Meet Eubrite: She is arguably the only urban drag show on roller skates in the world, and she’s taken Lisbon and social media by storm.
If you walk through Lisbon’s bustling Cais do Sodré district, you may be in for a surprise. Over the faint sound of Fado and diners’ chitter-chatter, Eubrite blasts Britney Spears music from a portable speaker and snaps into character, performing stunts combined with dance on roller skates while dressed in drag.
Resplendent in tight-fitting colourful cat suits complete with a long blonde wig, Lisbon’s Roller-skating diva wizzes past onlookers, navigating the capital’s uneven cobbled streets, climbing lamp posts and performing stunts on street furniture. She has become one of the most well-known street artists in the capital, catching the eyes of residents and tourists alike.
Eubrite was created byartist Jarbas Figueiredo Krull in 2020 as a tribute to Britney Spears, who at the time was fighting for control of her personal and financial life in the United States courts against her conservatorship. The ‘Free Britney’ movement inspired Jarbas to incorporate the Britney theme into his character, saying, “Because of what she was going through, I wanted to pay tribute to her.”
Jarbas, aged 39, was born in Teixeira de Freitas in the state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil, but grew up in Posto do Mata, before emigratimg to Portugal 15 years ago and worked as a hairdresser before finding fame as the only Rollerskater in drag, earning her appearances on TV in both Portugal and Brazil.
Pink Street
It was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the streets were empty, that Eubrite was born. With more space to work with, she used the mostly abandoned streets to dance and play music, later adding roller skates to zip around the city and bring a little happiness to the odd onlooker in a time of uncertainty. Eubrite explained that she became a symbol of happiness as described in Portuguese media, and that “while the world didn’t know what was going to happen, I was there dancing and bringing joy to people”.
Starting out on Rua Augusta in the downtown area of the capital, she can now mainly be found on the aptly named Pink Street. This pedestrianised stretch of Rua Nova do Carvalho, in the Cais Sodré district, is painted pink and lined with colourful bistros decorated with umbrellas that have become a popular tourist attraction in recent years. The drag performer discovered Pink Street while filming an advertisement and quickly adopted the street’s colour and its open space, which offered plenty of people to perform for. Finding Pink Street allowed Eubrite to form a solid fan base, leaving her former performance spaces behind because, as she explained in an interview with Público last year, “tourists would ask me where I was, they would go there and, when they got back, I would already be somewhere else.” Now with a fixed performance space where people can find her doing what she loves best. Passers-by can’t help but film, take photos, and rave about Lisbon’s unique character.
Free Eubrite
Amongst her avalanche of supporters, it’s not only on the street that she has a following. With 102,000 followers on Instagram, she often appears on many For You pages (FYP) and engages in advertisements. But it was back on the street that one of her admirers, Felipe De Brêtas, a filmmaker from Brazil, snapped her up as the star of his new film. Seeing Eubrite perform while drinking a beer with friends on Pink Street, Felipe was so impressed by the artist that he started filming the eccentric dancer. It would be two years later, during a visit to Paris, that he saw Eubrite doing what she loves, this time on the streets of the French capital. Felipe began documenting the only drag show on skates and editing the footage into a film, titled Free Eubrite, which he has submitted to several film festivals and has already debuted in Brasília.
It’s not only the streets of Lisbon that have been graced by Eubrite; France, Brazil, and Belgium have also had the pleasure of her street performances. However, it was in 2023 when she appeared for the first time on the Moda Lisboa catwalk at the invitation of fashion designer Luis Burges that she felt complete. It was a career highlight for Lisbon’s well-known street artist, who makes a living from busking.
Although Britney Spears’ music plays a key role in Eubrite’s repertoire, she avoids contemporary music, instead opting to evoke nostalgia among her audience. While a talented rollerskater with nine years of experience, including five as Eubrite, danger is only one misstep away. Having hurt herself a handful of times, the skater says she’s much more careful these days and makes sure that safety is her main priority for her audience. When the occasional slip-up happens, she manages to laugh it off, sometimes even incorporating an embarrassing mishap to thrill the audience, such as her famous wig flip, where her wig catapults through the air, often landing on an unsuspecting tourist to the amusement of onlookers. Although she is a talented skater, she doesn’t take herself too seriously, often joking with the crowds that gather to cheer her on.
An icon of street art
Over the past five years, performing as Eubrite, Jarbas’ show has now become a landmark of Pink Street. You could say that she is, in some way, an icon of Lisbon’s street art scene. During her early days, when she would perform only in the light of day, people’s reactions were one of curiosity, she recounts. People didn’t know if she was performing or training. But today, many already know the character Eubrite, which one can only assume loosely translates as “I’m Brit” (Britney), thanks to her popularity on social media. While a few cycle paths exist within the capital, the challenging, cobbled, and somewhat uneven, steep streets of Lisbon have become part of her character’s narrative, navigating the streets on rollerblades. “It’s a challenge. If I skate on a smooth surface, I’ll be ordinary. This difficulty gives me something different,” she explained.
“Different” is just one word I could use to describe Eubrite’s performance, said in the nicest possible way. Bringing dynamic showmanship, energy, and fun to the street is something Lisbon has strived for as an artistic city, and it’s lucky to have such a bubbly personality like Eubrite – Lisbon’s only drag show on skates.
Instagram: @eubrite
