ColetivA Ocupação: When It Breaks It Burns at Moss Side Powerhouse Library

In the autumn of 2015, the State Government of São Paulo in Brazil tried to impose a ‘school restructuring’ plan which was set to see more than 100 Brazilian state schools face closure. Students, teachers and wider school communities were excluded from any consultation on the matter, and so in response to these proposals, secondary school students from different regions organised demonstrations to demand that the bill be cancelled. Tired of the authorities’ obstinacy and the ineffectiveness of their street actions, the high-school students resorted to taking over 200 schools across the state of São Paulo, forming the first wave of school occupations in the country.

Using dance, live music and performance these students tell their extraordinary story

When It Breaks It Burns is a creative work borne out of this movement and is devised by the Brazilian students who experienced the high school occupations of 2015 and 2016.

Using dance, live music and performance these students tell their extraordinary story. As an audience, we are urged to get up close to the action; real life invades the performance space; its a party, a protest, an uprising.

Devised by the Brazilian students who experienced the high school occupations of 2015 and 2016

The company, ColetivA Ocupação is composed of students from different districts of São Paulo. Connected by their experiences – their lives were truly changed by the high school occupations – they create work which sits somewhere between art, activism and education. The company regularly present their work at festivals and have toured to sell-out audiences across Brazil.

Part of Contact‘s In the City Part Three, When It Breaks It Burns is performed in Portuguese with English surtitles.