Portugal

Helena Rodrigues

Prof Dr Helena Rodrigues is Head of Laboratory for Music and Communication in Infancy - CESEM Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Helena Rodrigues is an Assistant Professor at Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas – Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, New University of Lisbon) and the founder of Laboratory for Music and Communication in Infancy of the research unit CESEM at the same institution. She was a Research Fellow at Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts.

She has been a disseminator of Edwin Gordon’s music learning theory in Portugal since 1994. She had the privilege to discuss her own ideas and to learn directly from him for twenty years. Since 2001 Colwyn Trevarthen has been another strong influence on her work. Beginning in 2010 she started studying on physical theatre and somatic education domains. Aiming to improve practices for infancy, she has been developing an innovative approach to training that she defines as “opening the gates on communicative musicality”.

She is also one of the founders of Companhia de Música Teatral, a group that has specialized in creating artistic and educative projects that have Music at the root of interdisciplinary practice. She coordinated Opus Tutti, a project that aimed to create and implement good practices in community for infancy and early childhood. Currently she coordinates GermInArte, a project that has been also supported by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian which aims at the development of artistic and musical training models and the qualification of professionals for the infancy. She has been publishing regularly and is often invited to lecture and give workshops over the world