During the Summer Academy, participants are provided with an in-depth understanding of art techniques with a strong social commitment through formal and non-formal artistic methods. These techniques are being developed and taught by facilitators with years of teaching and practical experience in the field of socially engaged arts.
Meet our facilitators!
David Correia is a Portuguese actor, director, and playwright. He graduated from the Cascais Professional Theatre School in 2011. He has worked with directors such as Carlos Avilez, João Vasco, and Manuel Jerónimo, and has appeared in productions for theatre, television, and film.
In 2019, he co-founded Gato Escaldado Theatre Company, where he writes and directs original works, including Matnite, Maria, Nicolau’s Granddaughter, and Alex, the Environmental Agent. He co-created the podcast Toda Uma Cena, nominated by the Podes Festival.
He has directed productions such as The Dinner, Treasure Island, and The Trojan Women, the latter supported by Creative Europe and toured in Greece and Poland. In 2024, he organized the One-to-One Festival and performed in Macbeth – The Scottish Play.
Réka Deák is a Hungarian puppeteer, social artist, and facilitator whose work weaves together socially engaged art, object animation, quantum physics, and storytelling. She is currently a PhD student at Charles University, where her research explores the intersection of contemporary liminal art spaces. Réka holds a Master’s degree in Directing in Contemporary Theatre from the University of Art in Târgu Mureș (Romania), and studied stage design at the Academy of Performing Arts in the Czech Republic.
Active since 2006 across Europe and the Arab world, she has worked as a puppeteer, puppet and stage designer, and drama pedagogue with both children and adults. Her facilitation practice spans nearly two decades, centering on long-term, participatory, and community-driven creative processes.
Réka has been a facilitator at the Academy for many years -through this role, she supports artists in developing tools for civic transformation through performance and creative intervention.
Her interdisciplinary collaborations include Quing Solomon and the Hyper Super Mega Max Quantum Computer, which explore the relationship between quantum physics and performative narrative structures. She is also a lead collaborator in Objects Without Borders, a partnership with Bath Spa University that brings participatory arts into various communities, using objects as a means of connection and resilience.
Dezdemóna Mária Kovács is a roma women rights activist and youth trainer. Her academic background is International Relations and legal studies at Károli Gáspár University. She works with Independent Theater Hungary as a project manager, pedagogical drama workshop facilitator. Experienced as a methodology developer and trainer for non-formal educational settings on domestic and on international level at organisations such as Romaversitas Foundation, Council of Europe and Ternype. She is also a member of the Romani Women’s Network, a nationwide informal alliance of Roma activist women.
Dezdemóna serves on the board of Phiren Amenca and represents civil society in the European Youth Forum. Her work combines civic education, artivism, and applied theatre technics to promote intersectional equality and equity especially for Roma women and girls.
She is excited to explore the topic of gender equality with participants at the Summer Academy, as she has worked with the topic from an intersectional perspective in both activist and educational settings. Using artistic tools to reflect on this urgent issue is not only professionally important for her, but personally inspiring.
Ana Isabel Sousa graduated from the Professional School of Theatre of Cascais and earned her bachelor’s degree from the School of Arts at the University of Évora, with Erasmus semesters at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático de Murcia (Erasmus+).
She took part in the production “Grandes Musicais”, directed by Henrique Feist, and “Woyzeck” at the Teatro Experimental de Cascais, directed by Carlos Avillez. She also featured in “Carta ao Pai”, directed by João Lagarto, and “Olhares Sobre Hamlet”, directed by Cecília Sousa, at the Teatro da Trindade and Comuna Teatro, where she portrayed Ophelia.
She starred in “O Abraço” and the production “Mulheres”, both directed by Claudio Hochman. She has also performed in educational-intervention shows with Mariana Monteiro, Carlão, and Jimmy P.
On television, she has participated in projects such as “Isto é Para os Apanhados” (Plural), “A Teia” (TVI), “Bem Me Quer” (TVI), and “Vanda” (produced by SPI and Legendary Films).
She is currently the artistic director of the theatre company Gato Escaldado. In 2021, with the support of Cascais City Council, she was producer and actress in the first edition of the “Teatro No Parque” festival, performing in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”, created and directed by Manuel Jerónimo. In 2022, she returned to the festival to perform in “El Cid”.
In 2024, she took part in the international co-production project D.I.V.A., supported by the Creative Europe program, joining the cast of “The Trojan Women”. At the end of 2024, she curated the One To One festival and joined the cast of “Macbeth – The Scottish Play”, produced by Boutique da Cultura.
She is currently performing in the production “Treasure Island”, which is touring throughout this year, and she received an Honorable Mention for the Mickaela Dantas Award from Acesso Cultura for the project D.I.V.A..
Not only the facilitators, but also our artistic director, Attila Budaházi is working to ensure that the Academy participants experience the highest quality professional programme.
Attila Budaházi is a theatre-maker with a background in youth-focused artistic work. He has worked extensively as a director, dramaturg, acting coach, and drama tutor, and formerly served as the artistic director of a youth theatre festival. As a dramatherapist, Attila is deepening his commitment to facilitating creative expression through the performing arts.
The Artivism 2025 Academy marks an important milestone in his journey, bringing together his experience in theatre and facilitation with a focus on social change, well-being, and empowerment through the arts. The camp reflects his belief in the power of co-creation and playfulness to amplify voices and build community across differences.