter, and Lander as a pianist, DJ, and music producer.
Through their research into the history of fado, Jonas&Lander discovered that fado was once accompanied by dance and became aware of the mysterious disappearance of the form associated with fado batido (or tapping fado).
This led to the goal of reviving fado’s lost dance form.
At the outset of their research, the artists unearthed a vision of fado profoundly different from today’s image: a form that bridged Portugal and Brazil, danced with clapping and percussive footwork by people of all backgrounds, particularly those from the most marginalised sectors of society. It was a fado vibrant with colour, bohemian spirit, seduction, and a sense of duality.
From this multicultural imaginary of danced fado, Tap Fado was born: a project that, rooted in its ancestral origins, proposes a new fado batido, a dance for the 21st century – one that recovers the colours, the rhythmic drumming of dance, and the vitality of the early expressions of this Portuguese national song.