BODY ARTS

Francine has been involved with dance since childhood, when she grasped the power of the body. She was a member of the Verônica Ballet Company's corps de ballet, dancing classical, modern, and tap dance, primarily performing at the National Dance Encounters (ENDA). She studied Egyptian belly dance at Khan el Khalili with master Jade el Jabel from 2001 to 2006 and found her true calling in Afro-diasporic dances, a field she has remained in ever since. She independently researches samba footwork, exploring connections between the feet, hips, and heart in the field between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. She took classes with the Estandarte de Ouro samba dancer Bellinha Delfim. She has experience in the physicality of Samba Schools, having been a samba dancer at GRES Pérola Negra from 2015 to 2018 and at GRSC Prova de Fogo in 2017, flag bearer at GRCES Leandro de Itaquera in 2016, drum section muse at GRES Unidos do Vale Encantado in 2018, and a member of the Pretos Velhos' marked-step wing at ACSESM Camisa Verde e Branco in 2020. She has been part of the dance troupe of the Afro-Affirmative Bloc Ilu Inã since 2017, under the direction of artist Débora Marçal. This bloc is based on Candomblé and Samba schools, and its bodily research encompasses both these places and Black street dances.

In 2019, she was part of the Senegalese company Seneáfrica, directed by Ibrahima Sarr, dancing traditional dances including Sabar. She has been an artist-researcher and art director of the Center for Studies in Black Corporealities since 2018, whose research resulted in the video dance Encruzidança in 2018 and the show Carne de Vaca, staged in 2019, both directed by Kelly Santos. She is a performer-creator and art director of Macuas Cia Cênica, performing Anunciação directed by Débora Marçal in public spaces as well as presenting at events such as Sesc Campo Limpo, the South Zone Dance Forum, and Estéticas das Periferias.