The Black Tourmaline stone is often rejected for its colour and shape, it can be viewed as a symbol of the history of black women and it aligns with their experiences. Using sport and movement as catalysts for women’s empowerment, we launched a film of black female dance artists to strengthen and exalt the artist’s community. The sequence is a timeline that shows how movements connect with ancestry and black culture, going through rhythms such as break, hip hop and funk, reaffirming that dance is a bridge to one’s history and identity.

This project is:
Client-commissioned

Agency
AKQA

Client URL
https://www.nike.com/

My Role in This Project
In the dance awakening project I was also the main art director, but creative in the full sense of the word. This project was one of the most special ones I participated in, as it was a project about the empowerment of black women, but it was a process done by many hands. We were together with the dance group Turmalinas Negras and the popstar Ludmilla from the moment of research and brainstorming of ideas. This obviously made a difference in the project, it brought more truth and place of speech, but it changed my perception of life and creation completely. It was a privilege to be able to work side by side with the women who actually starred in this campaign, to hear their stories, their pains, their struggles and how they turned it into dance as a way to continue persisting was what moved us to create this idea.

Visually, I also looked for references in their stories and in the concept of the idea to translate what could be the visual. The entire language was based on a simple line that represents this historical timeline and therefore the rescue of these women's culture. A great inspiration in my creative process was the Afro-Brazilian dancer Mestre King, the great precursor of Afro-Brazilian dance. After learning about her work in an article by Debora de Ferraz Oliveira, I went in search of photographs and movements that could add to the design and creation of the campaign.