Wagner Carvalho, born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, has been working in the tradition of Augusto Boal’s Theater der Unterdrückten since the age of 12.
He trained as a dancer, actor and speech teacher at various schools in Belo Horizonte. He then became artistic director of the theater school Núcleo de Estudos Teatrais – NET in Belo Horizonte.
From 1996 to 2000 he studied theater at the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University Berlin). He received scholarships from the Goethe Institute and the Brazilian Ministry of Culture, among others. Since 1991 he has carried out numerous artistic-social projects in Germany and Brazil. He took over the pedagogical and trainer work at the Berliner Ensemble, Grips Theater and in free productions. He was the founder and organizer of the Forum brasileiro da dança, the association of Brazilian dancers and choreographers in Berlin and organized the event series Blequitude in collaboration with the Werkstatt der Kulturen and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung in November 2002. He also established the festival brasil move berlim – Festival des zeitgenössischen brasilianischen Tanzes.
At the beginning of the 2012/13 season, he took over the artistic direction at Ballhaus Naunynstraße, which he has led alone since November 2014. In addition, he has also been the sole managing director of Ballhaus Naunynstraße since 2016. Since 2012 he has been a member of the Rat für die Künste, Berlin.