Erva Daninha’s mission is to develop contemporary circus by exploring dialogue between different expressions of the performing arts. It seeks current circus languages, aesthetics, and dramaturgies through programming, mediation, and its own creation projects.
It was founded in 2005 in Porto by former ESMAE students, occupying what became the Fábrica da Rua da Alegria, a space kindly provided by ESMAE/IPP, where it remained until mid-2015. In that year, it became a resident company at Teatro Municipal do Porto through the “Teatro em Campo Aberto” programme, where it benefited from its own facilities until 2022. In 2023, it created Clube Erva Daninha, a space dedicated to hosting contemporary circus projects, which is part of Espaço Agra in the western area of the city of Porto.
Programming is one of Erva Daninha’s main areas of work. It has programmed the Trengo Circus Festival since 2016 with the support of Ágora, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Coliseu Porto Ageas, and several partners. Since 2018, it has co-produced the annual Mostra Estufa with Teatro Municipal do Porto. It develops several programming projects, mainly residencies and training, at Clube Erva Daninha. It also maintains several programming partnerships, such as Descentrar with the Municipality of Braga since 2021, and Quintas de Leitura at Teatro Municipal do Porto since 2015. In 2013, it programmed and produced “Corrente Alterna – mostra de criações incógnitas” at TeCA and the surrounding public space, for Teatro Nacional São João.
Artistic creation is another key area of the Company, with more than 28 creations for stage, alternative spaces, and public space. The Company’s performances stem from social and political themes developed from its own dramaturgical perspective. Its choreographic work combines circus techniques with everyday situations, actions, and objects. It seeks inspiration in life, trying to reproduce it in an extraordinary way, while always maintaining a narrative, even if abstract.
Erva Daninha is also dedicated to mediation through training and projects with different communities. The Q-Circo project, supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian and “la Caixa” foundations through the PARTIS & Art For Change initiative, in partnership with Centro Social Soutelo and Fundação Salesianos, works with the Centro de Reabilitação da Areosa and the Centro Educativo Santo António. In 2022/2023, Erva Daninha was a partner in the Circo Elétrico project, winner of the EEA Grants/Gulbenkian programme. It also organises many artistic training activities for professionals and students in the field.
Erva Daninha is funded by the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth and Sports / Directorate-General for the Arts through the four-year sustained support programme for programming in the 2023–2026 cycle. Previously, it received biennial sustained support for circus creation between 2018 and 2022.