Dancer | Teacher | Choreographer

Born in Cape Verde, Hélio Santos studied contemporary dance in CEM - Centro Em Movimento - in Lisbon and was then graduated from P.A.R.T.S - The Performing Arts Research and Training Studio - in Belgium, considered one of the best contemporary dance Schools in the world . This was after getting a Scholarship from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation based in Portugal. He is credited among the first generation of teachers in the twenty first century to introduce Kizomba to the rest of the world from Africa while on his path discovering his contemporary art movement.
He participated in “Initiation Program“ and “Ombolo Program” by Kwenda Lima.
He participated the courses “Técnicas Manuais e Energéticas Africanas” by Avelina Merkel.

Hélio, a dancer, teacher and choreographer, swayed to cultural dances during his teenage hood which allowed him to develop his own dancing techniques in Kizomba or “Passada” as known in Cape Verde.

As a contemporary Choreographer, he wrote plays, “Entrevistas” in 2004, “Living Through” and “Agora” in partnership with Debora Rey in 2008. “Cântico dos Cânticos” and “Canoa” in April and July 2012 respectively. He featured as the main character in the movies, “Fertilize - Life as it Begins” and “The Black Bird Flying” in 2007 and 2008 respectively.