We recently had the chance to connect with Isadora Bonumá and have shared our conversation below.
Isadora, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
I feel like right now I’m being called to fully step into my own voice. I was literally trained to fit certain molds as a performer, but now I feel like it’s time to tell my own stories and actually show who I am. It’s scary, because it’s honest — it’s intimate.
But composing my own music, sharing my own stories and trusting that it will resonate feels less like a choice and more like the direction I’m supposed to go.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Isadora Bonumá, a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist — I sing, act, dance, and tell stories in whatever form they want to come out. I’ve been dancing since I was a kid, competing and performing from a very young age, long before moving to New York to train in more structured environments like musical theatre at AMDA, where I attended on a full scholarship as an Emerging Artist, and dance at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center. For a long time, I fit into those molds, but over the last few years I’ve been slowly breaking away from them and stepping into a more honest, authorial version of myself.
That shift really started in New York City, when I created and produced The Soirée.nyc. It was a series of shows I built from Brooklyn to the Upper West Side so musical theatre performers could explore a wider range of genres — pop, rock, and beyond — and we ended up creating this beautiful sense of community, which is something I really care about.
Right now I’m focused on writing and composing my own music, developing new stories, and helping other artists find their own creative language. I currently work as an Artist Development Coach at Midas Academy in São Paulo, Brazil — a training institution that’s part of Midas Music, a Brazilian record label founded by 5-time Grammy Award winner Rick Bonadio. They’re known for developing artists from the ground up and shaping long-term careers, so it’s been a real honor to be part of that environment.
What makes my work a bit different is that I don’t separate the things I do — everything blends together. A song might start from an image, a physical sensation, or something I discover through movement. I’m drawn to art that feels intimate, cinematic, and emotionally honest.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I love this question, because I feel like it’s the reason I do what I do. And honestly… I don’t really know the answer. I don’t have a clear memory of who that person was. But I know she’s still in there — little Isadora.
The older I get, the more I feel like my art is guiding me back to her — to that place where expression wasn’t filtered, where everything was play, and where I wasn’t performing for approval but simply being.
She just got buried under noise, survival, and the version of herself that had to exist to be accepted.
And maybe that’s one of our biggest missions in life: to walk back toward that original self.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
Creating! I used to close my bedroom door and play this Andreas Vollenweider CD we had at home called The Book of Roses. It’s all instrumental, but I would completely disappear into it and escape reality for hours. I could feel, see, imagine, and somehow understand every detail of the universe he created, as if it were more real to me than whatever was happening outside my room.
I would dance to it endlessly, or play with my dolls while the music filled the space, acting out scenes from my imagination. Abbey Road by The Beatles and the Finding Nemo soundtrack were also favorites.
Creating my own worlds was the one thing that always made me feel safe.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Honestly, the biggest project I’m committed to right now is the one I mentioned before — the search for my truest, deepest self. All of it. The light and the shadow. And then alchemising it into something meaningful and beautiful.
For artists and creators, I genuinely believe that’s the ultimate path. Because if you’re brave enough to bring people into that journey with you, something resonates on a level you simply can’t fake. One of my biggest references for that is the British artist Ren. He shared his darkest battles in a format that doesn’t follow any mainstream rulebook, and still reached massive numbers and chart success — all without a label, and without touring because of the health issues he’s constantly dealing with. He inspires me a lot in that sense: the idea that your art can build a bridge from your psyche to someone else’s and create real connection.
And if the idea of going on a journey to find the self inspires one person — who then inspires another, and another, and another… isn’t that, how we actually make the world a better place?
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
I think I feel most at peace in those in-between moments — like early in the morning when the world is still quiet and I’m drinking my coffee and reading a book, or when I’m dancing alone in my apartment, or writing and suddenly time just disappears. It’s usually when I’m not trying to be anything for anyone — and in those little pockets of honesty, I’m just there, completely present.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @isadora.bonuma
Image Credits
Moana Marques
Joaquim Araújo
Olive Juice Prints by Elise
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