Luiz Badaró is a critically acclaimed co-artistic director and co-founder of Viver Brasil Dance Company. Born in Salvador, Bahia, he is a master dancer, choreographer and percussionist who has been choreographing and performing for over thirty years in Brazil, Europe,  Africa and the United States. Badaró began his arts career under the direction of Mestre King at SESC-Bahia (Serviço Social do Cómercio) and was among the first generation of dancers to perform at the SESC/SENAC Arena in the late 1970s. He has performed with the Paris-based Circus Archaos throughout Europe and with many of Brazil’s premier ensembles including Viva Bahia and Olodumarê.

Now residing in Los Angeles, CA, Badaró was nominated for a Lester Horton Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design in 2000 and 2003; in 2003, 2004, and 2005 for music and dance. Badaró’s exalted choreography is inspired by both the traditional and contemporary worlds of Afro-Brazilian culture which he infuses into the training of the company.  A 2006 recipient of an Irvine Dance in California, Creation to Performance Grant funded by the James Irvine Foundation and Dance/USA, he is a faculty member at Dance Arts Academy in Los Angeles and a staff musician at Santa Monica College.