Rita Marcalo

Rita Marcalo is a Portuguese dancer, choreographer and artistic director of Instant Dissidence, a dance theatre company based in Leeds. In 2008 she was awarded a £13,889 grant for research into epilepsy, the culmination of which was the production of a live stage show in which she attempted to induce an epileptic seizure.

Biography Rita Marcalo has a BA (Hons) in dance (Human Kinetics College of Lisbon Technical University), an MA in choreography (1998, University of Surrey) and a PhD, and is a lecturer in dance at York St John University. She trained in dance at the professional school of the Lisbon Dance Company, and has since toured in Portugal, Spain, Belgium, the United States and the United Kingdom. She founded Instant Dissidence in 2002 after settling in the United Kingdom.

She has had epilepsy since the age of 17. She stopped taking anticonvulsant medication during November 2009 in preparation for the show on 11 December.

The Arts Council England defended their decision to give the grant for this show, explaining that "the grant supports an innovative and regional artist. Her project explores a disability issue and is a culmination of extensive research supported by the arts and science industries."

Rita Marcalo herself stated that, while a fit is private in her own life, in art she can make it public. She was aiming to raise awareness of epilepsy by making it visible.