Our Process
A collaborative, instigative, anthropologically safe method — guided by INSTIGartIVATORS, never by workshop providers.
The movement
None of us is as good as all of us together.
In more than 30 favelas and comunidades of Rio de Janeiro, young people compose, choreograph and stage original art — beginning from what is already inside them. Since 2012, this horizontal way of creating has grown into an Industry of Arts.
See horizontality in motion
This short film, created with AI, expresses the heart of our method: nobody above, nobody below — INSTIGartIVATORS and young creators sitting in the same circle, listening, instigating and creating together.
The awakening
Creativity is already there. We simply ask.
We believe creativity and the capacity to love are part of the inherent DNA of every creature on earth — and perhaps of the universe itself. What people often need is simply to be asked, and to have a safe, non-judgemental space where what is inside can emerge.
That is why our process is anthropologically safe: it does not export culture or products into a community. It starts from what already lives inside each person. More than 80% of participants awaken to the value of their own inherent creativity — an internal "I Can" that no one can take away.
2012
Creating Arts Together ever since
50+
Original songs composed by the young authors
30+
Favelas and comunidades in Rio de Janeiro
80%+
Of participants awaken to their inherent creativity
Original songs, by their young authors
More than 50 songs composed inside the circles — written, performed and owned by the young people themselves. A few of them, straight from our YouTube channel:
One movement, many doors
Every program is an entry point into the same circle. Each one is horizontal, collaborative and built on the belief that the art is already inside the people.
Creating Arts Together (CAT)
Intensive of one day or more where original music, dance and theater are created "from nothing" within the culture of participants.
Industry of Arts
More than 50 original songs and counting — a platform that turns original art into lasting income for its young authors.
Platforms & Bridges
Berklee College of Music, a Netflix miniseries, California public schools, international tours — bridges built by young creators.
Entrepreneurship
E3 Brasil and the Sirolli method of Enterprise Facilitation: person-centered, confidential, and free of charge.
ESL — Eterno Aprendiz
English as a Second Language since 2000, founded on University of Colorado principles: the eternal learner teaches best.
How a creation unfolds
Our method is simple to describe and profound to live. It works with young people from any background, anywhere in the world.
1. The safe circle
We gather as equals. Trust and non-judgement come before any technique — the space itself is the first creation.
2. Instigation
INSTIGartIVATORS ask, provoke and listen. What wants to be said? What rhythm lives here? The material comes from the participants, never from a script.
3. Creation from nothing
In intensive Creating Arts Together experiences — from one day to one week — the group composes original music, dance and theater that did not exist before.
4. Professional refinement
The raw creation is then refined with professional rigor, so the young authors can present their own work at a high artistic level.
5. The authors take the stage
The work belongs to its creators. They perform it, record it, and — through the Industry of Arts — earn from it for years to come.
Creating Arts Together
One intensive. One original work. Countless authors.
CAT is where the circle catches fire. For one day to one week, young people — mainly aged 14–18, within a wider range of 7 to 30, from more than 30 favelas and comunidades across Rio — create original art from nothing together with INSTIGartIVATORS.
Nothing is imported. The theme, the rhythm, the story and the movement all come from the group itself. When the intensive ends, the work is refined professionally — and the young authors present it at a high artistic level, as it deserves.
Industry of Arts
Art that sustains its authors
Since 2012, the circles have produced an Industry of Arts: more than 50 original songs composed by the young people themselves, and a platform — Plataforma Mosaico — that will turn original art into long-lasting, continuous impact and income. Help us to further develop this industry of arts.
Sales of original art, recordings, grants and partnerships generate continuous income for the young authors — while sustaining and expanding the movement. The culture is not exported; it is authored, owned and reinvested, from the inside out.
Platforms & Bridges
From the circle to the world
Berklee College of Music has welcomed 2 young artists from our program; Thiago Vitório, and Gabriel Americo. Both from humble families. A Netflix miniseries; Children of the Church Step has Andrei Marques, a 14 years old who 'woke up' from within to acting during CAT 2021 and in 2026 got the top position in the mini-series. Show on the Road took to USA over 30 young Musicians and Dancers, since 2013. Each bridge began the same way: a circle of young people creating something original, and the refusal to accept that their art should stay invisible.
The platform also works as discovery: new artists found inside CAT intensives go on to record, tour and teach — expanding the movement with every journey.
ESL — Eterno Aprendiz
Language learned the way art is made: together
Long before the first song was composed in a circle, Eterno Aprendiz — our English as a Second Language program, running since 2000 on University of Colorado principles — was already practicing the same belief: people learn best horizontally, in safe conversation, when they are treated as capable from the start.
English opens the bridges the movement builds — to Berklee, to California classrooms, to stages and partners around the world. The eternal learner is never finished; that is the point.
Entrepreneurship, horizontally
The same principle that awakens art awakens enterprise: the idea is already inside the person. Through E3 Brasil, we practice Enterprise Facilitation — the Sirolli method — person-centered, confidential and free of charge.
Facilitation never tells anyone what business to start. It listens first — with the same non-judgemental safety as the artistic circle — then helps each person find the knowledge, connections and confidence their own idea needs, walking alongside them for as long as the dream needs company.
The "I Can" travels far
Real transformation begins inside — an internal "I Can" — and grows through strategic collaboration with others. These are some of the places that combination has carried our young creators.
Berklee College of Music
A bridge between the comunidades of Rio and one of the world’s great music schools — proof that talent created horizontally belongs anywhere.
Netflix miniseries
Original work from the movement reached the screen, carrying the voices of young authors, Andrei and Patrick to a global audience.
California public schools
The method crossed borders: music and dance, with kids born in Rio’s comunidades, entertained various public schools, Elderly Covenant Villagers, even Costco workers.
International tours
Young creators have taken their own work on the road — not as guests of someone else’s show, but as authors of their own.
Two organizations, one movement
Arts & Social Transformation Inc.
Our US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, connecting international supporters, grants and partners to the work on the ground.
Plataforma Mosaico LTDA
Our Brazilian company: the platform that professionalizes, sells and reinvests the original art created in the circles — generating lasting income for its young authors.
Investors, patrons & grant-makers
Your support composes the future
Fund a CAT intensive, patron a young artist, designate a gift for a specific dream — or bring the circle to your city, school or country. Every contribution becomes part of something a young author made.
Start the conversationNone of us is as good as all of us together.
Sit in the circle with us.
Whether you give, partner, create or instigate — there is a place for you in this movement. Real transformation begins when we build it together.
Get involved