João Dinis Pinho (he/him) was born in Porto, Portugal and started his dance journey at Ginasiano Escola de Dança (PT), leading to a BA in Dance at ArtEZ (NL). In 2023, he graduated from an MA in Arts and Culture (Comparative Cultural Analysis) at the University of Amsterdam (NL).
In 2016 he started a freelance career, performing in multiple projects, with Arno Schuitemaker, Meyer-Chaffaud, Gerben Vaillant, among others. He created multiple performances in collaborations in Portugal, The Netherlands, Iceland and Mexico, with Busca-Pólo, Baby Skin and Julia Barrios de la Mora.
The role of repetiteur first happened in his internship with Nicole Beutler Projects, in the performance “6:The Square.” Since then, a long a fruitful collaboration unfolded with Nicole Beutler, working as a rehearsal director, tour manager and occasional performer in performances such as 8:Metamorphosis, OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE, and GINKGO, among many others.
Shifting to other roles, João has initiated a residency program at ArtEZ (NL), where he has also worked as a guest teacher in choreography and composition, and AHK (NL). He was a guest curator of the performance festival Come Together #5, at Frascati Amsterdam (NL), and a moderator at festivals such as Súbito (PT) and EmPressão (PT). He regularly collaborates as a choreographic guide with Instável Centro Coreográfico (PT), where he was also a member of the mediation think tank project “EmVolvimento.”
João has been the recipient of multiple funds and scholarships, from Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (PT), Fundação GDA (PT) and Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunsten (NL).