{"id":32067,"date":"2026-01-03T23:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T23:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/cape-verde\/all-news\/rita-cruz-reflects-on-her-journey-to-cape-verde"},"modified":"2026-01-03T23:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T23:19:54","slug":"rita-cruz-reflects-on-her-journey-to-cape-verde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/cape-verde\/all-news\/rita-cruz-reflects-on-her-journey-to-cape-verde","title":{"rendered":"Rita Cruz Reflects on Her Journey to Cape Verde"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Cape verde. <\/strong><\/span>She writes, directs, acts, and also sings. An artist involved in many shows and productions, Rita Cruz is used to juggling theater, television, film, and music. \u201cThe problem is staying still,\u201d says the author of the single \u2018Cuidado\u2019 (Careful), recorded with Dino d\u2019Santiago. Besides presenting this new album, this week’s guest on \u2018O Tal Podcast\u2019 reveals how \u201cstubbornness\u201d and a \u201csomewhat unconscious and childish choice\u201d materialized into a career in acting.<\/p>\n

Even as a child, Rita Cruz dreamed and announced her own future: \u201cI\u2019m going to be an actress.\u201d This certainty, she recounts in this conversation with Georgina Ange\u0301lica and Paula Cardoso, intensified as she grew up, in the \u201clittle skits\u201d she did at school. \u201cIt was stronger than me, this need to put creativity into practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, her artistic plans were eventually postponed, encountering warnings about the precariousness of the work.<\/p>\n

On one hand, her mother advised her to pursue a university degree with a stable career path. On the other hand, her father was well aware of the challenges of an artist’s life. \u201cI was a musician, but I also had a so-called normal profession. I think he saw this love for art in me, but he also told me: go for something safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rita did, and that’s why she graduated in Rehabilitation and Social Integration from the Higher Institute of Applied Psychology, before following the path she recognized as her own from an early age.<\/p>\n

Having graduated in Theatre \u2013 Acting from the Higher School of Theatre and Cinema, she moved onto the stage and never looked back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI co-founded Teatro do Bonde with the desire to create opportunities. Only later did I realize the importance it had, because young people came to me: \u2018Look, I went to theatre school because I saw you on stage, I had never seen a Black actress before\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

Today, aware of the importance of all people feeling identified in fiction, Rita argues that “the lack of representation closes off the possibility of dreaming.”<\/p>\n

Herself an ‘orphan’ of Black role models \u2013 “When I was a child, who did I see? Whoopi Goldberg, and little else” \u2013 she acknowledges that her trajectory was built from a “great desire to create,” combined with a certain degree of unconsciousness.<\/p>\n

“I heard many ‘no’s’ and ‘it’s better not to come to the casting because you don’t fit the profile.’ I understood what they meant; it was purely and simply about skin color.” But I went, and it happened to me countless times that the director liked my performance and kept the role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against the odds, at a time when she \u201cdidn\u2019t see Ritas on television, in advertising, or in music,\u201d the multifaceted artist believes that, through exposure to other Ritas, new generations have expanded their imagination and, with it, their aspirations.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome time ago, we had a conversation with different generations, in which we talked about representation, and we saw the generational difference: the 20-year-olds are much more upfront, [they say]: \u2018this is my right\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

Beyond words, the actress emphasizes the importance of combating acts of discrimination, something she also seeks to do through raising her son.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger I felt alone and didn\u2019t know why. It was a place of loneliness, this not speaking, feeling, but not knowing how to name it, this non-place. So, I think it\u2019s very important to talk [about racism] with parents, with teachers, and with my son.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the topics of discussion, Rita points out, has been the skin-colored pencil. \u201cJust put several hands in front of them, and they can see that there are different skin tones. This is very important so that children don’t feel alone, in a place of exclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commitment to inclusion, present in representation and motherhood, extends to music, and has a resounding manifesto in the song \u2018Cuidado\u2019 (Care), recorded with Dino d\u2019Santiago.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a good person is a treasure, paying attention to others. We are in a very self-absorbed, closed-off place. We need to seek out others more.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Cape verde<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Cape verde. She writes, directs, acts, and also sings. An artist involved in many shows and productions, Rita Cruz is used to juggling theater, television, film, and music. \u201cThe problem is staying still,\u201d says the author of the single \u2018Cuidado\u2019 (Careful), recorded with Dino d\u2019Santiago. Besides presenting this new album, this week’s guest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":32066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12,244],"tags":[328],"class_list":["post-32067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-cape-verde"],"yoast_head":"\nRita Cruz Reflects on Her Journey to Cape Verde - Cape Verde<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"She writes, directs, acts, and also sings. 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